Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you!”
Parallel translations
- WEB I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; and he said, “Let us meet together in God’s house, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to kill you. Yes, in the night will they come to kill you.”
- KJV Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
- NKJV Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”
- NASB When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let’s meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”
- NLT Later I went to visit Shemaiah son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home. He said, “Let us meet together inside the Temple of God and bolt the doors shut. Your enemies are coming to kill you tonight.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Shemaiah, shut up at home, urges Nehemiah to hide in the temple because men are coming to kill him by night. The advice is a subtle trap.
Overview
Posing as a friend, Shemaiah counsels Nehemiah to take refuge inside the temple, a place forbidden to a layman. The message blends genuine-sounding concern with deadly intent. This deceptive use of false prophecy shows that the most dangerous attacks may come disguised as godly counsel from within.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Jer 36:5Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;
- Matt 7:15Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
- Ps 37:12The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- John 3:20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
- Ezra 8:16Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.
- Ps 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Mal 1:10“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
- Prov 11:9With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.
- Neh 6:12I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
- Ezek 3:24Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
- 2 Chr 29:3In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.
- Job 24:13–17Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
- 2 Kgs 11:3And Joash remained hidden with his nurse in the house of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
- 1 Kgs 6:5Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.
- Ps 120:2–3Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.
- 2 Chr 28:24Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 29:7They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel.
- Ezra 10:31From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
- 2 Kgs 9:8The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel.
- Acts 21:30The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 6:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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