Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
- KJV Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
- BSB Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
- NASB Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence, and were reporting my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
- NLT They kept telling me about Tobiah’s good deeds, and then they told him everything I said. And Tobiah kept sending threatening letters to intimidate me.
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
Tobiah's allies praise him to Nehemiah and report Nehemiah's words back to Tobiah, who keeps sending letters to intimidate him. The pressure continues from within and without.
Overview
The compromised nobles acted as a channel between Nehemiah and his enemy, even relaying his words to Tobiah, who persisted in attempts to frighten him. The chapter closes with the opposition unrelenting despite the completed wall. It underscores that vigilance must continue, for the enemies of God's people rarely cease their efforts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- John 7:7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
- Acts 4:18–21They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
- Neh 6:13He hired so that I would be afraid, do so, and sin, and that they might have material for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
- Prov 28:4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them.
- John 15:19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
- Neh 6:9For they all would have made us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it not be done.” But now, strengthen my hands.
- 1 Jn 4:5They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
- Isa 37:10–14“Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem won’t be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
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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 6:19 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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