Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to harm me.
Parallel translations
- KJV That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
- BSB Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.
- NKJV that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.
- NASB Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let’s meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were plotting to harm me.
- NLT So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message asking me to meet them at one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to harm 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
Sanballat and Geshem invite Nehemiah to meet on the plain of Ono, but their real intent is to harm him. The friendly invitation masks a trap.
Overview
The proposed neutral meeting place was distant from Jerusalem, isolating Nehemiah from protection. Behind the diplomatic overture lay a plot to do him harm. The episode warns that opposition to God's work can come cloaked in reasonableness, requiring discernment to recognize danger behind seemingly harmless proposals.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Chr 8:12The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;
- Ps 37:12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
- Neh 11:35Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.
- Ezek 33:31They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- Prov 26:24–26A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but he harbors evil in his heart.
- 2 Sam 20:9Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
- Mic 7:4–5The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.
- 2 Sam 3:27When Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
- Ps 37:32The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- Eccl 4:4Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Luke 20:19–21The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people — for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.
- Ps 12:2Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
- Jer 41:2Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
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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 6:2 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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