Nehemiah 6:14

My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Think thou upon Tobiah.—This appeal to God is to be understood as an official prophetic prayer. Nehemiah puts God’s own cause into God’s own hands. The mention of the name of Noadiah, nowhere else referred to, shows the circumstantial nature of the narrative, and is an indirect evidence of its truth.

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 6:14. My God, think thou upon Tobiah, &c. — Thou knowest their hearts, and art the avenger of falsehood and wrong; take cognizance of this cause, judge between me and them, and take what way and time thou pleasest to call them to an account for their actions. This prayer we are not to imitate; and whatever injuries are done to us we must not avenge ourselves, but commit our cause to Him that judgeth righteously. The Prophetess Noadiah — One that falsely pretended to the spirit of prophecy, to deceive and destroy Nehemiah. And the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear — The law of Moses enjoined the governors of the Jews to punish such as were proved to be false prophets; but because Nehemiah was not in a capacity to do it, having such powerful enemies round about him, and so many rich and powerful Jews highly discontented for their great loss by his means, he prays to God to remember and punish them. It appears from this, and many other passages, that there were among the Jews many that pretended to be prophets who had no divine commission, and often drew aside and deceived the people, who ought to have done as Nehemiah did here, to have considered the spirit of these prophets, whether they spoke that which was agreeable to the divine laws, and was likely to promote the glory of God. By this test they should have tried these prophets; and because they did not do so, they were led to hearken to them, for which they are often severely rebuked.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:10-14 The greatest mischief our enemies can do us, is, to frighten us from our duty, and to lead us to do what is sinful. Let us never decline a good work, never do a bad one. We ought to try all advice, and to reject what is contrary to the word of God. Every man should study to be consistent. Should I, a professed Christian, called to be a saint, a child of God, a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost, should I be covetous, sensual, proud, or envious? Should I yield to impatience, discontent, or anger? Should I be slothful, unbelieving, or unmerciful? What effects will such conduct have upon others? All that God has done for us, or by us, or given to us, should lead us to watchfulness, self-denial, and diligence. Next to the sinfulness of sin, we should dread the scandal.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. The examples of Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna, show that the prophetical gift was occasionally bestowed upon women (2 Kings 22:14 note).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-14. Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah, &c.—This man was the son of a priest, who was an intimate and confidential friend of Nehemiah. The young man claimed to be endowed with the gift of prophecy. Having been secretly bribed by Sanballat, he, in his pretended capacity of prophet, told Nehemiah that his enemies were that night to make an attempt upon his life. He advised him, at the same time, to consult his safety by concealing himself in the sanctuary, a crypt which, from its sanctity, was strong and secure. But the noble-minded governor determined at all hazards to remain at his post, and not bring discredit on the cause of God and religion by his unworthy cowardice in leaving the temple and city unprotected. This plot, together with a secret collusion between the enemy and the nobles of Judah who were favorably disposed towards the bad Samaritan in consequence of his Jewish connections (Ne 6:18), the undaunted courage and vigilance of Nehemiah were enabled, with the blessing of God, to defeat, and the erection of the walls thus built in troublous times (Da 9:25) was happily completed (Ne 6:15) in the brief space of fifty-two days. So rapid execution, even supposing some parts of the old wall standing, cannot be sufficiently accounted for, except by the consideration that the builders labored with the ardor of religious zeal, as men employed in the work of God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The prophetess Noadiah; one that falsely pretended to the Spirit of prophecy, to deceive and destroy Nehemiah. He prays to God to remember and punish these false prophets, because he was not yet in a capacity to do it, having such powerful enemies round about him, and so many rich and potent Jews highly discontented for their great loss by his means, Ne 5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

My God, think thou on Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works,.... Their wicked counsels and schemes, and not only confound and disappoint them, but reward them as they deserve:

and on the prophetess Noadiah: whom Aben Ezra takes to be the same with Shemaiah, because he said, "let us meet", &c. Nehemiah 6:10, but no doubt it is the name of a woman, a false prophetess, and was hired, and in the same scheme with Shemaiah:

and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear; and so put him on leaving the people, and the work he was engaged in, and flee for his safety; it seems there were more than are by name mentioned, who sought to discourage and intimidate him.

Geneva Study Bible

My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the {g} prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

(g) Grief caused him to pray against such, who under the pretence of being the ministers of God, were adversaries to his glory, and went about to overthrow his Church, declaring also by this that where there is one true minister of God, the devil has many hirelings.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. My God, think thou upon] R.V. Remember, O my God. Tobiah’s name stands before Sanballat’s. Cf. Nehemiah 6:12.

and on the prophetess] R.V. and also the prophetess. Noadiah’s name only occurs here. We know from the case of Huldah and Anna that women were sometimes privileged to possess the gift of prophecy (2 Kings 22:14; Luke 2:36). Noadiah seems to have acted with ‘the rest of the prophets,’ who were probably bribed to intimidate Nehemiah. Sanballat had accused Nehemiah of obtaining popular influence by suborning prophets to support him (Nehemiah 6:7). Nehemiah’s words in this verse show that the religious teachers of the people were divided in mind. The LXX. and possibly the Vulgate regarded ‘Noadiah’ as masc. (τῷ Νωαδίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ, ‘Noadiæ prophetæ’).

Nehemiah’s prayer closes this section. Cf. Nehemiah 6:14, Nehemiah 5:19, and Nehemiah 13:14; Nehemiah 13:22; Nehemiah 13:31.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Tobiah and Sanballat. See ver. 12, with the comment. The prophetess Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. She has been supposed to have succumbed to a bribe, like Shemaiah (Ewald); but this is wholly uncertain. We only know that, together with certain soi-disant prophets, she endeavoured to "put Nehemiah in fear." It is clear that she was unsuccessful. Nehemiah 6:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"On this account was he hired that I might be afraid, and do so; and if I had sinned (by entering the holy place), it (my sin) would have been to them for an evil report, that they might defame me." The use of למאן before two sentences, the second of which expresses the purpose of the first, is peculiar: for this purpose, that I might fear, etc., was he hired. To enter and to shut himself within the holy place would have been a grave desecration of the house of God, which would have given occasion to his enemies to cast suspicion upon Nehemiah as a despiser of God's commands, and so to undermine his authority with the people. - In Nehemiah 6:14 Nehemiah concludes his account of the stratagems of his enemies, with the wish that God would think upon them according to their works. In expressing it, he names, besides Tobiah and Sanballat, the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who, like Shemaiah, would have put him in fear: whence we perceive, 1st, that the case related (Nehemiah 6:10-13) is given as only one of the chief events of the kind (מיראים, like Nehemiah 6:9, Nehemiah 6:19); and 2nd, that false prophets were again busy in the congregation, as in the period preceding the captivity, and seeking to seduce the people from hearkening to the voice of the true prophets of God, who preached repentance and conversation as the conditions of prosperity.