Discovery BoxNehemiah 6:2
Context6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me saying, “Come on! Let’s set up a time to meet together at Kephirim 1 in the plain of Ono.” Now they intended to do me harm.
Nehemiah 2:19
Context2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, 2 they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
Nehemiah 6:1
Context6:1 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and no breach remained in it (even though up to that time I had not positioned doors in the gates),
Nehemiah 6:6
Context6:6 Written in it were the following words:
“Among the nations it is rumored 3 (and Geshem 4 has substantiated 5 this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors 6 you are going to become their king.
[6:2] 1 tn It is not entirely clear whether the Hebrew word כְּפִירִים (kÿfirim) is a place-name not mentioned elsewhere in the OT (as indicated in the present translation; so also NAB, NASB) or whether it means “in [one of] the villages” (so, e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT; see BDB 499 s.v.; HALOT 493 s.v.). The LXX and Vulgate understand it in the latter sense. Some scholars connect this term with the identically spelled word כּפירים (“lions”) as a figurative description of princes or warriors (e.g., Pss 34:11; 35:17; 58:7; Jer 2:15; Ezek 32:2, 13; Nah 2:14; see HALOT 493 s.v.): “let us meet together with the leaders in the plain of Ono.”
[2:19] 2 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
[6:6] 4 tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.
