Nehemiah 2:10

10 When ¹Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very * displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:10

When Sanballat the Horonite
Who either presided at Horonaim, or sprung from thence, a city of Moab, ( Isaiah 15:5 )

and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite;
who was formerly a slave, but now raised, from a low mean estate, to be governor in the land of Ammon, though still a vassal of the king of Persia:

heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there came a man to seek
the welfare of the children of Israel;
to which the Moabites and Ammonites were always averse, and ever bore an hatred to Israel, and envied everything that tended to their happiness.

Nehemiah 2:10 In-Context

8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

9 Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "servant"