Nehemiah 6:9

9 For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, ^[a] strengthen my hands.

Nehemiah 6:9 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 6:9

For they all made us afraid
Or you all, as Aben Ezra interprets it; or all the Heathen nations, as Jarchi; this was the design of all those scandalous reports, to intimidate them, and with this they pleased themselves, as follows:

their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done;
this they hoped would be the effect of those reports sent to them:

now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands;
and let them not have what they will, and hope for; according to Aben Ezra, these words are directed to Sanballat, that if he was a friend, as he pretended, that instead of weakening, he would strengthen his hands by a sincere reconciliation; so Vatablus; but they are an address to God, such short ejaculations being usual with Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 6:9 In-Context

7 and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”

8 Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

9 For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.

10 Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you— by night they are coming to kill you!”

11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew But now; for clarity, my God has been included.