Nehemiah 6:2

2 that Sanaballat and Gesam sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they plotting to do me mischief.

Nehemiah 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 6:2

Then Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me
Messengers:

saying, come, let us meet together in some one of the villages;
in Cephirim, which Jarchi takes to be the name of a place, perhaps the same with Cephirah, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, ( Joshua 18:26 )

in the plain of Ono;
which was in the same tribe, see ( 1 Chronicles 8:12 ) , they might pretend a friendly meeting, to accommodate differences between them, or to converse together about the general interest of the king of Persia in those parts:

but they thought to do me mischief;
to kill him, or at least to confine him; this he either conjectured from their general character and behaviour, or he had intelligence of their design.

Nehemiah 6:2 In-Context

1 Now it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and Gesam the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and there was no opening left therein; ( hitherto I had not set up the doors on the gates;)

2 that Sanaballat and Gesam sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they plotting to do me mischief.

3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I shall not be able to come down, lest the work should cease: as soon as I shall have finished it, I will come down to you.

4 And they sent to me to this effect; and I sent them accordingly.

5 Then Sanaballat sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.