Nehemiah 6:2

2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono." But they thought to do me harm.

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 happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates),

2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono." But they thought to do me harm.

3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"

4 But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.