Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 6:14

My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

14. My God, think thou upon ] R.V. Remember, O my God. Tobiah’s name stands before Sanballat’s. Cf. Neh 6:12.

and on the prophetess ] R.V. and also the prophetess. Noadiah’s name only occurs here. We know from the case of Huldah and Anna that women were sometimes privileged to possess the gift of prophecy (2Ki 22:14; Luk 2:36). Noadiah seems to have acted with ‘the rest of the prophets,’ who were probably bribed to intimidate Nehemiah. Sanballat had accused Nehemiah of obtaining popular influence by suborning prophets to support him (Neh 6:7). Nehemiah’s words in this verse show that the religious teachers of the people were divided in mind. The LXX. and possibly the Vulgate regarded ‘Noadiah’ as masc. ( , ‘Noadi prophet’).

Nehemiah’s prayer closes this section. Cf. Neh 6:14, Neh 5:19, and Neh 13:14; Neh 13:22; Neh 13:31.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. The examples of Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna, show that the prophetical gift was occasionally bestowed upon women (2Ki 22:14 note).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 14. And on the prophetess Noadiah] Whether this was a prophet or prophetess, we cannot tell; the Hebrew text only makes her a prophetess; all the versions have Noadiah the prophet, except the Arabic which has [Arabic] Younadaa the prophet. I think the he at the end of nebiah is a mistake, and that we should read Noadiah the prophet.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The prophetess Noadiah; one that falsely pretended to the Spirit of prophecy, to deceive and destroy Nehemiah. He prays to God to remember and punish these false prophets, because he was not yet in a capacity to do it, having such powerful enemies round about him, and so many rich and potent Jews highly discontented for their great loss by his means, Ne 5.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

My God, think thou on Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works,…. Their wicked counsels and schemes, and not only confound and disappoint them, but reward them as they deserve:

and on the prophetess Noadiah: whom Aben Ezra takes to be the same with Shemaiah, because he said, , “let us meet”, c. Ne 6:10, but no doubt it is the name of a woman, a false prophetess, and was hired, and in the same scheme with Shemaiah:

and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear and so put him on leaving the people, and the work he was engaged in, and flee for his safety; it seems there were more than are by name mentioned, who sought to discourage and intimidate him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(14) Think thou upon Tobiah.This appeal to God is to be understood as an official prophetic prayer. Nehemiah puts Gods own cause into Gods own hands. The mention of the name of Noadiah, nowhere else referred to, shows the circumstantial nature of the narrative, and is an indirect evidence of its truth.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. My God Nehemiah’s journal abounds with such pious ejaculations, they show his devotion to God and the truth. Comp. Neh 6:9, Neh 5:19; Neh 13:14; Neh 13:22; Neh 13:31.

The prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets Shemaiah was not the only tool that the enemies of the Jews found ready to do their will. Other prophets were bribed, and even a prophetess, whose name is immortalized in infamy by its association with these enemies of Israel. Nothing more is known of her.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

(14) My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

Observe how the open or secret plots of the enemy drive Nehemiah to his knees. Reader! think only how a gracious God in Christ overrules even the malice of the devil to his people’s good and his own glory. For if the devices of Satan compel me to go to a throne of grace for strength to resist his temptation, when without this attack of the foul fiend I should not have gone there; and if God my Saviour converts his very ill design into the means of producing greater good, so that thereby my own poverty and weakness is more discovered, and the Redeemer’s strength made more precious and interesting: surely even our temptations are blessings in disguise, and are among the all things which work together for good to them that love God. Rom 8:28 ; Jas 1:2-4 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Neh 6:14 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

Ver. 14. My God, think upon Tobiah and Sanballat ] Heb. Remember, to be revenged on them, q.d. I cannot deal with them, but do thou do it. He doth himself no disservice (saith one) who when no law will relieve him, maketh God his chancellor. It is a fearful thing to be put over into his punishing hands by the saints, as Joab and Shimei were unto Solomon’s hands by dying David. If men, in their best estate, are so weak that they are crushed before the moth, how shall they stand before this great God?

According to these their works ] Qualia quisque tacit, talia quisque luat, Let them drink as they have brewed.

And on the prophetess Noadiah ] Who joined with Shemaiah in this dissimulation, and was of his counsel. Omne malum ex gynaecio. False prophets and seducers are seldom without their women. Simon Magus had his Helena, Carpocrates his Marcellina, Apelles his Philumena, Montanus his Priscilla and Maximilla, &c.

And the rest of the prophets ] Improperly so called, but so they pretended to be; and here they had conspired, a great sort of them, to do evil.

That would have put me in fear ] By their concurrent prophecies, purposely to disgrace and endanger me. Suffragia non sunt numeranda, sed expendenda. Multitude and antiquity are but ciphers in divinity.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

think. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. Compare Neh 5:19.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

My God: Neh 5:19, Psa 22:1, Psa 63:1

think thou: Neh 4:4, Neh 4:5, Neh 13:29, Psa 36:11, Psa 36:12, Psa 140:5-11, Jer 11:20-23, Jer 18:20-23, 2Ti 4:14, 2Ti 4:15, 1Jo 5:16

on the prophetess: 1Ki 22:22-24, Isa 9:14, Isa 9:15, Jer 14:15, Jer 14:18, Jer 28:1, Jer 28:10, Jer 28:15, Eze 13:16, Eze 13:17, Mat 7:15, Mat 24:11, Mat 24:24, 2Ti 3:8, Rev 19:20

Reciprocal: Jdg 4:4 – General Neh 6:9 – For they Neh 7:5 – my God Jer 15:15 – remember Act 21:9 – which

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Neh 6:14. My God, think thou upon Tobiah, &c. Thou knowest their hearts, and art the avenger of falsehood and wrong; take cognizance of this cause, judge between me and them, and take what way and time thou pleasest to call them to an account for their actions. This prayer we are not to imitate; and whatever injuries are done to us we must not avenge ourselves, but commit our cause to Him that judgeth righteously. The Prophetess Noadiah One that falsely pretended to the spirit of prophecy, to deceive and destroy Nehemiah. And the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear The law of Moses enjoined the governors of the Jews to punish such as were proved to be false prophets; but because Nehemiah was not in a capacity to do it, having such powerful enemies round about him, and so many rich and powerful Jews highly discontented for their great loss by his means, he prays to God to remember and punish them. It appears from this, and many other passages, that there were among the Jews many that pretended to be prophets who had no divine commission, and often drew aside and deceived the people, who ought to have done as Nehemiah did here, to have considered the spirit of these prophets, whether they spoke that which was agreeable to the divine laws, and was likely to promote the glory of God. By this test they should have tried these prophets; and because they did not do so, they were led to hearken to them, for which they are often severely rebuked.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

6:14 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the {g} prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

(g) Grief caused him to pray against such, who under the pretence of being the ministers of God, were adversaries to his glory, and went about to overthrow his Church, declaring also by this that where there is one true minister of God, the devil has many hirelings.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes