Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 6:4

Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.

4. yet ] R.V. And. The A.V. suggests the thought which the copula does not express, that in spite of such a rebuff Sanballat and his companions were not daunted.

after this sort after the same manner ] The Hebrew phrase is the same in both cases. As it occurs again in the next verse (Neh 6:5, ‘in like manner’), though the nature of the message is different, we clearly must not press the words here to mean a literal repetition of the request and answer. It only indicates a general similarity in the character of the four applications, and in the answers which they elicited. Cf. for the use of this phrase 1Sa 17:27 ; 1Sa 17:30; 2Sa 15:6.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort,…. Being very desirous of getting him into their hands, and therefore were very pressing and importunate:

and I answered them after the same manner; every time as before, he being as much bent on finishing the work as they were to divert him from it.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Neh 6:4 Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.

Ver. 4. Yet they sent unto me four times ] As thinking to prevail by their importunity. This wicked men have learned from their master Beelzebub, the lord of flies, as the name ( ) signifieth, or master fly, that will not off the bait till beaten, and hardly then. Sin hath painted an impudency in some men’s faces; and it appears they are past all grace, because shameless, Et pudet non esse impudentes, it is not shameful to be impudent. saith Austin.

And I answered them after the same manner ] Nehemiah stood immoveable as a rock; he was homo quadratus, man, four-square, not to be altered, but firm to his principles, resolute in his holy purposes. We may style him (as Theodoret doth Athanasius) the bulwark of truth ( ), the Church’s champion. Nec tremere, nec timide, may seem to have been his motto, neither temerarious nor timorous.

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

four times. The enemy takes no denial.

after the same manner. The only sure and safe procedure. Compare 1Sa 17:30.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

four times: Jdg 16:6, Jdg 16:10, Jdg 16:15-20, Pro 7:21, Luk 18:5, 1Co 15:58, Gal 2:5

and I answered: Pro 14:15

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Neh 6:4. Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort We must never be overcome by the greatest importunity to do any thing ill or imprudent: but when we are attacked with the same temptation, still resist it with the same reason and resolution.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments