NEHEMIAH 6 — PLOTS AGAINST NEHEMIAH AND THE COMPLETION OF THE WALL IN FIFTY-TWO DAYS

Chapter 6 shows the opposition changing tactics from open hostility to personal attacks designed to remove or discredit Nehemiah. The four attempts are an invitation to a meeting that was a trap, an open letter spreading a false accusation, a false prophecy intended to make him violate the law and act out of fear, and the infiltration of the Jewish nobility by Tobiah's allies. The chapter ends with the completion of the wall on 25 Elul, which corresponds to about October 2, 445 BC. The wall's construction in fifty-two days is a remarkable achievement. The chapter highlights Nehemiah's discernment, resolve, and focus. It also shows that internal compromise, in the form of the nobles' loyalty to Tobiah, was a continuing problem that would resurface in chapter 13.

The date of the completion, 25 Elul in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, corresponds to early October 445 BC in the Julian calendar. Archaeological excavations in the City of David have uncovered stretches of a wall built quickly with small stones, in contrast to the carefully dressed stones of earlier periods, which fits a hasty construction. The plain of Ono is a known location, and the place name Hakkephirim may be the same as Kephirim in the area. Sanballat's name appears in the Elephantine papyri, which show that the governors of Samaria and Judah were in contact. The Tobiads were a prominent family in Ammon, and the name appears on inscriptions at Iraq el-Amir, where a family of that name built a palace in the Hellenistic period. The existence of a prophetess named Noadiah is unique, but female prophets are attested in the Bible and in other Near Eastern sources. The Persian provincial administration is consistent with the account.