Nehemiah 6:14

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. (τῷ Νωαδίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ, ‘Noadiæ prophetæ’).

Nehemiah’s prayer closes this section. Cf. Neh_6:14, Neh_5:19, and Neh_13:14; Neh_13:22; Neh_13:31.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Very grief caused him to pray against such, which under the pretence of being the ministers of God, were adversaries to his glory, and went about to overthrow his Church, declaring also hereby that where there is one true minister of God, the devil hath a great sort of hirelings.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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 ה he at the end of נביאה nebiah is a mistake, and that we should read Noadiah the prophet.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Think thou upon Tobiah.—This appeal to God is to be understood as an official prophetic prayer. Nehemiah puts God’s own cause into God’s 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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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. Neh 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Prophet. Hebrew, "the prophetess." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "My God, think thou upon Tobiah,...and on the prophetess Noadiah."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tobiah and Sanballat. See ver. 12, with the comment. The prophetess Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. She has been supposed to have succumbed to a bribe, like Shemaiah (Ewald); but this is wholly uncertain. We only know that, together with certain soi-disant prophets, she endeavoured to "put Nehemiah in fear." It is clear that she was unsuccessful.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My God, &c. - This prayer we are not to imitate.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and also Noadiah the prophetess She and the rest of the false prophets received pay from Sanballat and his cohorts in order to frighten me with their false prophecies.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.