Nehemiah 6:8

Neh 6:8 Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.

Ver. 8. There are no such things done as thou sayest] Nehemiah is not too careful to clear himself. This was so transparent a lie, that a man might see through it, and was, therefore, best answered with a neglective denial. It falls out often that plain dealing puts craft out of countenance. Animus recti conscius obiecta probra ut visus nocturnos et vanas somniorum imagines digno supplicio punit, festivo scilicet contemptu, et oblivione: vel, si tanti est, misericordia elevat (John Wower).

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.

Verse 8. There are no such things done] You well know that what you say is false: I shall not, therefore, trouble myself about a false charge.

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

8. There are no such things done] Literally, ‘it has not happened or it has not been done according to these words.’ Nehemiah contents himself with curtly retorting that there is no sort of foundation for Sanballat’s words. The letters of Artaxerxes to ‘the governor beyond the river’ (Neh_2:9) were well known to all; Nehemiah could not be a rebel; he had royal and official support for his work. And the assertion that he was currently rumoured to be engaged in an insurrectionary movement was a mere pretence. The very rumour, he replies, is of Sanballat’s own making; and such as it is, it has nothing to go upon.

Nehemiah saw that the object of the letter was to damage him in the eyes of the people. Compare Sennacherib’s messengers, 2Ch_32:18.

thou feignest them out of thine own heart] i.e. your assertion that a rumour of this kind is being circulated is as much your own invention as the statements which you graft upon it. ‘Feignest.’ The Hebrew word so rendered only occurs elsewhere in the O. T. in 1Ki_12:33, ‘in the month which he had devised of his own heart.’

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.

Then I sent unto him,.... Whether a letter, or a messenger, is not said:

saying there are no such things done as thou sayest; that there was any scheme formed to rebel, and make him king, or that prophets were appointed to declare him such:

but thou feignest them out of thine own heart; in short, that they were no other than lies of his own inventing.

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

8. Thou feignest them… heart — The governor no longer hesitates to charge his enemy with devising a wicked slander.

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

Then I sent word to him

Here "I" refers to Nehemiah and "him" to Sanballat.

No such things have occurred as you say

"None of the things you have written have occurred"

for within your heart you invented them

Here the "heart" refers to the "mind," that is, to one's desires and thoughts. AT: "for within your mind you invented them" or "for you have made this up in your own imagination" (See: Metonymy)

For they all wanted to make us afraid

Here "they" refers to Nehemiah's enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and their followers. The word "us" refers to the Jews.

They will drop their hands from doing the work

This is a descriptive phrase that means that they are stopping their work on the wall. AT: "The workers on the wall will stop doing the work" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

strengthen my hands

Here Nehemiah requests for God to strengthen him by asking him to strengthen his "hands." AT: "strengthen me" or "give me courage" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

send

heart

fear

works

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

from your heart Heb. כִּי. This כִּי is in place of אֶלָּא, but.

invent them contro(u)ves eles in Old French; you are concocting them, like (I Kings 12:33): “...that he had fabricated (בָּדָה) from his heart.”

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.