Nehemiah 6:10

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Shemaiah: Nehemiah 6:12, Ezra 8:16, Ezra 10:31, Proverbs 11:9, Matthew 7:15

shut up: 2 Kings 9:8, Jeremiah 36:5, Ezekiel 3:24

Let us meet: Psalms 12:2, Psalms 37:12, Psalms 120:2, Psalms 120:3

the house: 1 Kings 6:5, 2 Kings 11:3

let us shut: 2 Chronicles 28:24, 2 Chronicles 29:3, 2 Chronicles 29:7, Malachi 1:10, Acts 21:30

in the night: Job 24:13-17, John 3:20

Reciprocal: Psalms 11:3 - what Psalms 27:5 - secret John 20:19 - when

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up,.... Either in his own house, or in a chamber in the temple, as if he had given himself up to meditation, fasting, and prayer; or, as he might suggest to Nehemiah, for his safety, and so designed it as an example to him; this man might be a priest of the course of Delaiah, 1 Chronicles 24:18 or however he was a person Nehemiah had a good opinion of, and came to him on the letters sent to him by his enemies, to consult with him, and the rest, since they had suggested that he had appointed prophets to speak of him as a king:

and he said let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; this looks as if he was in his own house, or if in a chamber of the temple, that he thought that was not secret and safe enough, and therefore proposed going within the temple, into the holy place, where none but priests might go:

for they will come to slay thee; meaning his enemies, Sanballat and his companions:

yea, in the night they will come to slay thee; that very night, and therefore no time should be lost in providing for his safety.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who was shut up - On account, probably, of some legal uncleaness. Compare Jeremiah 36:5.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Nehemiah 6:10. Who was shut up — Lived in a sequestered, solitary state; pretending to sanctity, and to close intercourse with God.

Let us meet together in the house of God — The meaning is, "Shut yourself up in the temple; appear to have taken sanctuary there, for in it alone can you find safety." This he said to discourage and disgrace him, and to ruin the people; for, had Nehemiah taken his advice, the people would have been without a leader, their enemies would have come upon them at once, and they would have been an easy prey. Besides, had Nehemiah done this, he would have been shut up in the temple, his government would have been declared at an end, and Sanballat would have assumed the reins.