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Updated: May 12, 2025
A great crowd of Samaritans is gathered together outside the northern wall, and is standing still, staring at them, and watching their every movement as they build the wall. Sanballat the governor is there, Tobiah the secretary stands by his side, his chief counsellors have come with him, as have also the officers of his army.
Even a fox will throw down that wall; the very first thing that comes to vex him, the very first temptation, however small, will be sufficient to overturn the wall of good resolutions, and his religious professions will lie low in the dust, and will be shown to be nothing but rubbish. It is well to be prepared for Sanballat and Tobiah, for any day we may come across them.
And Sanballat smiled, and made ready to write. "If Caesar die to-morrow," he said, "Rome will not be all bereft. There is at least one other with spirit to take his place. Give me six." "Six be it," answered Messala. There was another shout louder than the first. "Six be it," repeated Messala. "Six to one the difference between a Roman and a Jew.
These three, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, cannot conceal their disgust that anyone has been sent from Persia to look after the welfare of Jerusalem. So far they have trampled the Jews under foot as much as possible, and the Jews have been powerless to resist them.
Another would have been sure to grumble at the expense, would have asked how they, poor down-trodden Jews as they were, could ever afford to give time or money to such a vast undertaking? A third would have risen with a long face, and would have asked, 'What will Sanballat say if we rebuild the wall? What will Tobiah do? What will Geshem whisper?
The fourth, for the discovery and punishment of malignants, that increase or continue our division. Without a covenant such a discovery did Mordecai make of Bigthan and Teresh, the king's eunuchs. Such a discovery made the Jews of Sanballat, and his fellows to Nehemiah. Josiah was not without his informers. But with a covenant was the punishment of such varlets settled.
"Write, then, five in place of twenty." "Hast thou so much?" "By the mother of the gods, I will show you receipts." "Nay, the word of so brave a Roman must pass. Only make the sum even six make it, and I will write." "Write it so." And forthwith they exchanged writings. Sanballat immediately arose and looked around him, a sneer in place of his smile.
"Hush! One to one, my countrymen one to one, for love of our ancient Roman name." The timely action recovered him his ascendancy. "O thou circumcised dog!" he continued, to Sanballat, "I gave thee six to one, did I not?" "Yes," said the Jew, quietly. "Well, give me now the fixing of the amount." "With reserve, if the amount be trifling, have thy will," answered Sanballat.
We saw that Eliashib, the high priest, had a grandson named Manasseh, that Manasseh married the daughter of Sanballat, the Samaritan governor, and that Nehemiah felt very strongly that the temple would never be cleansed, nor God's blessing rest upon them as a nation, so long as one of their own priests had a heathen wife, and was in constant communication with Sanballat.
The first thing we read, after the decision had been made to rebuild the walls, is: "When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?" These men were very indignant. They didn't care for the welfare of Jerusalem. Who were they?
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