Nehemiah 2:9-10

Nehemiah Takes The Road To Jerusalem With A Suitable Armed Guard (Nehemiah 2:9).

Having received the king's permission, and having obtained his letters of authority, Nehemiah set off for Jerusalem accompanied by a suitable armed escort. He was a leading Persian courtier travelling in a way that befitted his dignity. The king would hardly have allowed otherwise. This was not an Ezra travelling with a large party of returnees. This was a king's favourite and royal official who was travelling in style, and it was the king who would decide on his escort. This was all to the good for it no doubt made the right impression on the governors of the Province when they received the king's letters. They would know what manner of man this was.

Nehemiah 2:9

‘Then I came to the governors of Beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.'

Arriving in the Province of Beyond The River in style, he handed over the king's letters to the various governors. He was accompanied by his royal escort which would in itself speak volumes. All would acknowledge his importance and would no doubt help him on his way.

Nehemiah 2:10

‘And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them greatly, in that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.'

There were, however, two officials who were not pleased at his arrival. These were Sanballat the Horonite, who was probably the governor of the district of Samaria, which up to this time had probably included Judah, (we know that he certainly was later), and Tobiah the Servant, the Ammonite, who may well have been his deputy, but was certainly closely connected with him. They were ‘greatly grieved' that such an important and influential man had come in order to look after the welfare of ‘the children of Israel'. This is not surprising. They had looked on them as easy pickings, but now they had to recognise that, with the arrival of Nehemiah, duly appointed by the king, the situation had changed.

That the returnees were thought of as ‘the children of Israel' hints at the fact that the returnees now indeed saw themselves as the true Israel, something already made clear in Ezra 2:2; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 9:8. But it also made clear that the returnees, while an identifiable group, were scattered among the local population (they were ‘the children of Israel' not ‘Israel'), and were probably looked on as fair game, both to be excessively taxed and to be treated contemptuously, and even violently. This was undoubtedly why they were experiencing such anguish and reproach (Nehemiah 1:3). The coming of Ezra would unquestionably have uplifted them spiritually, but he had not had the authority to outface the Governor of Samaria. Nehemiah, however, was of a different standing. It was clear from his royal escort that he was an important Persian official, and the letters had no doubt made clear that he was appointed as the independent Governor of Judah. He therefore had the authority to stand up to Sanballat, and the self-confidence with which to back it up (Nehemiah 6:11). Sanballat and Tobiah, on the other hand, were probably not aware how close he stood to the king, otherwise they would not have later thought that they could traduce him.

Both Sanballat, whose sons names (Delaiah and Shelemiah) included the Name of Yah, and Tobi-yah, were apparently syncretistic Yahwists, the consequence of this being that much of their opposition to the returnees was probably religious. They still took offence at the fact that the returnees had never allowed their fathers, or themselves, a part in the worship of the Temple at Jerusalem (Ezra 4:2). And they therefore did everything possible to make life difficult for the returnees. There were indeed large numbers of Yahwists in the district of Samaria (which probably included Judah), some of whom were descended from the newcomers introduced by various kings (2 Kings 17:24; 2 Kings 17:33; Ezra 4:9), and others of whom were descended from the old Israel and Judah which had become so involved in idolatry (Jeremiah 39:10; Jeremiah 40:5). These were now all excluded from the new Israel because of their connections with idolatry.

We know from the Elephantine papyri that Sanballat was governor of Samaria in 408 BC, but clearly then ageing in that his sons were acting for him. And in view of his prominence in the opposition and the way that he treated Nehemiah on equal terms (Nehemiah 6), and that Nehemiah never resents it, it must be seen as probable that he was already governor. Nehemiah, it is true, never gives him the title. But that may simply have been due to the fact that Nehemiah was indicating his contempt for him, preferring to call him ‘the Horonite' (probably ‘resident of Beth-Horon' (Joshua 16:3; Joshua 16:5) and therefore not to be seen as a genuine Yahwist). We can compare the similar ‘Tobiah -- the Ammonite'. Meanwhile the title given to Tobiah of ‘the Servant', while it could indicate ‘servant of the king' and be an honourable title, was probably rather intended by Nehemiah to indicate Tobiah's slavish obedience to Sanballat. In later centuries the name Tobiah was linked with a prominent Ammonite family, but Tobiah was a common Jewish name (‘YHWH is good'), and there may have been no connection.