Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”
Parallel Translations
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Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”
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Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
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Then I sent unto him, saying: 'There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 6:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 52:2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- Job 13:4 But you are forgers of lies. You are all physicians of no value.
- Psalms 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
- Psalms 38:12 They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
- Isaiah 59:4 No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.
- Daniel 11:27 As for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table; but it won’t prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
- Matthew 12:34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- John 8:44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
- Acts 24:12-13 In the temple they didn’t find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the synagogues, or in the city. Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.
- Acts 25:7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove,
- Acts 25:10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also know very well.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Neh 6:8 Then I sent unto him, saying, There…
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then I sent unto him,.... Whether a letter, or…
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:
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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.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. There are no such things done] You…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Thou feignest them… heart — The governor no…
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. There are no such things done] Literally, ‘it…
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.
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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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Then I sent word to him
Then I sent word to him
Here "I" refers to Nehemiah and "him" to Sanballat.
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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.