What Does Nehemiah 6:6 Mean in the King James?
Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A circulating report turns the wall into supposed proof of rebellion by claiming to know the builders’ hidden intent.
THE MEANING
A claim can arrive dressed as public consensus: it is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it. The accusation makes the wall seem to prove a plan for power, though the verse presents that motive as something alleged. You can see how a story about your intentions can gather force simply by being repeated.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A charge does not become true because it is said to be common knowledge or repeated by another person.
THE ROOT
שְׁמוּעָה
shemuʿah
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
š-m-ʿ
To hear or listen; שְׁמוּעָה means a report, something heard.
“reported” in this verse is shemuʿah. The verse begins with a word for something heard, then adds that Gashmu says it: hearing and repeating are the report’s stated credentials. The root makes the accusation’s circulation visible without making that circulation proof.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: To hear or listen.
שָׁמַע
The report is something heard; the root itself does not establish whether its content is true.
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root can carry listening that leads to response, showing how a heard claim can move people before it is examined.
shomēaʿ: One who hears; a hearer.
שׁוֹמֵעַ
The word family includes the hearer as well as the report, keeping attention on how a claim passes from one person to another.
חֹשְׁבִים
ḥōshevîm
GROWS FROM
חשב
ḥ-sh-v
To think, reckon, devise, or plan.
“think” in this verse is ḥōshevîm. The verb can describe thought as well as devising or reckoning, so the accusation attributes a calculated plan, not merely a passing idea. The verse exposes how an interpretation of visible work can be presented as certain knowledge of someone else’s intent.
ALSO GROWS
maḥashavah: Thought, plan, or design.
מַחֲשָׁבָה
This related noun shows the root’s reach from thinking into forming a plan, the very motive the accusation assigns.
ḥeshbôn: An account or reckoning.
חֶשְׁבּוֹן
The reckoning sense illuminates how the allegation frames the wall as calculated evidence of ambition.
THE PATTERN
A claim gains credibility when it is heard as settled fact, so testimony must be examined rather than accepted by its repetition.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.THE THREAD
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?Isaiah uses the same Hebrew word, שְׁמוּעָה (shemuʿah), meaning report, from the root שׁמע (š-m-ʿ), to hear. In Nehemiah the report is offered as proof by its circulation; Isaiah’s question turns attention to what is heard and believed.
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