Nehemiah 6:3 (DBY)

Passage

And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 6:1 And it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

Nehemiah 6:2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.

Nehemiah 6:3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?

Nehemiah 6:4 And they sent to me four times after this sort; and I answered them in the same manner.

Nehemiah 6:5 Then sent Sanballat his servant to me in this manner the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sent", "messengers", "saying", "doing", "great", "come", "down", and "should". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sent" and "messengers", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me..." into verse 4's "And they sent to me four times...", so "sent" and "messengers" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sent" and "messengers" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.