נחמיה, פרק ו׳, פסוק ח׳

Faced with ongoing efforts to sabotage the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Nehemiah strongly rejects the false accusations leveled against him and exposes the deep hypocrisy of his enemies. When Sanballat invites him to a joint consultation under the guise of friendship, Nehemiah recognizes it as a complete scam. He directly confronts Sanballat, pointing out the absolute absurdity of the offer. Up to this point, the enemies of Judea had used every possible tactic to terrorize the builders and break their resolve. It defies all logic to believe that a bitter adversary has suddenly transformed into a caring ally seeking to offer support [מלבי״ם].

Nehemiah firmly dismantles the specific claims made against him, making it clear that there is no truth whatsoever to the stories of a planned rebellion or the appointment of personal prophets [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He further emphasizes the baseless nature of these claims by pointing out that such rumors have not even been whispered among the surrounding nations [רלב״ג, מצודת דוד].

Moving beyond a simple denial, Nehemiah identifies the true source of the deception. He explains that these stories are not misinterpretations of actual events, nor are they based on passing gossip. Rather, they are complete fabrications [רש״י]. Sanballat has simply invented these falsehoods from his own imagination, creating malicious lies out of thin air to serve his destructive agenda [אבן עזרא].