Nehemiah 6:10 - Exposition

A Shemaiah appears in the list of priests who afterwards signed the covenant ( Nehemiah 10:8 ); but the names in that list do not appear to be personal. There is a Shemaiah also among the priests who took part in the dedication of the wall ( Nehemiah 12:42 ); he is not said, however, to be "the son of Delaiah." Shut up . Prevented, i.e; by some legal impurity from taking part in the temple service, or even entering the temple. In the house of God, within the temple . Rather, "within the sanctuary. " The heykal was the same as the holy place, and meant that part of the temple building which intervened between the porch and the holy of holies. It corresponded, as Gesenius observes, to the body or nave of modern cathedrals. Let us shut the doors. Folding doors of fir wood separated the holy place from the porch in the temple of Solomon ( 1 Kings 6:34 ); and these had no doubt their counterpart in the restored temple. Shemaiah suggested the shutting of these doors for greater security