Tobiah
“Goodness of Yahweh; Yahweh is good”
Summary
Most notably, an Ammonite official who vigorously opposed Nehemiah's rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, representing the hereditary enmity between Israel and the neighboring peoples.
☩Family of Unknown Origin
A family called 'the children of Tobiah' returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel but were unable to prove their Israelite ancestry. Their inability to establish their genealogical connection with Israel meant their status remained uncertain.
☩Opponent of Nehemiah
Tobiah the Ammonite, called 'the servant' (possibly a term of contempt, or indicating he was a Persian official), was a chief antagonist of Nehemiah's rebuilding project. Together with Sanballat the Moabite, he represented the hereditary hatred that Moab and Ammon bore toward Israel. Their scornful mockery—'Even if a fox go up, he will break down their stone wall'—provoked Nehemiah to pray for vindication.
☩Connections with Jewish Nobility
Despite being an Ammonite, Tobiah had married the daughter of Shechaniah son of Arah, and his son Johanan married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. These family connections created a strong pro-Tobiah faction among the Jewish nobles, who reported Nehemiah's words to Tobiah and praised Tobiah's good deeds to Nehemiah. Even the high priest Eliashib was allied with Tobiah.
☩Conspiracies and Intimidation
Tobiah maintained correspondence with the nobles of Judah and sent threatening letters to intimidate Nehemiah. He conspired with Sanballat and Geshem to harm Nehemiah through various schemes, including false meetings and the hiring of prophets to prophesy against him.
☩Expulsion from the Temple
In a crowning act of presumption, Tobiah took up residence in a chamber of the temple that Eliashib the priest had prepared for him—in direct violation of the Mosaic statute excluding Ammonites from the congregation. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and discovered this desecration, he cast out all of Tobiah's household goods and had the chambers cleansed.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Tobiah," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. X (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Tobiah," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. V (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Tobiah," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).