A citation from the library
Adam Clarke, on Neh 6:5
Adam Clarke · 1762–1832
Neh 6:5 · Douay-Rheims
“And Sanaballat sent his servant to me the fifth time according to the former word, and he had a letter in his hand written in this manner:”
On this verse:
“With an open letter in his hand - This was an insult to a person of Nehemiah's quality: as letters sent to chiefs and governors in the East are always carefully folded up, and put in costly silken bags, and these carefully sealed. The circumstance is thus marked to show the contempt he (Sanballat) had for him.”
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.