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10. Shemaiah. Nothing further is known of this prophet Shemaiah. At least five other men by this name are mentioned as living in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, but none of the others can be identified with this Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah.

Who was shut up. This phrase cannot mean that Nehemiah visited Shemaiah in his house because the latter could not come to him, on account of being either ceremonially unclean or restrained by the hand of the Lord or otherwise. That such an interpretation is incorrect is apparent from Shemaiah’s proposal to Nehemiah to accompany him to the house of God. It follows, therefore, that Shemaiah had shut himself in his house, as if to intimate to Nehemiah that he felt his own life in danger. He sought thus to induce Nehemiah to agree to his proposal that they should both escape the snares laid for them by fleeing to the Temple. It is also possible that Shemaiah intended his self-imposed imprisonment as a symbolic act designed to reinforce his supposed message from God (see Eze. 4:1-10; Eze. 12:3-9; etc.). Both views are possible.

Within the temple. As distinguished from the “house of God,” “temple” means the sanctuary, and not simply a room in some building within the Temple area. Of course, no layman was allowed to enter the Temple (see Ex. 29:33), and Nehemiah would have aroused the displeasure of God and the priests had he followed the advice. Doors separated the holy place from the porch of the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:33, 34), and this was no doubt the case with the restored Temple also. Shemaiah suggested the shutting of these doors for greater security.