Geshem

Geshem the Arabian is one of three named opponents who try to obstruct Nehemiah's rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall. He stands alongside Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, and his name appears in two spellings in the same narrative.

The Threefold Opposition to the Rebuilding

When the rebuilding party arrives, ridicule and accusation come from a coalition of three: "But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the slave, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you⁺ do? Will you⁺ rebel against the king?" (Ne 2:19). The opposition is mockery joined to a political charge — that the wall-building amounts to revolt against the Persian crown.

The Plain of Ono and the Open Letter

Once the wall is up, the same coalition shifts tactics. Geshem joins Sanballat in summoning Nehemiah to a meeting in the plain of Ono: "that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in [one of] the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do mischief to me" (Ne 6:2). Four times the request is sent and four times refused (Ne 6:3-4). Then comes the open letter, naming Geshem under his other spelling: "in which was written, It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause you are building the wall: and you would be their king, according to these words" (Ne 6:6). The same opponent appears as Geshem in narration and Gashmu in the letter — the rebuilding-rebellion accusation is now circulated as international rumor under his name.