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SANBALLAT

(Heb. sanballaṭ)

A leader of the opposition to Nehemiah’s rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Derived from Akk. Sin-ubal-lit, the name means “may [the god] Sin give him life.” In view of this foreign name, scholars speculate that Sanballat may have descended from a family settled in Israel by the Assyrians in the 8th century (2 Kgs. 17:24; cf. Ezra 4:1-3). However, one of the Elephantine papyri gives the names of his two sons as Delaiah and Shelemiah, both compounded with the shortened name of God, Yah. In addition, one of the grandsons of the high priest Eliashib was his son-in-law. It seems likely, then, that Sanballat thought of himself as a loyal Yahwist.

Sanballat is also called “the Horonite.” Given his Akkadian name, scholars have suggested variously that he came from Haran in northern Mesopotamia, which was the center of worship of the moon-god Sin; from Hauran, a former Assyrian province in northern Transjordan; or from Horonamim in Moab. A more likely possibility is that the name derived from one of the cities named Beth-horon settled by the Ephraimites.

The aforementioned Elephantine papyrus calls Sanballat governor of Samaria, and as such he was also responsible for Judah and Jerusalem. He may well have thought he had jurisdiction over Nehemiah, who instead claimed to be the agent of King Artaxerxes and thus beyond Sanballat’s control.

Sanballat joined with Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab to oppose Nehemiah’s plans on behalf of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:10-19). They charged Nehemiah with plotting to commit treason, specifically with wanting to reestablish the monarchy and revolt against Persian control — hence, the need for a wall around Jerusalem (Neh. 6:6-7). Nehemiah repudiated such thinking as a product of their own imaginations, but he probably did hope the city and its environs would be separated from Samaria and granted a modicum of self-rule. A wall would also allow further economic growth. Sanballat and his companions were prepared to use force to stop Nehemiah (Neh. 4:8[MT 2]). When the three proposed a meeting with Nehemiah (Neh. 6:1-9), he was suspicious of their motives and refused to meet with them. Despite Nehemiah’s success, Sanballat did not easily relinquish control over Jerusalem, as the marriage of his daughter to the grandson of the high priest Eliashib proves (Neh. 13:28).

Bibliography. J. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah. OTL (Philadelphia, 1988); P. L. Redditt, “Nehemiah’s First Mission and the Date of Zechariah 14,,” CBQ 56 (1994): 664-78.

Paul L. Redditt

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SANBALLAT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)