Geshem

Geshem the Arab was one of the three principal opponents of Nehemiah's project to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, alongside Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite (Nehemiah 2:19; 6:1–2). He appears to have been a powerful Arabian chieftain or official in the region south and east of Judah, possibly the leader of the Kedarite Arabs who controlled trade routes through the Negev and Sinai. Geshem's opposition to Jerusalem's reconstruction likely reflected his interest in maintaining the political and commercial weakness of Judah.

When the wall was nearly complete, Sanballat and Geshem sent repeated messages inviting Nehemiah to a conference at one of the villages in the plain of Ono — invitations Nehemiah rightly perceived as attempts on his life and refused four times. Geshem also appears in a false accusation: Sanballat sent an open letter claiming that Geshem had reported that Nehemiah and the Jews were rebelling and planning to make Nehemiah king (Nehemiah 6:6). An Arabian inscription from the late fifth century BC mentions a Gashmu (Geshem) son of Shahar as ruler of Qedar, providing potential extra-biblical corroboration for this figure.