Hakkephirim

Hakkephirim (KJV "the villages") was a place in the plain of Ono where Sanballat and Geshem tried to lure Nehemiah away from the work of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls: "Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages [Hakkephirim] in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief" (Nehemiah 6:2). Nehemiah saw through the plot and refused: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" The site lay in the western plain corridor near Lod where Sanballat hoped to ambush Nehemiah away from the safety of Jerusalem.