Nehemiah 4:1

1 But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

Nehemiah 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 4:1

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we
builded the wall
Or were building it; for as yet it was not finished, see ( Nehemiah 4:6 ) ,

he was wroth, and took great indignation;
inwardly, though outwardly he pretended to treat the work with contempt, as if it never would be accomplished, which yet he feared:

and mocked the Jews;
as a set of foolish builders, and unable to finish what they had begun.

Nehemiah 4:1 In-Context

1 But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall.

4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;

5 and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked [thee] to anger before the builders.