Nehemiah 4:1

1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded 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 builded 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 do these feeble Jews? 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 the rubbish which are burned ?

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

4 Hear , O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the 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 .