Nehemiah 4:1-8

Work Is Ridiculed

1 Now it came about that when ¹Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.

2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and ²the wealthy men of Samaria and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the ³dusty rubble even the burned ones?"

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, "Even what they are building -⁴if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!"

4 ⁵Hear, O our God, how we are despised! ⁶Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.

5 Do not ⁷forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before * You, for they have demoralized * the builders.

6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.

8 All of them ⁸conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

Nehemiah 4:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 4

This chapter relates, how the Jews, while building, were mocked by their enemies, to which no answer was returned but by prayer to God, and they went on notwithstanding in their work, Ne 4:1-6 and how that their enemies conspired against them, to hinder them by force of arms, Ne 4:7-12 to oppose which, both spiritual and temporal weapons were made use of, so that the work was still carried on, Ne 4:13-23.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 2:10
• 2. Ezra 4:9, 10
• 3. Nehemiah 4:10
• 4. Lamentations 5:18
• 5. Psalms 123:3, 4
• 6. Psalms 79:12
• 7. Psalms 69:27, 28; Jeremiah 18:23
• 8. Psalms 83:3

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 3:33 in Heb
• [b]. Or "army"
• [c]. Lit "heaps of dust"
• [d]. Lit "go up"
• [e]. Lit "cover"
• [f]. Lit "offended against"
• [g]. Lit "heart"
• [h]. Ch 4:1 in Heb
• [i]. Lit "healing"