Nehemiah 2:17

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

Nehemiah 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:17

Then said I unto them
The priests and princes of the Jews:

you see the distress that we are in;
lie open to our enemies, and exposed to their insults:

how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire,
( Nehemiah 1:3 ) ( Nehemiah 2:3 Nehemiah 2:13 ) ,

come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a
reproach;
to their neighbours about them, who scoffed at them as a defenceless people and frequently came in upon them, and spoiled and plundered them of their goods and substance.

Nehemiah 2:17 In-Context

15 so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”