Nehemiah 4:1

1 When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us.

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 When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us.

2 In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, "What do these miserable Jews think they're doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?"

3 Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, "What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!"

4 I prayed, "Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land.

5 Don't forgive the evil they do and don't forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building."