Nehemiah 4:3

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, "Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they're building!"

Nehemiah 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 4:3

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him
Who was one of his brethren he spake before, ( Nehemiah 4:2 ) ,

and he said;
in the like contemptuous and scoffing manner;

even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall break down their
stone wall;
signifying not only that it was so low that a fox could easily get up to it, or leap over it; but that the materials were so bad, and the work so poorly done, that the weight of a fox would break it down; of which creatures many were thereabout, since Jerusalem was desolate, see ( 5:18 ) .

Nehemiah 4:3 In-Context

1 When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he became enraged and made fun of the Jews.

2 In front of his allies and the army from Samaria, he said, "What do these miserable Jews think they're doing? Can they rebuild it by themselves? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Will they get the stones out of the rubbish heaps, burned as these stones are, and give them new strength?"

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, "Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they're building!"

4 [Nehemiah prayed,] "Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners.

5 Don't ignore their guilt, and don't let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders."