Nehemiah 4:1

Opposition Begins

1 Now it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, [he] became angry and greatly provoked, and he 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 Now it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, [he] became angry and greatly provoked, and he mocked the Jews.

2 Then he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, "What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore [these things] for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble--even those burned up?"

3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, "Their wall of stone that they are building would break down if a fox went on it!"

4 Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn on their head and give them over to plunder in the land of captivity.

5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have {provoked the builders to anger}.

Footnotes

• [a] Nehemiah 4:1-23 in the English Bible is 3:33-4:17 in the Hebrew Bible