Nehemiah 4:3

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "Indeed that which they build, if a fox go up, even he shall break down their stone wall."

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 But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth and felt great indignation and mocked the Jews.

2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they make sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?"

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "Indeed that which they build, if a fox go up, even he shall break down their stone wall."

4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them as a prey in the land of captivity.

5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before Thee; for they have provoked Thee to anger before the builders.