A verse by verse commentary on Nehemiah 4 dealing with how the success of Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem brought forth much opposition.

1. EHEMIAH 4 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 [a]When Sanballat heard that we were
rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was
greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,
GILL, "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 Neh_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.
HE RY 1-2, "Here is, I. The spiteful scornful reflection which Sanballat and Tobiah
cast upon the Jews for their attempt to build the wall about Jerusalem. The country rang
of it presently; intelligence was brought of it to Samaria, that nest of enemies to the Jews
and their prosperity; and here we are told how they received the tidings. 1. In heart. They
were very angry at the undertaking, and had great indignation, Neh_4:1. It vexed them
that Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel (Neh_2:10); but, when
they heard of this great undertaking for their good, they were out of all patience. They
had hitherto pleased themselves with the thought that while Jerusalem was unwalled
they could swallow it up and make themselves masters of it when they pleased; but, if it
be walled, it will not only be fenced against them, but by degrees become formidable to
them. The strength and safety of the church are the grief and vexation of its enemies. 2.
In word. They despised it, and made it the subject of their ridicule. In this they
sufficiently displayed their malice; but good was brought out of it; for, looking upon it as
a foolish undertaking that would sink under its own weight, they did not go about to
obstruct it till it was too late. Let us see with what pride and malice they set themselves
publicly to banter it. (1.) Sanballat speaks with scorn of the workmen: “These feeble
Jews” (Neh_4:2), “what will they do for materials? Will they revive the stones out of the
rubbish? And what mean they by being so hasty? Do they think to make the walling of a
city but one day's work, and to keep the feast of dedication with sacrifice the next day?

2. Poor silly people! See how ridiculous they make themselves!” (2.) Tobiah speaks with no
less scorn of the work itself. He has his jest too, and must show his wit, Neh_4:3.
Profane scoffers sharpen one another. “Sorry work,” says he, “they are likely to make of
it; they themselves will be ashamed of it: If a fox go up, not with his subtlety, but with
his weight, he will break down their stone wall.” Many a good work has been thus
looked upon with contempt by the proud and haughty scorners.
JAMISO , "Neh_4:1-6. While the enemies scoff, Nehemiah prays to God, and
continues the work.
when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth — The
Samaritan faction showed their bitter animosity to the Jews on discovering the
systematic design of refortifying Jerusalem. Their opposition was confined at first to
scoffs and insults, in heaping which the governors made themselves conspicuous, and
circulated all sorts of disparaging reflections that might increase the feelings of hatred
and contempt for them in their own party. The weakness of the Jews in respect of wealth
and numbers, the absurdity of their purpose apparently to reconstruct the walls and
celebrate the feast of dedication in one day, the idea of raising the walls on their old
foundations, as well as using the charred and moldering debris of the ruins as the
materials for the restored buildings, and the hope of such a parapet as they could raise
being capable of serving as a fortress of defense - these all afforded fertile subjects of
hostile ridicule.
K&D 1-2, "The ridicule of Tobiah and Sanballat. - As soon as Sanballat heard that we
were building (‫ים‬ִ‫ּנ‬ , partic., expresses not merely the resolve or desire to build, but also
the act of commencing), he was wroth and indignant, and vented his anger by ridiculing
the Jews, saying before his brethren, i.e., the rulers of his people, and the army of
Samaria (‫יל‬ ֵ‫,ח‬ like Est_1:3; 2Ki_18:17), - in other words, saying publicly before his
associates and subordinates, - “What do these feeble Jews? will they leave it to
themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish it to-day? will they revive the stones out
of the heaps that are burned?” ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּשׂ‬‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫,מ‬ not, What will they do? (Bertheau), for the
participle is present, and does not stand for the future; but, What are they doing? The
form ‫ל‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֵ‫מ‬ ֲ‫,א‬ withered, powerless, occurs here only. The subject of the four succeeding
interrogative sentences must be the same. And this is enough to render inadmissible the
explanation offered by older expositors of ‫ם‬ ֶ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫בוּ‬ְ‫ז‬ ַ‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ ֲ‫:ה‬ Will they leave to them, viz., will the
neighbouring nations or the royal prefects allow them to build? Here, as in the case of
the following verbs, the subject can only be the Jews. Hence Ewald seeks, both here and
in Neh_4:8, to give to the verb ‫ב‬ַ‫ז‬ ָ‫ע‬ the meaning to shelter: Will they make a shelter for
themselves, i.e., will they fortify the town? But this is quite arbitrary. Bertheau more
correctly compares the passage, Psa_10:14, ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ‫נוּ‬ ְ‫ב‬ַ‫ז‬ ָ‫,ע‬ we leave it to God; but
incorrectly infers that here also we must supply ‫אלהים‬ ‫,על‬ and that, Will they leave to
themselves? means, Will they commit the matter to God. This mode of completing the
sense, however, can by no means be justified; and Bertheau's conjecture, that the Jews
now assembling in Jerusalem, before commencing the work itself, instituted a
devotional solemnity which Sanballat was ridiculing, is incompatible with the correct

3. rendering of the participle. ‫ב‬ַ‫ז‬ ָ‫ע‬ construed with ְ‫ל‬ means to leave, to commit a matter to
any one, like Psa_10:14, and the sense is: Will they leave the building of the fortified
walls to themselves? i.e., Do they think they are able with their poor resources to carry
out this great work? This is appropriately followed by the next question: Will they
sacrifice? i.e., bring sacrifices to obtain God's miraculous assistance? The ridicule lies in
the circumstance that Sanballat neither credited the Jews with ability to carry out the
work, nor believed in the overruling providence of the God whom the Jews worshipped,
and therefore casts scorn by ‫חוּ‬ ָ ְ‫ז‬ִ‫י‬ ֲ‫ה‬ both upon the faith of the Jews in their God and upon
the living God Himself. As these two questions are internally connected, so also are the
two following, by which Sanballat casts a doubt upon the possibility of the work being
executed. Will they finish (the work) on this day, i.e., to-day, directly? The meaning is: Is
this a matter to be as quickly executed as if it were the work of a single day? The last
question is: Have they even the requisite materials? Will they revive the stones out of the
heaps of rubbish which are burnt? The building-stone of Jerusalem was limestone,
which gets softened by fire, losing its durability, and, so to speak, its vitality. This
explains the use of the verb ‫ה‬ָ ִ‫,ח‬ to revive, bestow strength and durability upon the
softened crumbled stones, to fit the stones into a new building (Ges. Lex.). The
construction ‫ּות‬‫פ‬‫רוּ‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ ֵ‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ is explained by the circumstance that ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ ָ‫ב‬ ֲ‫א‬ is by its form
masculine, but by its meaning feminine, and that ‫ה‬ ָ ֵ‫ה‬ agrees with the form ‫.אבנים‬
COFFMA , "Verse 1
BITTER E EMIES OF ISRAEL OPPOSE REBUILDI G THE WALL
Two false interpretations of ehemiah thus far must be rejected. One we have
already noted, namely, the allegation that ehemiah 3 was not written by ehemiah
and that it was "injected" into ehemiah's narrative. The other is the inaccurate
allegation that ehemiah 3:3-6 "suggest the completion of the wall."[1] o such
suggestion is found in ehemiah 3. Oh yes, it says various workers "repaired!" this
or that section of the wall; but that only designates the different assignments to the
forty different companies of workers; and there's not a word in the whole chapter
that even hints that the walls were completed. If ehemiah had intended this third
chapter to indicate the completion of the wall, the dedication of it would have
followed at once.
This chapter records the hostility and bitterness of Israel's neighbors when they
became aware of ehemiah's rebuilding the city's fortifications. "Sanballat in
Samaria on the north, Tobiah and the Ammonites on the east, Geshem and his
Arabs to the south, and the Ashdodites and all the Philistines who had hated Israel
from the times of Saul and David,"[2] - all of these surrounding neighbors were
outraged and disgusted with the prospect of Jerusalem's restoration; and they
opposed it in every way possible.
THE E EMIES BEGI THEIR ATTACK WITH RIDICULE A D MOCKERY
"But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he

4. was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before
his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing?
will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will
they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned? ow
Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if
a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God; for we are
despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a
spoil in a land of captivity; 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. So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the
height thereof: for the people had a mind to work."
This was only the first phase of Sanballat's efforts to stop the fortification of
Jerusalem. When this failed, he would try other measures. However, except for the
remarkable ability and skill of ehemiah, this initial opposition of laughter, ridicule
and insults might have proved successful. " othing makes the enemies of the Lord's
work any more indignant than the success of God's people."[3]
The nature of the insults heaped upon the Jews here was calculated to discourage
them. They were called, "feeble Jews"; "will they fortify themselves"? was asked in
a tone of unbelief. "The very idea that these people would contemplate such a
thing." "Will they sacrifice"? was a way of asking, "Do they expect their God to do
this for them'? "Will they revive the stones ... seeing they are burned"? "The effect
of fire is to crack and weaken stone";[4] and this insult was merely a charge that the
Jews did not have the material to rebuild the walls. Insults hurt, even if they are
untrue. This one was only true in a very limited frame of reference. The stones from
the vast majority of the ruined walls were in excellent condition. Only those ruined
by the burned wooden gates would have been affected.
"If a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall" ( ehemiah 4:3). "Foxes were
mentioned, perhaps, from their having been known in large numbers to infest the
ruined walls of Jerusalem, as recorded in Lamentations 5:18)."[5] This insult was
that of Tobiah.
"Hear, O our God, for we are despised ..." ( ehemiah 4:4,5). This writer agrees
with Jamieson that, "This prayer is not marked by hatred, vengeance, nor any other
sinful passion, and that it exhibits a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and
the success of his cause."[6] As we noted in our discussion of the so-called
imprecatory Psalms, many of the things that current scholars are saying about such
prayers evidences a claim of superior righteousness that we believe is unjustified.
Rawlinson wrote that, "Before men were taught to love their enemies and to bless
them that cursed them (Matthew 5:44), they gave vent to their natural feelings of
anger and indignation by the utterance of maledictions in their prayers."[7] "The
violence of ehemiah's imprecations here ( ehemiah 4:4) grates harshly on modern
ears; but it should be remembered that such vehemence against enemies appears
repeatedly in the Psalms (Psalms 79:4-12; 123:3-4, and Psalms 137:7-9)."[8] (We

5. have discussed this fully under those references in our Commentary on The Psalms.)
Christians should remember that when they pray for God's will to be done, for
righteouness and truth to prevail, and for the righteous to be protected and blessed,
that there is most certainly a corollary to such a prayer; and that is that falsehood
shall be repudiated, the wicked defeated, frustrated, and checkmated, and that the
wicked shall indeed be cast into hell. There was nothing in ehemiah's prayer that
is not contained embryonically in every prayer of a Christian today.
" ehemiah's short prayer here is parenthetical; and such prayers form one of the
most striking characteristics of ehemiah's history. This is the first one, and others
are in ehemiah 5:19; 6:9,14; and ehemiah 13:14,22,29,31."[9]
"So we built the wall ... unto half the height thereof" ( ehemiah 4:6). "This means
that the entire continuous wall had been constructed up to one half the
contemplated height."[10] The taunting ridicule and mockery of the neighboring
enemies had not succeeded in stopping construction.
BE SO , "Verse 1-2
ehemiah 4:1-2. And mocked the Jews — Pretending contempt in his words, when
he had grief, anger, and vexation in his heart. And he spake before his brethren —
Before Tobiah, Geshem, and others, whom ehemiah calls his brethren, because of
their conjunction with him in office and interest. And the army in Samaria —
Whom he hereby designed to incense against them, or, at least, whose minds he
thought thus to learn. What do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify, &c. — Do they
intend to begin and finish the work, and keep the feast of dedication by sacrifice, all
in one day? For if they spend any long time about it, they cannot think that we and
the rest of their neighbours will suffer them to do it. Thus he persuaded himself and
his companions that their attempt was ridiculous; and this mistake kept him from
giving them any disturbance till it was too late. So did God infatuate him to his own
grief and shame, and to the advantage of the Jews. Will they revive the stones out of
the heaps of rubbish? — Will they pick up their broken stones out of the ruins, and
patch them together? Which are burned — Which stones were burned, and broken
by the Chaldeans, when they took the city.
TRAPP, "Verse 1
ehemiah 4:1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the
wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
Ver. 1. But it came to pass] The devil and his imps have ever been utter enemies to
reformation. So do savage beasts bristle up themselves, and make the most fierce
assaults, when they are in danger of losing the prey which they had once seized on.
Jabeshgilead would send in none to help the Lord against the mighty, 21:9. o more
would Meroz, 5:23. Josiah met with much opposition; so did St Paul wherever he
came, to set up evangelical and spiritual worship; which is called a reformation,
Hebrews 9:10. All the world was against Athanasius in his generation, and Luther
in his; rejecting what they attempted, with scorn and slander. Here it is quarrel
enough to ehemiah and his Jews, that they would be no longer miserable. They

6. were not more busy in building than the enemies active in deriding, conspiring,
practising to hinder and overthrow them. A double derision is here recorded; and
both as full of mischief as profane wit or rancoured malice could make them.
He was wroth] Heb. He was enkindled, and all on a light fire; he was as hot as
ebuchadnezzar’s oven, very hot, he took great indignation, and was so
unreasonably enraged, as if he would have fallen forthwith into a frenzy or
apoplexy; as that Roman emperor did, by raging at his servant. He was grieved
before, ehemiah 2:1, but now he was maddened.
And mocked the Jews] By word and gesture, fleering and jeering, flouting and
scoffing at them, as the Pharisees also did at our Saviour, Luke 16:14; David’s
enemies at him, upon their ale bench; Sir Thomas More and other learned Papists,
at the new gospellers. See ehemiah 2:19. This might have dismayed these poor
Jews, and put them out of countenance: for our nature is most impatient with
reproaches; there being none so mean but thinks himself worthy of some regard:
and a reproachful scorn (such as these here) shows an utter disrespect, which
issueth from the very superfluity of malice. If God had not strengthened them, saith
one, it would have made them leave their work, and run away.
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-23
2. The opposition to the workers ch4
Any attempt to fulfill God"s desires will almost certainly draw opposition from
God"s enemies.
"The real test of a leader is how he or she faces crises and reacts to opposition. This
chapter recounts several forms of opposition and how ehemiah confronted them."
[ ote: Breneman, p193.]
The Jews" enemies used ridicule ( ehemiah 4:1-6), as well as armed resistance (
ehemiah 4:8), to oppose the work. A better translation of the Hebrew word
rendered "wealthy" ( ehemiah 4:2) is "army."
"The Hebrew root "mll is occasionally used in the OT to denote the fading or
withering of a plant ( Isaiah 16:8; Isaiah 24:7; etc.). It is also used of people without
any hope ( Isaiah 19:8; Hosea 4:3). It is employed here in ehemiah [translated
"feeble," ehemiah 4:2, ASB, IV] to ridicule the Jews." [ ote: Fensham, p180.]
ehemiah based his imprecatory prayer ( ehemiah 4:4-5) on God"s promise that
He would bless those who blessed Abraham"s descendants, and curse those who
cursed them ( Genesis 12:1-3).
"God"s people should always regard prayer not as a last resort but as our primary
weapon against opposition." [ ote: Breneman, p194.]

7. We should probably understand ehemiah"s request that God would not forgive
their sin ( ehemiah 4:5) as referring to their sin of opposing the builders, not all
their sins. John Bright considered ehemiah "not ... an overly modest man." [ ote:
Bright, p373.] This is a minority opinion.
"The iniquities and sins were committed by sneering at the work God had
commanded. The prayer was thus not vindictive because the Jews were insulted, but
because God"s work was ridiculed." [ ote: Fensham, p182.]
"To understand such violent language, we need to appreciate fully the sense of the
divine purpose at work, so that opposition is not seen in human terms but as
opposition to God himself." [ ote: Peter Ackroyd, I and 2 Chronicles ,, Ezra ,,
ehemiah , pp277-78.]
Furthermore, God had already pronounced judgment on Israel"s enemies, so
ehemiah was praying according to God"s will that He would deliver Jerusalem
from her enemies ( Joshua 1:5). Finally, ehemiah was asking God to take
vengeance, which is His work, not the work of ehemiah or other believers (cf.
Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19). [ ote: Gene A. Getz, " ehemiah ," in The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p682.]
ehemiah and the people"s responses to opposition-prayer, continued work, and
self-defense ( ehemiah 4:9)-are the proper ones whenever an enemy seeks to stop
the building of what God has commanded (e.g, His church, cf. Matthew 16:18).
With the added opposition of the Ashdodites, the residents of a formerly Philistine
town ( ehemiah 4:7), the Jews" enemies surrounded them on all sides: north,
south, east, and west. Josephus wrote, "They slew many of the Jews." [ ote: Flavius
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 11:5:8.] The workers became discouraged by their
own fatigue, the immensity of their task, and the threats of their enemies (
ehemiah 4:10-12). ehemiah responded by increasing security, focusing their
attention again on God, and reminding them of their duty to protect their families
and property ( ehemiah 4:13-14). Oliver Cromwell similarly counseled, "Trust in
God and keep your [gun]powder dry." C. H. Spurgeon advised his students, "Pray
as if everything depended on God, then preach as if everything depended on you."
[ ote: Quoted by J. G. McConville, Ezra ,, ehemiah , and Esther , p95.] His
approach proved effective ( ehemiah 4:15-16). The Jews were willing to make
temporary sacrifices and endure some discomfort to finish the work God had given
them to do ( ehemiah 4:17-23). In this they are models for all of us who serve God.
EXPOSITOR'A BIBLE COMME TARY, "O GUARD
ehemiah 2:10;, ehemiah 2:19;, ehemiah 4:1-23
ALL his arrangements for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem show that ehemiah
was awake to the dangers with which he was surrounded. The secrecy of his night

8. ride was evidently intended to prevent a premature revelation of his plans. The
thorough organisation, the mapping out of the whole line of the wall, and the
dividing of the building operations among forty-two bands of workpeople secured
equal and rapid progress on all sides. Evidently the idea was to "rush" the work,
and to have it fairly well advanced, so as to afford a real protection for the citizens,
before any successful attempts to frustrate it could be carried out. Even with all
these precautions, ehemiah was harassed and hindered for a time by the malignant
devices of his enemies. It was only to be expected that he would meet with
opposition. But a few years before all the Syrian colonists had united in extracting
an order from Artaxerxes for the arrest of the earlier work of building the walls,
because the Jews had made themselves intensely obnoxious to their neighbours by
sending back the wives they had married from among the Gentile peoples. The
jealousy of Samaria, which had taken the lead in Palestine so long as Jerusalem was
in evidence, envenomed this animosity still more. Was it likely then that her
watchful foes would hear with equanimity of the revival of the hated city-a city
which must have seemed to them the very embodiment of the anti-social spirit?
ow, however, since a favourite servant of the Great King had been appointed
governor of Jerusalem, the Satrap of the Syrian provinces could scarcely be
expected to interfere. Therefore the initiative fell into the hands of smaller men, who
found it necessary to abandon the method of direct hostility, and to proceed by
means of intrigues and ambuscades. There were three who made themselves
notorious in this undignified course of procedure. Two of them are mentioned in
connection with the journey of ehemiah up to Jerusalem. [ ehemiah 2:10] The
first, the head of the whole opposition, is Sanballat, who is called the Horonite,
seemingly because he is a native of one of the Beth-horons, and who appears to be
the governor of the city of Samaria, although this is not stated. Throughout the
history he comes before us repeatedly as the foe of the rival governor of Jerusalem.
ext to him comes Tobiah, a chief of the little trans-Jordanic tribe of the
Ammonites, some of whom had got into Samaria in the strange mixing up of peoples
after the Babylonian conquest. He is called the servant, possibly because he once
held some post at court, and if so he may have been personally jealous of
ehemiah’s promotion.
Sanbaltat and his supporter Tobiah were subsequently joined by an Arabian Emir
named Geshem. His presence in the group of conspirators would be surprising if we
had not been unexpectedly supplied with the means of accounting for it in the
recently deciphered inscription which tells how Sargon imported an Arabian colony
into Samaria. The Arab would scent prey in the project of a warlike expedition
The opposition proceeded warily. At first we are only told that when Sanballat and
his friend Tobiah heard of the coming of ehemiah, "grieved them exceedingly that
there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." [ ehemiah 2:10]
In writing these caustic words ehemiah implies that the jealous men had no
occasion to fear that he meant any harm to them, and that they knew this. It seems
very hard to him, then, that they should begrudge any alleviation of the misery of
the poor citizens of Jerusalem. What was that to them? Jealousy might foresee the

9. possibility of future loss from the recovery of the rival city, and in this they might
find the excuse for their action, an excuse for not anticipating which so fervent a
patriot as ehemiah may be forgiven; nevertheless the most greedy sense of self-
interest on the part of these men is lost sight of in the virulence of their hatred to the
Jews. This is always the case with that cruel infatuation-the Anti-Semitic rage. Here
it is that hatred passes beyond mere anger. Hatred is actually pained at the welfare
of its object. It suffers from a Satanic misery. The venom which it fails to plant in its
victim rankles in its own breast.
At first we only hear of this odious distress of the jealous neighbours. But the
prosecutions of ehemiah’s designs immediately lead to a manifestation of open
hostility-verbal in the beginning. o sooner had the Jews made it evident that they
were responsive to their leader’s appeal and intended to rise and build, than they
were assailed with mockery. The Samaritan and Ammonite leaders were now joined
by the Arabian, and together they sent a message of scorn and contempt, asking the
handful of poor Jews whether they were fortifying the city in order to rebel against
the king. The charge of a similar intention had been the cause of stopping the work
on the previous occasion. [Ezra 4:13] ow that Artaxerxes’ favourite cup-bearer
was at the head of affairs, any suspicion of treason was absurd, but since hatred is
singularly blind-far more blind than love-it is barely possible that the malignant
mockers hoped to raise a suspicion. On the other hand, there is no evidence to show
that they followed the example of the previous opposition and reported to
headquarters. For the present they seem to have contented themselves with bitter
raillery. This is a weapon before which weak men too often give way. But ehemiah
was not so foolish as to succumb beneath a shower of poor, ill-natured jokes.
His answer is firm and dignified. [ ehemiah 2:20] It contains three assertions. The
first is the most important. ehemiah is not ashamed to confess the faith which is
the source of all his confidence. In the eyes of men the Jews may appear but a feeble
folk, quite unequal to the task of holding their ground in the midst of a swarm of
angry foes. If ehemiah had only taken account of the political and military aspects
of affairs, he might have shrunk from proceeding. But it is just the mark of his true
greatness that he always has his eye fixed on a Higher Power. He knows that God is
in the project, and therefore he is sure that it must prosper. When a man can reach
this conviction, mockery and insult do not move him. He has climbed to a serene
altitude, from which he can look down with equanimity on the boiling clouds that
are now far beneath his feet. Having this sublime ground of confidence, ehemiah is
able to proceed to his second point-his assertion of the determination of the Jews to
arise and build. This is quite positive and absolute. The brave man states it, too, in
the clearest possible language. ow the work is about to begin there is to be no
subterfuge or disguise. ehemiah’s unflinching determination is based on the
religious confession that precedes it. The Jews are God’s servants, they are engaged
in His work, they know He will prosper them, therefore they most certainly will not
stay their hand for all the gibes and taunts of their neighbours. Lastly, ehemiah
contemptuously repudiates the claim of these impertinent intruders to interfere in
the work of the Jews, he tells them that they have no excuse for their meddling, for
they own no property in Jerusalem, they have no right of citizenship or of control

10. from without, and there are no tombs of their ancestors in the sacred city.
In this message of ehemiah’s we seem to hear an echo of the old words with which
the temple-builders rejected the offer of assistance from the Samaritans, and which
were the beginning of the whole course of jealous antagonism on the part of the
irritated neighbours. But the circumstances are entirely altered. It is not a friendly
offer of co-operation, but its very opposite, a hostile and insulting message designed
to hinder the Jews, that is here so proudly resented. In the reply of ehemiah we
hear the church refusing to bend to the will of the world, because the world has no
right to trespass on her territory. God’s work is not to be tampered with by insolent
meddlers. Jewish exclusiveness is painfully narrow, at least in our estimation of it,
when it refuses to welcome strangers or to recognise the good that lies outside the
sacred enclosure, but this same characteristic becomes a noble quality, with high
ethical and religious aims, when it firmly refuses to surrender its duty to God at the
bidding of the outside world. The Christian can scarcely imitate ehemiah’s tone
and temper in this matter, and yet if he is loyal to his God he will feel that he must
be equally decided and uncompromising in declining to give up any part of what he
believes to be his service of Christ to please men who unhappily as yet have "no
part, or right, or memorial" in the ew Jerusalem, although, unlike the Jew of old,
he will be only too glad that all men should come in and share his privileges.
After receiving an annoying answer it was only natural that the antagonistic
neighbours of the Jews should be still more embittered in their animosity. At the
first news of his coming to befriend the children of Israel, as ehemiah says,
Sanballat and Tobiah were grieved, but when the building operations were actually
in process the Samaritan leader passed from vexation to rage-"he was wroth and
took great indignation." [ ehemiah 4:1] This man now assumed the lead in
opposition to the Jews. His mockery became more bitter and insulting. In this he
was joined by his friend the Ammonite, who declared that if only one of the foxes
that prowl on the neighbouring hills were to jump upon the wall the creature would
break it down. [ ehemiah 4:3] Perhaps he had received a hint from some of his
spies that the new work that had been so hastily pressed forward was not any too
solid. The "Palestine Exploration Fund" has brought to light the foundations of
what is believed to be a part of ehemiah’s wall at Ophel, and the base of it is seen
to be of rubble, not founded on the rock, but built on the clay above, so that it has
been possible to drive a mine under it from one side to the other-a rough piece of
work, very different from the beautifully finished temple walls.
ehemiah met the renewed shower of insults in a startling manner. He cursed his
enemies. [ ehemiah 4:4] Deploring before God the contempt that was heaped on the
Jews, he prayed that the reproach of the enemies might be turned on their own
head, devoted them to the horrors of a new captivity, and even went so far as to beg
that no atonement might be found for their iniquity, that their sin might not be
blotted out. In a word, instead of himself forgiving his enemies, he besought that
they might not be forgiven by God. We shudder as we read his terrible words. This
is not the Christ spirit. It is even contrary to the less merciful spirit of the Old
Testament. Yet, to be just to ehemiah, we must consider the whole case. It is most

11. unfair to tear his curse out of the history and gibbet it as a specimen of Jewish piety.
Even strong men who will not give way before ridicule may feel its stabs-for
strength is not inconsistent with sensitiveness. Evidently ehemiah was irritated,
but then he was much provoked. For the moment he lost his self-possession. We
must remember that the strain of his great undertaking was most exhausting, and
we must be patient with the utterances of one so sorely tried. If lethargic people
criticise adversely the hasty utterances of a more intense nature, they forget that,
though they may never lose their self-control, neither do they ever rouse themselves
to the daring energy of the man whose failings they blame. Then it was not any
personal insults hurled against himself that ehemiah resented so fiercely. It was his
work that the Samaritans were trying to hinder. This he believed to be really God’s
work, so that the insults offered to the Jews were also directed against God, who
must have been angry also. We cannot justify the curse by the standard of the
Christian law, but it is not reasonable to apply that standard to it. We must set it by
the side of the Maledictory Psalms. From the standpoint of its author it can be fully
accounted for. To say that even in this way it can be defended, however, is to go too
far. We have no occasion to persuade ourselves that any of the Old Testament saints
were immaculate, even in the light of Judaism. ehemiah was a great and good man,
yet he was not an Old Testament Christ.
But now more serious opposition was to be encountered. Such enemies as those
angry men of Samaria were not likely to be content with venting their spleen in idle
mockery. When they saw that the keenest shafts of their wit failed to stop the work
of the citizens of Jerusalem, Sanballat and his friends found it necessary to proceed
to more active measures, and accordingly they entered into a conspiracy for the
double purpose of carrying on actual warfare and of intriguing with disaffected
citizens of Jerusalem-"to cause confusion therein." [ ehemiah 4:8; ehemiah 4:11]
ehemiah was too observant and penetrating a statesman not to become aware of
what was going on, the knowledge that the plots existed revealed the extent of his
danger, and compelled him to make active preparations for thwarting them. We
may notice several important points in the process of the defence.
1. Prayer.- This was the first, and in ehemiah’s mind the most essential defensive
measure. We find him resorting to it in every important juncture of his life. It is his
sheet-anchor. But now "he uses the plural number. Hitherto we have met only with
his private prayers." In the present case he says, "We made our prayer unto our
God." [ ehemiah 4:9] Had the infection of his prayerful spirit reached his fellow-
citizens, so that they now shared it? Was it that the imminence of fearful danger
drove to prayer men who under ordinary circumstances forgot their need of God?
Or were both influences at work? However it was brought about, this association in
prayer of some of the Jews with their governor must have been the greatest comfort
to him, as it was the best ground for the hope that God would not now let them fall
into the hands of the enemy. Hitherto there had been a melancholy solitariness
about the earnest devotion of ehemiah. The success of his mission began to show
itself when the citizens began to participate in the same spirit of devotion.
2. Watchfulness.- ehemiah was not the fanatic to blunder into the delusion that

12. prayer was a substitute for duty, instead of being its inspiration. All that followed
the prayer was really based upon it. The calmness, hope, and courage won in the
high act of communion with God made it possible to take the necessary steps in the
outer world. Since the greatest danger was not expected as an open assault, it was
most necessary that an unbroken watch should be maintained, day and night.
ehemiah had spies out in the surrounding country, who reported to him every
planned attack. So thorough was this system of espionage, that though no less than
ten plots were concocted by the enemy, they were all discovered to ehemiah, and
all frustrated by him.
3. Encouragement.- The Jews were losing heart. The men of Judah came to
ehemiah with the complaint that the labourers who were at work on the great
heaps of rubbish were suffering from exhaustion. The reduction in the numbers of
workmen, owing to the appointment of the guard, would have still further increased
the strain of those who were left to toil among the mounds. But it would have been
fatal to draw back at this juncture. That would have been to invite the enemy to
rush in and complete the discomfiture of the Jews. On ehemiah came the
obligation of cheering the dispirited citizens. Even the leading men who should have
rallied the people, like officers at the head of their troops, shared the general
depression. ehemiah was again alone-or at best supported by the silent sympathy
of his companions in prayer, There was very nearly a panic, and for one man to
stand out under such circumstances as these in solitary courage, not only resisting
the strong contagion of fear, but stemming the tide ant counteracting its movement,
this would be indeed the sublimity of heroism. It was a severe test for ehemiah,
and he came out of it triumphant. His faith was the inspiration of his own courage,
and it became the ground for the encouragement of others. He addressed the people
and their nobles in a spirited appeal. First, he exhorted them to banish fear. The
very tone of his voice must have been reassuring; the presence of one brave man in a
crowd of cowards often shames them out of their weakness. But ehemiah
proceeded to give reasons for his encouragement. Let the men remember their God
Jehovah, how great and terrible He is! The cause is His, and His might and terror
will defend it. Let them think of their people and their families, and fight for
brethren and children, for wives and homes! Cowardice is unbelief and selfishness
combined. Trust in God and a sense of duty to others will master the weakness.
4. Arms.- ehemiah gave the first place to the spiritual and moral defences of
Jerusalem. Yet his material defences were none the less thorough on account of his
prayers to God or his eloquent exhortation of the people and their leaders. They
were most complete.
His arrangements for the military protection of Jerusalem converted the whole city
into an armed camp. Half the citizens in turn were to leave their work, and stand at
arms with swords and spears and bows. Even in the midst of the building operations
the clatter of weapons was heard among the stones, because the masons at work on
the walls and the labourers while they poised on their heads baskets full of rubbish
from the excavations had swords attached to their sashes. Residents of the suburbs
were required to stay in the city instead of returning home for the night, and no

13. man could put off a single article of clothing when he lay down to sleep. or was this
martial array deemed sufficient without some special provision against a surprise.
ehemiah therefore went about with a trumpeter, ready to summon all hands to any
point of danger on the first alarm.
Still, though the Jews were hampered with these preparations for battle, tired with
toil and watching, and troubled by dreadful apprehensions, the work went on. This
is a great proof of the excellency of ehemiah’s generalship. He did not sacrifice the
building to the fighting. The former was itself designed to produce a permanent
defence, while the arms were only for temporary use. When the walls were up the
citizens could give the laugh back to their foes. But in itself the very act of working
was reassuring. Idleness is a prey to fears which industry has no time to entertain.
Every man who tries to do his duty as a servant of God is unconsciously building a
wall about himself that will be his shelter in the hour of peril.
PARKER, " ehemiah 4
"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was
wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews" ( ehemiah 4:1).
How ehemiah Built the Wall
WE have heard of Sanballat before. We heard of him in the second chapter, where
we read the following words: "When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the
servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come
a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." The word in that verse is
"grieved"; the men were sore of heart, they were annoyed. There is nothing
particular in the way of activity in the feeling—it is rather a passive emotion; but in
the verse under consideration we find that the same Sanballat was not grieved in the
passive sense of the term, but he was wroth and took great indignation. Was
ehemiah turned aside by his grief? o. But ehemiah cowered and trembled
before the wrath and great indignation of the Horonite, did he not? ever. What
was it that sustained him in the midst of this passive opposition, and this active
hostility? Why, it was keeping his eye upon the Eternal—there was a great purpose,
a supreme and dominating conviction in the man"s soul, and it was that which gave
him steadiness and constancy and determination, so that he could run through a
troop and leap over a wall. If you are taking your line of life from some low centre,
then you will be disturbed and fretted by every little accident that may occur on the
road; you will have to apologise for your existence and consult everybody as to
whether you are to live tomorrow. But if you live in God, if you drink water from
the rock-spring—if you feed upon the bread of heaven, then you will turn neither to
the right hand nor to the left—you will write the old Latin motto on your right hand
and on your left—"Per diem, per noctem"—" ight and day—on!" Who wrote the
programme of your life? In what ink is it written? From what source do you derive
your inspiration? Here is a man who was not turned aside by the grief, the wrath,
the indignation of his enemies; he went straight on as if the whole universe were
applauding his march. Let us endeavour to find out the secret of his inspiration: to

14. draw the inspiration of our life from the same source, and to live as far above all
incidental disturbance and superficial frets as ehemiah did—right away up
yonder, near the sun, where God is—where his blessing rests perpetually upon those
who serve him.
Let us see how the Horonite expresses his wrath and indignation. Will he have
anything original in his speech? Did the devil ever teach his scholars a single new
speech? He has only one speech, only one great black lie—it may be pronounced in
this key or in that, but it is the same old villainous story, false from end to end, every
syllable of it saturated with falsehood! still it will be instructive to hear what a
mocking man has to say. When a man is in mocking mood he usually speaks with
some pungency of accent.
PETT, "Verses 1-6
Sanballat Arouses The eighbours Of The Jews To Ridicule Their Attempts To
Rebuild The Walls, But Without Effect ( ehemiah 4:1-6).
We note here the deepening of the already revealed opposition to the Jews and to
the building of the walls. otice the growth in the antagonistic attitude of those who
were opposed to them, each time expressed in accordance with a pattern:
o 2:10 ‘And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the
Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them greatly, in that there was come a man to seek
the welfare of the children of Israel.’
o 2:19 ‘But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the
Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and
despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the
king?”
o 4:1 ‘But it came about that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the
wall, he was furious, and took great umbrage, and mocked the Jews, and spoke
before his brothers and the army of Samaria.’
o 4:7-8 ‘But it came about that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians,
and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of
Jerusalem went forward, that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very
angry, and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem,
and to cause confusion in it.’
otice the pattern, ‘and when they/he heard of it’, and the growth in feeling, ‘it
grieved them greatly’, ‘they laughed us to scorn, and despised us’, ‘he was furious,
and took great umbrage’, ‘they conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem’.
We may also notice the growth in ehemiah’s response:
o In ehemiah 2:10 he simply carried on with his purpose.
o In ehemiah 2:20 he responded by pointing out that the God of Heaven was
with them, and that they had no part in it.
o In ehemiah 4:4-5 he specifically calls on God to deal with them severely.
o In ehemiah 4:9 he prays to God and sets up a watch against them.

15. ehemiah 4:1
‘But it came about that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he
was furious, and took great umbrage, and mocked the Jews.’
In his attempts to thwart the work an angry Sanballat, who was probably already
governor of the district of Samaria, turned to insults, mocking the attempts of ‘the
Jews’ (the returnees and those who had involved themselves with them in the pure
worship of YHWH). The significance of the building of the walls is brought out by
his fury. It was no light matter. It represented a new political force arising in the
area, and one which was separatist based on its exclusive Temple worship (see Ezra
4:1-6). It thus represented the weakening of his authority, and was an affront to his
own particular views. For he saw himself as a Yahwist, and was angry that the Jews
would not accept him as such.
There is in fact no more potent weapon than ridicule when used against those who
want to be well thought of. It can turn half-hearted people from their purposes, and
prevent others from joining them. Many a Christian’s progress has been halted by
such methods. But in this case it failed because ‘the people had a mind to work’.
They were confident that they were doing the work of God. And it consequently
only left the alternative of violence ( ehemiah 4:7). The mockery was indirect
( ehemiah 4:2), although it certainly reached ehemiah’s ears. The aim was to
build up a huge feeling of contempt concerning the activities of the Jews. It was also
aimed at bolstering his own self-esteem.
PETT, "Verses 1-14
Continual Opposition To The Building Of The Wall And Problems Related To It
( ehemiah 4:1 to ehemiah 6:14).
Meanwhile the work did not go on unopposed. Powerful men were involved in
seeking to ensure that the walls were not rebuilt, and that Jerusalem was not re-
established. We have already had three of these described to us in ehemiah 2:19.
They were formidable opponents. We now learn about their activity in more detail.
o Initially they operated by using ridicule and threats ( ehemiah 2:19;
ehemiah 4:1-3). They had grave doubts about whether the objective would be
achieved. It was after all a massive operation, and there was no one with the
authority to enforce the rebuilding by using slave gangs and taskmasters. That was
not within ehemiah’s remit. It depended on voluntary cooperation and popular
enthusiasm. They could not believe that the initial enthusiasm would be maintained.
But as things progressed they began to fear that they might be wrong.
o Thus when that failed they turned to the idea of using extreme violence
( ehemiah 4:7-11). But that too failed because of the vigilance of ehemiah, and the
stout-heartedness of God’s people, who worked with their swords in their hands.
o Then they five times ( ehemiah 6:4-5) sought to entice ehemiah to a place
where they would be able to do him mischief ( ehemiah 6:2). But he was no fool and
once again they found themselves thwarted.
o As a consequence they resorted to suggestions to ehemiah that in their view
treason was involved in the building of the walls which they intended to report to

16. the king of Persia himself along with a report of the activities of treasonable
prophets ( ehemiah 6:6-7). To these suggestions ehemiah gave short shrift. He was
confident that his royal master would rely on his trustworthiness.
o This was followed by an invidious attempt through someone who pretended
to be friendly to persuade him to act in a cowardly way in order to protect his own
life by taking refuge in the Temple along with him ( ehemiah 6:10). But ehemiah
was no coward and roundly dismissed such an idea.
Combined with these activities was the problem of the extreme poverty that resulted
for many due to their dedication to the building of the walls. Many had been living
on the breadline for decades, scratching an existence from their limited resources,
but now the concentration on the building of the walls had tipped them over the
edge. They found themselves hungry, and even enslaved by debt, and that by their
fellow Jews ( ehemiah 5:1-6). This too was something that ehemiah had to remedy
( ehemiah 5:7-13).
Meanwhile the work on the wall progressed until it was finally accomplished.
Jerusalem was once more a walled city, with its gates secure.
PULPIT, "Verses 1-6
EXPOSTIO
OPE OPPOSITIO OFFERED TO THE WORK BY SA BALLAT A D
TOBIAH, A D ARRA GEME TS MADE BY EHEMIAH TO MEET IT
( ehemiah 4:1-23.). It would seem that Sanballat and his friends, when they first
heard that the wall was actually being restored, the working parties formed, and the
work taken in hand, could scarcely bring themselves to believe it. "What! These
feeble Jews undertake so heavy a task, attempt a work that must occupy so long a
time, and for which they had not even the necessary materials? ( ehemiah 4:2).
Impossible! Such a wall as they could build would be so weak, that if a fox tried to
get over it he would break it down" ( ehemiah 4:3). But when, despite their scoffs,
the working parties laboured steadily, and the whole wall was brought to half the
intended height ( ehemiah 4:6), and the gaps made in it by the Babylonians were
filled up ( ehemiah 4:7), they changed their tone, admitted the seriousness of the
undertaking, and the probability that it would succeed unless steps were taken to
prevent it. The natural course to pursue, if they really believed that rebellion was
intended ( ehemiah 2:19), or that the permission of Artaxerxes had not been
obtained, was to act as Rehum and Shimshai had acted in the time of the Pseudo-
Smerdis, and address a letter to the king informing him of ehemiah's proceedings,
and recommending that a stop should be put to them (see Ezra 4:11 -522). But
probably they had by this time become aware that Artaxerxes was privy to the
proceedings of his cupbearer, and would not easily be induced to interfere with
them. The letter to Asaph which ehemiah had obtained ( ehemiah 2:8) must have
been delivered to him, and would become known; the fact that the king had
sanctioned the restoration of the wall would be apparent; and all hope of a check
from this quarter, if it ever existed, would be swept away. Besides, at the rate at
which the work was progressing under ehemiah's skilful arrangements, it would

17. be accomplished before the court could be communicated with, unless other steps
were taken. Accordingly, it was resolved to stop the building by main force.
Sanballat and Tobiah, his Ammonite hanger-on, entered into a league with the
neighbouring peoples, the Philistines of Ashdod, the Ammonites, and some Arab
tribe or tribes, and agreed with them that a conjoint attack should be made upon
Jerusalem by a confederate army ( ehemiah 3:7, ehemiah 3:8). It was hoped to
take the working parties by surprise, and to effect their complete destruction (ibid.
verse 11). But ehemiah, having learnt what was intended, made preparations to
meet and repulse the assailants. He began by setting a watch day and night (verse 9)
on the side on which the attack was expected. When an assault seemed imminent, he
stopped the work, and drew up the whole people in battle array, with swords,
spears, and bows, behind the wall, but in conspicuous places, so that they could be
seen from a distance, and in this attitude awaited the enemy (verse 13). The result
was that no actual assault was delivered. Sanballat and his allies, when they found
such preparations made to receive them, came to the conclusion that discretion was
the better part of valour, and drew off without proceeding to blows (verse 15). The
work was then resumed, but under additional precautions. The labourers were
compelled to work either with a weapon in one hand, or at the least with a sword at
their side (verses 17, 18). ehemiah's private attendants were armed and formed
into two bands, one of which worked on the wall, while the other kept guard, and
held the arms, offensive and defensive, of their fellow-servants (verse 16). At night
the working parties retired to rest within the city, but ehemiah himself, his
brothers, his servants, and his bodyguard, remained outside, keeping watch by
turns, and sleeping in their clothes, until the wall was finished (verses 22, 23).
BI 1-4, "But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he
was wroth.
Sanballat: a study in party spirit
You must clearly understand, to begin with, that Samaria was already, even in that early
day, the deadly rival of Jerusalem; and also that Sanballat was the governor of Samaria.
And Sanballat was a man of this kind, that he was not content with doing his very best to
make Samaria both prosperous and powerful, but he must also do his very best to keep
Jerusalem downtrodden and destroyed. And thus it was that, when Sanballat heard that
Nehemiah had come from Shushan with a commission from Artaxerxes to rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem, the exasperating news drove Sanballat absolutely beside himself.
And thus it is that such a large part of Nehemiah’s autobiography is taken up with
Sanballat’s diabolical plots and conspiracies both to murder Nehemiah and to destroy
the new Jerusalem. We see in Sanballat an outstanding instance of the sleepless malice
of all unprincipled party spirit.
1. Now, in the first place, diabolically wicked as party spirit too often becomes, this
must be clearly understood about party spirit, that, after all, it is but the excess, and
the perversion, and the depravity of an originally natural and a perfectly proper
principle in our hearts. It was of God, and it was of human nature as God had made
it, that Sanballat should love and serve Samaria best; and that Nehemiah should love
and serve Jerusalem best. And all party spirit among ourselves also, at its beginning,
is but our natural and dutiful love for our own land, and for our own city, and for our
own Church, and for those who think with us, and work with us, and love us.

18. 2. But then, when it comes to its worst, as it too often does come, party spirit is the
complete destruction both of truth and of love. The truth is hateful to the out-and-
out partisan. We all know that in ourselves. As many lies as you like, but not the
truth. It exasperates us to hear it. You are henceforth our enemy if you will insist on
speaking it. It is not truth that divides us up into such opposed parties as we see all
around us in Church and State, it is far more lies. It is not principle once in ten times.
Nine times out of ten it is pure party spirit. And I cling to that bad spirit, and to all its
works, as if it were my life. I feel unhappy when you tell me the truth, if it is good
truth, about my rival. And where truth is hated in that way love can have no possible
home. Truth is love in the mind, just as love is truth in the heart. Trample on the one
and you crush the other to death. Now the full-blown party spirit is utter poison to
the spirit of love as well as to the spirit of truth. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love
rejoiceth not in iniquity, etc. But party spirit is the clean contradiction of an that.
3. By the just and righteous ordination of Almighty God all our sins carry their own
punishment immediately and inseparably with them. And party spirit, being such a
wicked spirit, it infallibly inflicts a very swift and a very severe punishment on the
man who entertains it. You know yourselves how party spirit hardens your heart,
and narrows, and imprisons, and impoverishes your mind. You must all know how
party spirit poisons your feelings, and fills you with antipathy at men you never saw,
as well as at men all around you who never hurt a hair of your head, and would not if
they could.
4. Another Divine punishment of party spirit is seen in the way that it provokes
retaliation, and thus reproduces and perpetuates itself till the iniquity of the fathers
is visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate the
truth and murder love. And, inheriting no little good from our contending
forefathers, we have inherited too many of their injuries, and retaliations, and
antipathies, and alienations also. And the worst of it is that we look on it as true
patriotism, and the perfection of religious principle, to keep up and perpetuate all
those ancient misunderstandings, and injuries, and recriminations, and alienations.
5. Who, then, is a wise man, and endued with wisdom among you? Who would fain
be such a man? Who would behave to his rivals and enemies, not as Nehemiah, good
man though he was, behaved to the Samaritans, but as Jesus Christ behaved to
them? Who, in one word, would escape the sin, and the misery, and the long-lasting
mischief of party spirit? Butler has an inimitable way of saying some of his very best
and very deepest things. And here is one of his great sayings that has helped me
more in this matter than I can tell you.
4. “Let us remember,” he says, “that we differ as much from other men as they differ
from us.” What a lamp to our feet is that sentence as we go through this world! And
then, when at any time, and towards any party, or towards any person whatsoever,
you find in yourself that you are growing in love, and in peace, and in patience, and
in toleration, and in goodwill, and in good wishes, acknowledge it to yourself; see it,
understand it, and confess it. Do not be afraid to admit it, for that is God within your
heart. That is the Divine Nature—that is the Holy Ghost. Just go on in that Spirit,
and ere ever you are aware you will be caught up and taken home to that Holy Land
where there is neither Jerusalem nor Samaria. There will be no party spirit there.
There will be no controversy there. (A. Whyte, D. D.)

19. What do these feeble Jews?—
Feeble agencies not to be despised
When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that its smoothness,
on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been
slowly levelled by worms. It is a marvellous reflection that the whole of the superficial
mould over any such expanse has passed, and will pass again, every few years, through
the bodies of worms. The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man’s
inventions; but long before he existed the land was, in fact, regularly ploughed by earth-
worms. It may be doubted whether there are any other animals which have played so
important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organised creatures.
Some other animal, however, still more lowly organised—namely, corals, have done far
more conspicuous work in having constructed innumerable reefs and islands in the great
oceans; but these are almost confined to the tropical zones. (Charles Darwin.)
Intrinsic energy not to be gauged by magnitude
Remember that lofty trees grow from diminutive seeds; copious rivers flow from small
fountains; slender wires often sustain ponderous weights; injury to the smallest nerves
may occasion the most agonising sensation; the derangement of the least wheel or pivot
may render useless the greatest machine of which it is a part; an immense crop of errors
may spring from the least root of falsehood; a glorious intellectual light may be kindled
by the minutest spark of truth; and every principle is more diffusive and operative by
reason of its intrinsic energy than of its magnitude. (J. Gregory.)
Censure should not interfere with duty
Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make on you,
for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should be no part of your
concern. (Epictetus.)
Fool’s-bolts should be disregarded
What action was ever so good, or so completely done, as to be well taken on all hands? It
concerns every wise Christian to settle his heart in a resolved confidence of his own holy
and just grounds, and then to go on in a constant course of his well-warranted judgment
and practice, with a careless disregard of those fool’s-bolts which will be sure to be shot
at him, which way soever he goes. (Bp. Hall.)
Petty criticism should be disregarded
It is often more difficult to endure the stinging of insects than to face the bravest perils.
Explorers in tropical countries find these tiny, noxious creatures much more destructive
of their peace and comfort than the larger and more deadly animals which sometimes
beset them. Many a man faces courageously a grave peril who becomes a coward when a
set of petty annoyances have worn his nerves out and irritated him to the point of loss of
self-control. Every man who attempts an independent course of life, whether of thought,

20. habit, or action, finds himself beset by a cloud of petty critics, who are, for the most part,
without malice, but whose stings, inspired by ignorance, are quite as hard to bear as they
would be if inspired by hate. The misrepresentations and misconceptions which good
men suffer are a part of the pathos of life. The real answer to criticism is a man’s life and
work. A busy man has no time to stop and meet his critics in detail; he must do his work,
and let that be his answer to criticism. (Christian Age.)
2 and in the presence of his associates and the
army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble
Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will
they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day?
Can they bring the stones back to life from those
heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”
CLARKE, "The army of Samaria - As he was governor, he had the command of
the army, and he wished to excite the soldiers to second his views against Nehemiah and
his men.
What do these feeble Jews? - We may remark here, in general, that the enemies of
God’s work endeavor by all means to discredit and destroy it, and those who are
employed in it.
1. They despise the workmen: What do these feeble Jews?
2. They endeavor to turn all into ridicule: Will they fortify themselves?
3. They have recourse to lying: If a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone
wall.
4. They sometimes use fair but deceitful speeches; see Neh_6:2, etc.
GILL, "And he spake before his brethren,.... Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem
the Arabian, and perhaps some other governors of the king of Persia in those parts:
and before the army of Samaria: which, and the inhabitants of it, were implacable
enemies of the Jews:
and said, what do these feeble Jews? what do they pretend to do, or what can they

21. do?
will they fortify themselves? by building a wall about their city; can they think they
shall ever be able to do this, or that it will be allowed?
will they sacrifice? meaning not their daily sacrifice, as Jarchi, that they had done a
long time, but for the dedication of their building, as Aben Ezra:
will they make an end in a day? they seem to be in as great a hurry and haste as if
they meant it; and indeed, unless they can do it very quickly, they never will: they will
soon be stopped:
will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burnt?
where will they find materials? do they imagine that they can make burnt stones firm
and strong again, or harden the dust and rubbish into stones, or make that, which is as if
dead, alive? to do this is the same as to revive a dead man, and they may as well think of
doing the one as the other; burnt stones being reckoned as dead, as Eben Ezra observes.
COKE, " ehemiah 4:2. What do these feeble Jews, &c.— Mr. Peters observes upon
this passage, which is remarkable for its phraseology, that it seems to give no
obscure intimation, that the doctrine of the resurrection was the popular belief of
the Jews in these days. "Reviving of stones," says he, "is a very easy metaphor to
those who are acquainted with the doctrine of the resurrection; but, otherwise, not
so easy or obvious." The word ‫היחיו‬ hayechaiiu, vivisicabunt, is the very same that is
used for raising the dead. Out of the heaps of rubble, is, in the Hebrew, heaps of
dust ‫ערמות‬ ‫עפר‬ areimoth apar, another word often used when speaking of a
resurrection; and what follows with an emphasis, and yet these same stones are
burnt, points out to us the method of funeral [by burning] used particularly among
those who had no belief or expectation of a resurrection.
The Jews to this day charge the poor remnant of the sect of Samaritans with the
disbelief of a future resurrection; though, on the other hand, they deny and disavow
the charge. It is highly probable, that in our Saviour's time they believed it; for they
worshipped the same God, and had the same expectation of a Messiah, as appears
from the Samaritan woman's discourse with our Lord, John 4:25. But in the days of
ehemiah they seem to have been little better than heathens; a sort of mixed breed,
out of the scum of many nations. ehemiah tells them, ch. ehemiah 2:20 that they
had no right or portion in Jerusalem, being of a different religion from the Jews; it
is highly probable, therefore, that they disbelieved a resurrection. ow if Sanballat,
in that vein of mirth and buffoonery which he and his friend Tobiah appear at this
time to be in, meant to ridicule this doctrine of the Jewish faith, as well as laugh at
their attempt in building, we see a plain reason of that indignation which ehemiah
presently conceived at it, and which drew from him that solemn address to God,
ehemiah 4:4. Hear O our God; for we, thy worshippers, are despised, &c. Had
there been no more in Sanballat's speech than in that of Tobiah which follows, (who
with a scorn, perhaps, more affected than real, says, that a fox, if he were to jump
upon it, might break down their stone walls,) so wise and good a man as ehemiah,

22. probably, would have treated it with silence and contempt: but we find, that he
resents it in another manner; beseeches God to turn their reproach upon their own
head; speaks of it as a sin or iniquity of the first magnitude; ehemiah 4:5 for they
have provoked thee to anger before the builders; that is, in the most public manner,
and in the face of God's people, had dared to utter their impieties, and ridicule that
faith which they professed.
LA GE, " ehemiah 4:2. Before his brethren,i.e., Tobiah and his brethren in
council. The army of Samaria.—It is likely that Sanballat had actually brought an
armed force in sight of the city to intimidate the Jews. In a speech to his officers he
uses the language of mockery here given, Will they fortify themselves?—Perhaps,
will they help themselves? Keil, comparing Psalm 10:14, reads it “will they leave it
to themselves?” which is harsh. (See on ehemiah 3:8 for the use of this word azab).
Will they make an end in a day? Rather, will they make an end (i.e., accomplish it)
by day (i.e., openly). So bayyom in Genesis 31:40; Proverbs 12:16; Judges 13:10.
TRAPP, " ehemiah 4:2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria,
and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they
sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps
of the rubbish which are burned?
Ver. 2. And he spake before his brethren] i.e., before his companions and
acomplices, who would second him and say the same, his Aiones and egones, as
one calleth such.
And the army of Samaria] The garrison soldiers; or those that lay there billeted, to
observe the people.
What do these feeble Jews?] These beggarly shiftless fellows, these Asinarii (as
Molon and Appion of Alexandria disgracefully called the Jews); like as Tertullian
tells us that the Pagans painted the God of the Christians with an ass’s head and a
book in his hand; to note that they were silly and despicable people. Bishop Jewell,
in a sermon of his, citeth this out of Tertullian, and addeth, Do not our adversaries
the like at this day against all that profess the gospel?
Will they fortify themselves?] Heb. Will they leave to themselves, sc. anything to
trust unto? Junius renders An sinerent eos? should they (sc. the officers and
soldiers) suffer them thus to do?
Will they sacrifice?] sc. at the dedication of their new walls? Will they do this all at
once? and think they, without more ado, to have the liberty of their sanctuary?

23. Will they make an end in a day?] It should seem so by their Cito, Cito, quick
despatch of their parts and task, &c.
Praecipita tempus; mors atra impendet agenti (Sil. Ital.).
Will they revive the stones, &c.] Stones they lack for their new wall: where will they
have them? will they glue together the old stones, and ?
WHEDO , "2. His brethren — His associates in office.
The army of Samaria — Of which he seems to have been the chief commander.
Will they fortify themselves — Literally, Will they leave to them? The meaning is
not clear, but seems most naturally brought out if we allow the verb a passive sense:
Shall they be left to themselves? This is the thought conveyed both by the Septuagint
and Vulgate, although those versions present no literal translation of the Hebrew.
The Septuagint has the following: “Is this the power of Samaria, that these Jews
build their city?” Vulgate: “Shall the nations let them go?” that is, shall the
surrounding nations let them go on with their building their city walls?
Will they sacrifice — Will they presume to renew and perpetuate their ancient
cultus?
Make an end in a day — Do they imagine they can so speedily rebuild their city that
no one will find it out before it is complete?
Revive the stones — He speaks of the great stones of Jerusalem as having been
destroyed by fire, broken, and ruined, so that the attempt of a feeble band of exiles
to restore them (Hebrews, make them live) from their heaps of… rubbish was to his
mind the height of folly.
PETT, " ehemiah 4:2
‘And he spoke before his allies (brothers) and the army of Samaria, and said, “What
are the feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will
they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish,
seeing they are burned?”
The word ‘brothers’ almost certainly means ‘allies’ (compare Amos 1:9), those in
brotherly union with him as adversaries of the Jews. The army of Samaria would be
a local military contingent such as a governor would necessarily require as a kind of
police force (compare Ezra 4:23). The mention of the latter is significant as
preparing for the intended violence that will follow. Sanballat thus makes his views
widely known among those who have some authority, and those who will enforce his
decisions. He is bolstering them up as well as himself.

24. His questions are clearly derogatory, based on his contemptuous view of their
weakness and feebleness. What did such feeble people really think that they could
achieve? As we know they had been constantly struggling against hard times and
had been finding life difficult ( ehemiah 1:3), something partly due to Sanballat
and his cronies. The question brings home how necessary the powerful leadership of
ehemiah, combined with the strength of his escort, was to the ailing Jews. They
provided some kind of backbone.
The first two questions can be seen as referring to their attempts to make themselves
secure, ‘will they fortify themselves?’ or ‘depend on themselves?’ (ensuring their
own protection)), ‘will they sacrifice?’ (thus ensuring God’s protection). The second
set of questions then demonstrates that he saw that as a vain hope based on
inadequate foundations. They may be seen as a chiasmus:
A ‘Will they fortify themselves?’ (Or ‘will they leave it to themselves?’).
B ‘Will they sacrifice?’
B ‘Will they make an end (of their problems) in a day?’ (by calling on God).
A ‘Will they make renewed stones out of the heaps of burned rubbish?’
In this case ‘fortifying themselves’ or ‘leaving it to themselves’ is paralleled by
‘making the burned stones live’, in other words relying on themselves and hoping
for a miracle as they use inadequate materials for their fortifications. Sacrificing is
paralleled with anticipating instantaneous results as a response. In this last there
may be an echo of Zechariah 3:9, ‘I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day’.
Did they really think that offering sacrifices could remove their sin in one day?
On the other hand we may see them as two couplets:
o ‘Will they leave themselves (in the hands of God), will they sacrifice?’
o ‘Will they make an end (of building) in a day, will they make burned stones
live?’
The overall picture is the same. His claim is that they are relying on themselves and
on an inadequate God, and are anticipating the achievement of a quick fix while
relying on inadequate materials. Among other things he has in mind how long the
building of such walls could be expected to take, especially given their lack of
expertise, and the uselessness of using burned limestone, which would easily
crumble, for building purposes. He considers that they are just not aware of the
problems. The writer knows, of course, that his readers are aware that it has
meanwhile been accomplished satisfactorily.
The regular meaning of ‘azab is to ‘leave, abandon’. Thus the translation ‘will they
(vainly) leave themselves (in the hands of God)?’ (compare Psalms 10:14), or ‘will
they leave (it to) themselves?’. This is then followed by ‘will they (vainly) sacrifice?’
But at Ugarit a secondary meaning for ‘azah was found which translates as ‘to
build, renovate, restore’. Thus the translation, ‘Will they fortify themselves?’ In
other words, ‘will they make a vain attempt to render themselves secure using
inadequate materials?’ This latter would then indicate that by ‘will they sacrifice?’
he is also indicating the uselessness of their sacrifices which are also inadequate. He

25. probably saw their version of Yahwism as lacking in depth and quality, with its
failure to unite Him with other gods (in contrast with the heretical Jews at
Elephantine). Thus overall he is stressing that they are relying on inadequate things:
on their own feeble activity, on their equally feeble sacrifices, on their confidence
that they could complete the work quickly against all odds, and on their confidence
that they could make useless materials useable. They were hoping for the
impossible.
PARKER, ""And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said,
What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they
make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish
which are burned?" ( ehemiah 4:2.)
That was an irreligious view of a religious work—it is very well put indeed from his
own point of view. First of all the Jews are feeble. As a matter of fact they certainly
are without any peculiar strength. Will they fortify themselves? What will they do?
Will they pluck dock-leaves and use them as breast-plates? Will they search the
fields round about Jerusalem for nettles, and use those stinging herbs as implements
and instruments of war? What will they do? Will they revive the stones out of the
heaps of the rubbish which are burned? There is no stone to be had—no open
quarries—no rocks inviting them; how will they get the stones? Why, they will
revive the rubbish—put the mud together with their wet hands, and thus they will
make stones. Ha, ha! That was his speech to the army. Is that a speech sufficient to
stir the blood of an army? The army heard it and turned over on the other side, to
have a little more sleep and a little more slumber, and a little folding of the hands
together.
We do not wonder at men looking at Christian agencies and laughing at them. You
have laughed when you saw a young man walking along with his Bible under his
arm. Well, it did look exceedingly humble, very modest, and wholly unlikely that a
man with a gilt-edged book "under his arm was going to do anything at all in the
world. But in that book he had the whole panoply of God—he had the book that
moves the world, say what men will. They burn it: they come to rake over the hot
ashes; there it Isaiah , the smell of fire has not passed upon it. It is God"s delight to
choose foolish things in order to pull down things that are strong. Search the divine
history through and through, and you will find that this is God"s principle—base
things of the world hath he chosen and foolish things and things that are not, to
bring to nought things that are. There is a giant to be struck down—a pebble will do
it: there is an army to be surprised—a lamp and pitcher will be enough. God"s law
is the law of simplicity; man"s law is the law of round-aboutness. Man does not like
the straight and simple course—he likes a very great deal of elaboration and
intricacy and puzzle, so that no other man shall be able to find out the secret and the
key of his patent. He likes to keep a small key in his pocket, and to take it out now
and then to pay adoration to it as to an idol. God says the simplest plan is the best—
go straight at it—a pebble for armour, a pitcher and lamp for use in war, yea, and
things that are not—an army of nothing—to bring to nought things that are.

26. Are you building character? You will be laughed at. Are you attempting to start on
a new course of life? Sanballat will make a mocking speech about you. You once
said, " ow, God helping me, I am going to begin: give me a pen and ink," and you
took it and wrote your name to a vow. And the next day Sanballat began to say to
you, "Why, you don"t mean to say you are going through that sort of thing? I
wouldn"t if I were you—it will never do for you. Come along and go with your old
folks, stand by your old comrades, and we will see you through." It was a crisis in
your history. If you said, " o, God helping me, I stand by the book and by the
name, and I will look at those poor, crooked, rude letters, and out of their ink shall
come inspiration to my poor heart again and again," then you did well. Hold on: do
not be mocked out of your godliness—do not be laughed into hell What will these
mocking people do for you in the swellings of Jordan?
There was another man with Sanballat—we have heard of him—it was Tobiah. And
Tobiah has a little speech to make about the wall that is being built. Tobiah put his
case figuratively—he looked round at those who sat by him and he said, "Even that
which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." Tobiah
therefore said, "Gentlemen, sit down, there is no occasion for you to distress
yourselves: the very first cat that goes out in stepping on the stone wall will throw it
down."
These are not the men who will make any great impression in the world. There is
not the right tone there—there is not the right sound. We can tell an earnest man by
the mere tone of his voice. The whimperer does nothing, the mocker does nothing,
the man of mere irony and jeering power does nothing. If any great positive lasting
work is to be done in the world, it must be done by men of conviction, solidity of
judgment, reality of character, divinity of spirit. And one such man is an army in
himself—a multitude, a conqueror. That is what we want now—we want amongst us
earnest men, men who believe something, men who will sacrifice something for their
convictions, men who know right from wrong, the right hand from the left, and who
will go straight on, whoever may jeer, satirise, mock, condemn, despise. God send us
such men!
It will be interesting to know how ehemiah deports himself under these mocking
speeches. Are we going too far in saying that such speeches would have blown a
great deal of the bloom off our piety? Are we going too far in saying that mocking
speeches like these would have frightened you off your knees, frightened you into
cowardice, saying, "I don"t make much profession of religion; I like to go to church
now and then, just as a way of putting off the time"? Are we going too far in saying
that you could not have stood the assault made by such men as Sanballat and
Tobiah? Let us see how ehemiah bore it. These speeches were reported to him, and
what did he say? "We can jeer as well as they—we can return sharp messages to
their foolish speeches—we can argue with them, and control as well as they by sheer
force of argumentative power?" o. When he heard their mockery and their
reviling, he lifted up that grand face,—lined, ridged, wrinkled face, with age in it,
and yet with immortal youth in it, too, and said, "Hear, O our God!" He made his

27. appeal to heaven—he handed the speech upward—he put it into the hands of God to
answer—he said in effect, "O thou God of Israel, answer these mocking men
thyself." Yes, it is better that God should answer our enemies than that we should
answer them. We have something better to do, and though we might outshine them
in wit, outvie them in mockery, slay them with their own weapons, it is better not to
do so; let us leave our enemies in the hands of God.
What did ehemiah then proceed to do? He says with great simplicity, "So built we
the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof." Why? "For the
people had a mind to work." That is the secret of success. It will be a secret worth
your learning, young Prayer of Manasseh , just having begun business—have a
mind to work.
How is it in the building of the great Christian wall? There is the Independent, or
Congregationalist, building his little bit, and yonder is the Episcopalian, and yonder
is the Baptist, and yonder is somebody else, and they will not lend one another a
spoonful of lime. Do let us remember that it is one wall, it is one Zion, it is one
Jerusalem—why not work together magnanimously in the spirit of brothers,
realising the true ideal of patriotic and Christian fellowship and brotherhood, and
let the wall rise from all points simultaneously, all compact, solid, indestructible
masonry. Wherever there is a good Prayer of Manasseh , whatever his particular
denomination or badge may be, we should work heart and soul with him; or
otherwise, God forgive us! for we sin against the spirit of the cross of his Son.
PULPIT, " ehemiah 4:2
Before his brethren. By "his brethren" would seem to be meant his chief
counsellors—probably Tobiah among them. The army of Samaria. Some
understand by this a Persian garrison, stationed in Samaria under its own
commander, with which Sanballat had influence, but there is no real ground for
such a supposition. Psalms 83:1-18, belongs probably to David's time; and as
Samaria had doubtless its own native force of armed citizens, who were Sanballat's
subjects, it is quite unnecessary to suppose that he addressed himself to any other
"army" than this. The Persians would maintain a force in Damascus, but scarcely in
Samaria; and Persian soldiers, had there been any in that city, would have been
more likely to support a royal cupbearer than a petty governor with no influence at
court. We can really only explain the disturbed state of things and approach to open
hostility which appears in ehemiah's narrative, by the weakness of Persia in these
parts, and the consequent power of the native races to act pretty much as they
pleased—even to the extent of making war one upon another. Will they fortify
themselves? o other rendering is tenable. Ewald defends it successfully. Will they
sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? The meaning seems to be, "Will they
begin and make an end in a day?" It is assumed that they will begin by offering a
sacrifice to inaugurate their work. Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the
rubbish which are burned? Rather, "Will they revive the burnt stones (the stones
that are burned) out of the heaps of the rubbish?" Will they do what is im-possible-
solidify and make into real stone the calcined and crumbling blocks which are all

28. that they will find in the heaps of rubbish? If not, how are they to procure material?
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said,
“What they are building—even a fox climbing up
on it would break down their wall of stones!”
GILL, "Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him,.... Who was one of his brethren
he spake before, Neh_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 Lam_5:18.
JAMISO , "if a fox go up — The foxes were mentioned because they were known to
infest in great numbers the ruined and desolate places in the mount and city of Zion
(Lam_5:18).
K&D, "Tobiah the Ammonite, standing near Sanballat, and joining in in his raillery,
adds: “Even that which they build, if a fox go up he will break their stone wall;” i.e., even
if they build up walls, the light footsteps of the stealthy fox will suffice to tread them
down, and to make breaches in their work.
BE SO , " ehemiah 4:3. If a fox go up — He mentions foxes because they were
very numerous in those parts, and because in the late desolation of Jerusalem, the
foxes did frequent the mount and city of Zion, (Lamentations 5:18,) wherewith he
seems to upbraid them. He shall even break down their stone wall — It is so low
that a fox can easily ascend to the top of it, and so weak, and built so hastily and
carelessly, that the least weight or thrust will tumble it down.

29. TRAPP, " ehemiah 4:3 ow Tobiah the Ammonite [was] by him, and he said, Even
that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
Ver. 3. ow Tobiah the Ammonite] This was one of Sanballat’s good brethren,
ehemiah 4:2. A bird of the same feather, a loaf of the same leaven, his fellow
scoffer, and so homine peior, saith Chrysostom, worse than a man; as the scoffed
that beareth it well, is Angelis par, saith he, an angel’s peer.
Even that which they build, if a fox go up, &c.] It was some such bitter jeer that
Remus uttered in contempt of Romulus’s new wall, and was knocked on the head
for it. Hae sannae leniter volant, non leniter violant.
PETT, " ehemiah 4:3
‘ ow Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “Even what they are building,
if a fox go up, he will break down their stone wall.”
Tobiah, who was standing by him, joined in the derision claiming that if even a fox
were to climb on the walls it would cause them to break down. He too has in mind
the inadequacy of the materials, the shortage of time and the lack of expertise of the
builders. He considers that they are incapable of achieving their purpose.
PULPIT, " ehemiah 4:3
Tobiah the Ammonite was by him. The presence of Tobiah on this occasion, before
the alliance was made with the Ammonites ( ehemiah 4:8), is a strong indication
that his position was not one of independent authority, but of dependence upon
Sanballat. There is nothing to show that he was more than a favourite slave of the
Samaritan governor. A fox. Or, "a jackal," which would be more likely than a fox to
stray over a ruined wall into a town.
4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn
their insults back on their own heads. Give them
over as plunder in a land of captivity.

30. BAR ES, "The parenthetical prayers of Nehemiah form one of the most striking
characteristics of his history. Here we have the first. Other examples are Neh_5:19;
Neh_6:9, Neh_6:14; Neh_13:14, Neh_13:22, Neh_13:29, Neh_13:31.
CLARKE, "Turn their reproach upon their own head - A prayer of this kind,
understood literally, is not lawful for any Christian. Jesus, our great master, has said,
“Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that despitefully
use you.” Such sayings as the above are excusable in the mouth of a Jew, under severe
irritation. See the next verse, Neh_4:5 (note).
GILL, "Hear, O our God, for we are despised,.... Here begins the prayer of
Nehemiah, who had been informed of what these men said in contempt of him, and his
builders, and to whom he sent no answer, but applied to God:
and turn their reproach upon their own head; as they have despised and
reproached us, let them be despised and reproached by their neighbours:
give them for a prey in the land of captivity; let them be carried captive, as we
have been, and become a prey and booty to their enemies.
HE RY, " Nehemiah's humble and devout address to God when he heard of these
reflections. He had notice brought him of what they said. It is probable that they
themselves sent him a message to this purport, to discourage him, hoping to jeer him
out of his attempt; but he did not answer these fools according to their folly; he did not
upbraid them with their weakness, but looked up to God by prayer.
1. He begs of God to take notice of the indignities that were done them (Neh_4:4), and
in this we are to imitate him: Hear, O our God! for we are despised. Note, (1.) God's
people have often been a despised people, and loaded with contempt. (2.) God does, and
will, hear all the slights that are put upon his people, and it is their comfort that he does
so and a good reason why they should be as though they were deaf, Psa_38:13, Psa_
38:15. “Thou art our God to whom we appeal; our cause needs no more than a fair
hearing.”
JAMISO , "Hear, O our God; for we are despised — The imprecations invoked
here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive; but it must be remembered that Nehemiah
and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His
people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments. The prayer,
therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge,
nor any inferior passion, but a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and the
success of His cause, held the ascendant sway.
K&D, "When Nehemiah heard of these contemptuous words, he committed the
matter to God, entreating Him to hear how they (the Jews) were become a scorn, i.e., a

31. subject of contempt, to turn the reproach of the enemies upon their own head, and to
give them up the plunder in a land of captivity, i.e., in a land in which they would dwell
as captives. He supplicates, moreover, that God would not cover, i.e., forgive (Psa_85:3),
their iniquity, and that their sin might not be blotted out from before His face, i.e., might
not remain unpunished, “for they have provoked to wrath before the builders,” i.e.,
openly challenged the wrath of God, by despising Him before the builders, so that they
heard it. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫ה‬ without an object, spoken of provoking the divine wrath by grievous sins;
comp. 2Ki_21:6 with 2Ch_33:6.
BE SO , " ehemiah 4:4-5. Hear, O our God — ehemiah here interrupts the
relation, to mention the prayer he made on the occasion. Turn their reproach upon
their own head — Let them really be as contemptible as they represent us to be.
This and the following requests must seem harsh to us, who are taught by the Lord
Jesus to love our enemies, to bless those that curse us, and pray for those that
despitefully use and persecute us. Probably they were uttered rather by a spirit of
prophecy than a spirit of prayer, and are to be considered as declaratory of the
judgments of God against persecutors. They certainly had their accomplishment in
the subsequent doom of these nations. And give them for a prey in the land of their
captivity — Let them be removed from our neighbourhood, and carried into
captivity; and there let them find no favour, but further severity. Or, give them for a
prey to their enemies, and let these carry them into the land of captivity. And cover
not their iniquity — Let their wickedness be in thy sight, so as to bring down
judgments upon them, that either they may be reformed, or others may be warned
by their example. God is said to cover or hide sin, when he forbears to punish it. For
they have provoked thee — They have not only provoked us builders, but thee also.
Or, they have provoked, or derided, the builders to their face; that is, openly and
impudently, in contempt of God, and of this work, which is done by his direction
and encouragement. ehemiah, in these petitions, if they be petitions, and not rather
predictions, as has just been intimated, is not to be imitated by us, but rather he,
whose disciples we profess to be, and who, when upon the cross, and under the
bitterest agonies, prayed most fervently for the forgiveness of those that crucified
him.
LA GE, " ehemiah 4:4. Hear, O our God.—Eight times in this book ehemiah
interjects a prayer. They are prayers while writing, not while acting. The grounds of
this prayer are, (1) God’s people are despised; (2) excited to fear by the enemy. As in
the imprecatory Psalm, there is a prophetic power in this prayer. The prayer
anticipates God’s justice.
TRAPP, " ehemiah 4:4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their
reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
Ver. 4. Hear, O our God] These mocks and menaces lay so heavy upon ehemiah’s
spirit, that he could not ease himself but by breathing heavenward; and turning
them over to God to take an order with them. His prayer is not long, but full. A
child may not chat in his father’s presence: his words must be humble, earnest,

32. direct to the point, avoiding vain babblings and tedious drawn out affairs.
For we are despised] Heb. We are contempt in the abstract. ot vilified we are only,
but nullified, as a company of ουτιδανοι, no bodies. So Paul (the most precious man
upon earth) and his companions (the glory of Christ, and a royal diadem in the
hand of Jehovah, Isaiah 62:3) were looked upon as the filth of the world, and the
offscouring of all things, 1 Corinthians 4:13. What matter is it, then, what becometh
of us? We have a God to turn us to, and Demetrius hath testimony of the truth; that
is enough, let Diotrephes prate what he pleaseth, 3 John 1:9.
And turn their reproach upon their own heads] Surely God scorneth these scorners,
saith Solomon, Proverbs 3:34; that is, saith Rabbi Levi upon that text, he casts them
into some calamity, and so makes them a laughing stock to those whom they have
laughed at. God loves to retaliate, to pay men home in their own coin. Thus he dealt
by Appion of Alexandria; who, scoffing at religion (and especially at circumcision),
had an ulcer the same time and in the same place (Josephus). The like ill end befell
Julian the apostate, whose daily practice was to scoff at Christ and his people.
Dioclesian the emperor (as Volaterran writes) had a jester called Genesius, who
used to make him merry at meals, and, among their devices, would scoff and squib
at Christians; but God plagued him, for example to others. And the like he did to
Morgan, that mocking bishop of St David’s; to John Apowel, who derided William
Mauldon for his devotion; and lastly, to one Lever, of Brightwell, in Berkshire, who
said that he saw that ill-favoured knave Latimer when he was burned at Oxford,
and that he had teeth like a horse. But the Lord suffered not this scorn and
contempt of his servant to pass unpunished; for that very day, and about the same
hour, that Lever spake these words, his son wickedly hanged himself, saith mine
author. Lege, cave. Read and take note!
And give them for a prey, &c.] A heavy curse, and, as not causeless (against
implacable enemies to God and goodness), so nor fruitless. Woe be to such as against
whom the saints, moved with a zeal of God, shall imprecate vengeance. God usually
inflicts what they denounce against his and their irreconcilable adversaries. Fire
proceeds out of their mouths, &c., Revelation 11:5.
PETT, " ehemiah 4:4-5
“Hear, O our God, for we are despised. And turn back their reproach on their own
head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity, and do not cover their
iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have
provoked (you) to anger before (in front of) the builders.”
ehemiah’s response emphasises the fact that Sanballat’s questions were intended
to be an insult against the God of the Jews, as well as a reproach on His people. He
calls on God to hear what has been said. They have despised His people, and have
provoked Him to anger in front of His people. Thus he prays that what had