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Nehemiah 4

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Sanballat Mocks the Builders 1–6

1
But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. ​
2
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? ​
3
Now 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. ​
4
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; ​
5
and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
6
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. ​

The Enemy Conspires to Attack 7–15

7
But it came to pass 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, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth; ​
8
and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.
9
But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. ​
10
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. ​
11
And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
12
And it came to pass that, when the Jews that dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times from all places, Ye must return unto us. ​
13
Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set there the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ​
14
And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. ​
15
And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. ​

Armed Labor and Constant Vigilance 16–23

16
And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. ​
17
They that builded the wall and they that bare burdens laded themselves; every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon; ​
18
and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
19
And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another:
20
in what place soever ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God will fight for us. ​
21
So we wrought in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
22
Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day. ​
23
So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one went with his weapon to the water. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Nehemiah 4

Verse 1

he was wroth, and took great indignation — Charah, to burn with anger, and kaas, to be vexed. 'Mocked' is laag, the verb of 2:19, where Sanballat and his companions first 'laughed us to scorn'. The cause is the same wall (chomah) of 1:3, now rising.

Verse 2

these feeble Jews — Amelal, languid or withered, a word found in the KJV only here. 'Revive' is chayah, to make live, the root of 'reviving' in Ezra 9:8, 9; the stones are 'out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned', the burning reported in 1:3. 'Rubbish' is aphar, dust.

Verse 3

if a fox go up — Shual, the fox or jackal of ruins: of desolate Zion, Lam 5:18 says 'the foxes walk upon it'. Tobiah the Ammonite (2:10, 19) calls the new 'stone wall' so slight that an animal would 'break down' (parats, the verb of 1:3) what the men are building.

Verse 4

turn their reproach upon their own head — Cherpah, the 'reproach' of 1:3 and 2:17, which the wall was meant to end. Nehemiah asks that it fall back on the mockers and that they be given 'for a prey in the land of captivity', as Ps 79:12 asks, 'render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach'.

Verse 6

had a mind to work — Literally 'the people had a heart to work' (lev). 'Joined together' is qashar, to bind, and the wall reached 'the half thereof'. The whole was finished 'in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days' (6:15).

Verse 7

the breaches began to be stopped — 'Made up' is arukah, the new flesh that closes a wound, as in Isa 58:8, 'thine health shall spring forth speedily'. The opposition now includes the Arabians (Geshem, 2:19), the Ammonites (Tobiah, 2:10) and Ashdod, the Philistine city whose wives are named in 13:23.

Verse 9

we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch — 'Made our prayer' is palal, as in 1:4. 'Day and night' is the pair of Nehemiah's own prayer in 1:6, here applied to the watch (mishmar) as well. The prayer and the guard are both set 'because of them', the peoples of v.7.

Verse 10

the bearers of burdens is decayed — 'Decayed' is kashal, to stumble. The 'bearers of burdens' (sabbal) are the carriers Solomon had by the tens of thousands (1 Kgs 5:15) and Josiah's workmen for the temple (2 Chr 34:13). 'Rubbish' is aphar, the dust of v.2, which the enemy had mocked.

Verse 12

ten times — The Jews who lived near the hostile peoples of v.7 came to warn the builders 'ten times'. The same count marks repeated acts in Gen 31:7, 'changed my wages ten times', and Job 19:3, 'These ten times have ye reproached me'.

Verse 13

after their families — Mishpachah, the household. The people are posted by family, as the builders of ch.3 worked each 'over against his house' (3:28). Their arms are 'swords… spears… bows'; the 'spears' (romach) and the bows appear again in v.16.

Verse 14

remember the Lord, which is great and terrible — The two words of Nehemiah's own prayer, 'the great and terrible God' (1:5), set against fear of men. 'Be not ye afraid of them' recalls Num 14:9, 'neither fear ye the people of the land'. 'Remember' (zakar) is the verb he asked of God in 1:8.

Verse 15

brought their counsel to nought — Parar, to break or frustrate, as in Job 5:12, 'He disappointeth the devices of the crafty', and 2 Sam 17:14, where 'the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel'. The answer to the plot is the work resumed: 'we returned all of us to the wall'.

Verse 16

the half of my servants wrought — 'Servants' is naar, young men, the word again in v.23. The other half held 'the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons', coats of mail, as Uzziah's host was armed (2 Chr 26:14). The 'rulers' (sar) stand 'behind all the house of Judah'.

Verse 17

with the other hand held a weapon — Shelach, a missile or weapon. The 'burdens' (sebel) share their root with the 'bearers of burdens' (sabbal) whose strength failed in v.10, and those same carriers now work one-handed. The builders also had 'his sword girded by his side' (v.18).

Verse 20

our God shall fight for us — The words are Moses' promise to Israel, 'The LORD shall fight for you' (Ex 14:14; also Deut 1:30; 3:22), here said in the first person. The gathering signal is the shophar, the trumpet, whose bearer stands by Nehemiah (v.18).

Verse 22

lodge within Jerusalem — Every man and his servant (naar) is to stay 'in the midst of Jerusalem', so that at night they 'may be a guard' (mishmar, the word for the 'watch' of v.9) and work by day. Later one in ten of the people is chosen by lot to live in the city (11:1).

Verse 23

none of us put off our clothes — Pashat, to strip off, the verb of the priest who 'shall put off his garments' in Lev 6:11. Nehemiah counts himself, his brethren, his servants (naar, v.16) and 'the men of the guard' (mishmar, vv.9, 22), and excepts only washing.