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The Histories · Old Testament

Nehemiah 4

Nehemiah 4: mockery, conspiracy, and building with a weapon in hand

General context

When Sanballat hears that the wall is being built, he is angry and mocks the Jews before his brethren and the army of Samaria, asking what these feeble Jews will do. Tobiah the Ammonite adds that a fox would break down their wall. Nehemiah prays that God hear, since they are despised, turn the reproach on the mockers' heads and not cover their iniquity. The wall is joined together to the half of it because the people have a mind to work. Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, Ammonites and Ashdodites then conspire to fight against Jerusalem. The builders pray and set a watch day and night. Judah complains that the bearers' strength is failing and the rubbish is too much; the adversaries plan to come unseen and slay them; and Jews who live near the enemies warn ten times of attack. Nehemiah stations people by families with swords, spears and bows behind the wall, and tells the nobles, rulers and people not to fear but to remember the Lord and fight for their families and houses. When the enemies learn their plan is known and God has brought their counsel to nought, everyone returns to the work. From then on half of Nehemiah's servants work while half hold weapons and armour; builders and bearers work with one hand and hold a weapon in the other; every builder wears a sword; a trumpeter stays by Nehemiah so the people can gather wherever it sounds, for their God will fight for them. They labour from dawn to starlight, all lodge inside Jerusalem to guard by night, and none of Nehemiah's company take off their clothes except for washing.

Cited passages: Nehemiah 4:1, Nehemiah 4:2, Nehemiah 4:3, Nehemiah 4:4, Nehemiah 4:5, Nehemiah 4:6, Nehemiah 4:8, Nehemiah 4:9, Nehemiah 4:10, Nehemiah 4:11, Nehemiah 4:12, Nehemiah 4:13, Nehemiah 4:14, Nehemiah 4:15, Nehemiah 4:16, Nehemiah 4:17, Nehemiah 4:18, Nehemiah 4:20, Nehemiah 4:21, Nehemiah 4:22, Nehemiah 4:23

Nehemiah 4 (KJV)

1But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

2And 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?

3Now 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.

4Hear, 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:

5And 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.

6So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

10And 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.

11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

12And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.

13Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

14And 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, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

15And 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.

16And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

17They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

18For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

19And 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.

20In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.

21So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

22Likewise 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 labour on the day.

23So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Sanballat speaks before the army of Samaria, which is the only indication in the chapter of the force behind him; the text does not give him a title. The conspirators are listed as Sanballat, Tobiah, Arabians, Ammonites and Ashdodites, a wider set than the three named in chapter 2. No battle is narrated: the adversaries' plan is reported as their speech, the warning comes from Jews living near them, and the builders return to the wall once the enemies learn the plan is known. The text says God brought their counsel to nought and does not describe any other cause. The prayer in verses 4 and 5 asks that the mockers' sin not be blotted out; it is quoted as Nehemiah's own words and the text records no answer. The complaint about failing strength is attributed to Judah as a group, and the words about slaying are attributed to the adversaries, so neither is the narrator's assessment. Verse 6 says the wall was joined together unto the half thereof, without saying whether half its height or half its length is meant, and the chapter gives no other measure of progress or any dates. The servants whom Nehemiah divides into workers and guards are called my servants, distinct from the people at large. The trumpet arrangement assumes the workers are spread far apart, which is the narrator's explanation for it.

Cited passages: Nehemiah 4:2, Nehemiah 4:7, Nehemiah 2:19, Nehemiah 4:11, Nehemiah 4:12, Nehemiah 4:15, Nehemiah 4:5, Nehemiah 4:10, Nehemiah 4:6, Nehemiah 4:16, Nehemiah 4:19

Literary context

The chapter alternates threat and response three times: mockery is answered by prayer and continued building; conspiracy by prayer and a watch; discouragement and rumour by armed families and a speech. Once the enemies' plan is known, a permanent arrangement follows, half working and half guarding. Sanballat's five questions pile up scorn, and Tobiah's fox reduces the wall to a joke; the narrator answers them not with argument but with the plain report that the wall was joined together unto the half thereof. Nehemiah's speech to the people lists what they fight for: brethren, sons, daughters, wives, houses. The image of one hand at work and the other on a weapon, followed by the sword girded on every builder, gives the chapter its lasting picture. Prayer and practical measures sit side by side without comment, as in we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch. The closing detail of clothes never taken off, except for washing, ends the chapter on strain rather than triumph, and the wall is still unfinished when chapter 5 turns to the people's cry against their own brethren.

Cited passages: Nehemiah 4:2, Nehemiah 4:3, Nehemiah 4:6, Nehemiah 4:14, Nehemiah 4:17, Nehemiah 4:18, Nehemiah 4:9, Nehemiah 4:23, Nehemiah 5:1

Key moments

  1. Feeble Jews mocked (Nehemiah 4:2). Sanballat scorns the builders before the army of Samaria with five questions.
  2. A fox on the wall (Nehemiah 4:3). Tobiah says a fox could knock down what they build.
  3. The wall reaches half (Nehemiah 4:6). The people have a mind to work, and the wall is joined together unto the half thereof.
  4. Conspiracy to fight (Nehemiah 4:8). Sanballat, Tobiah and neighbouring peoples plot to attack Jerusalem.
  5. Remember the Lord and fight (Nehemiah 4:14). Nehemiah arms families and tells them to fight for their brothers, children, wives and houses.
  6. One hand working, one armed (Nehemiah 4:17). Builders and bearers work with one hand and hold a weapon in the other.
  7. Clothes never off (Nehemiah 4:23). Nehemiah and his company keep their clothes on except for washing.

For reflection

Nehemiah prays that the mockers' sin not be blotted out, and in the same chapter tells the people to remember the Lord and fight for their families. How does the text hold prayer against enemies and practical defence together, and does it treat either as more decisive?

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