Nehemiah 4:3

Eventhat which they build&c. Whatever they are trying to build.

a fox R.V. marg. -Or, jackal". The light tread of some creeping animal was enough to bring down their weak wall stone though it was. The - shuâl" or fox is elsewhere mentioned in Judges 15:4; Psalms 63:10; Ezekiel 13:4; Lamentations 5:18; Song of Solomon 2:15. In the passages from Ps., Ez., Lam., it is spoken of in connexion with ruined places. The R.V. margin gives the alternative, -jackal" in each case, except in Ezek. and Cant., where the slyness of the animal (cf. Luke 13:32) shows that the fox is clearly intended. The Hebrew language probably does not distinguish between the -jackal" and the -fox." Perhaps the allusion in Canticles to the depredations committed by foxes in a vineyard throws light upon Tobiah's sneer. A fox, he seems to say, would have as little difficulty in breaking through the wall of Jerusalem as through a vineyard fence.

break down Vulg. transiliet.