Nehemiah 4:7

_BUT 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,_ But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped. The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite of all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy, and they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse intimidate the builders....

7-15 The hindering good work is what bad men aim at, and promise themselves success in; but good work is God's work, and it shall prosper. God has many ways of bringing to light, and so of bringing to nought, the devices and designs of his church's enemies. If our enemies cannot frighten us from duty, or deceive us into sin, they cannot hurt us. Nehemiah put himself and his cause under the Divine protection. It was the way of this good man, and should be our way. All his cares, all his griefs, all his fears, he spread before God. Before he used any means, he made his prayer to God. Having prayed, he set a watch against the enemy. If we think to secure ourselves by prayer, without watchfulness, we are slothful, and tempt God; if by watchfulness, without prayer, we are proud, and slight God: either way, we forfeit his protection. God's care of our safety, should engage and encourage us to...

Verse Nehemiah 4:7. _THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM WERE MADE UP_] That is, they were made up _to the half height of the wall_; for the preceding verse seems to intimate that the _whole wall_ was thus far built; not _half of the wall_ completed, but the _whole wall built to half_ _its height_....

THE ARABIANS ... - Probably a band, composed largely of Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, which Sanballat maintained as a guard to his person, and which formed a portion of “the army of Samaria” Nehemiah 4:2. A quarrel between such a band and the people of Jerusalem might be overlooked by the Persian king....

EXPOSITION NEHEMIAH 4:7 IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN SANBALLAT, AND TOBIAH, at Samaria, AND THE ARABIANS, AND THE AMMONITES, AND THE ASHDODITES, in their respective residences, HEARD THAT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM WERE MADE UP, or "that the (entire) wall of Jerusalem was of a (good) height," THEY WERE WROTH. Observe that Tobiah is here quite separated from the nation of the Ammonites, and in no way represented as their leader. Jealousy of Jerusalem on the part of the Ammonites and Philistines is quite natural; and, if the Arabs are the Edomites, their opposition would be equally a matter of course (Psalms 137:7; Ezekiel 25:12

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The indignation and sneers of the enemies (Nehemiah 4:1)_ 2. Nehemiah's ejaculatory prayer (Nehemiah 4:4) 3. Conspiracy, and more prayer (Nehemiah 4:7) 4. Nehemiah's precautions and confidence (Nehemiah 4:10) Nehemiah 4:1. Sanballat (hate in disguise) having heard of the successful building of the wall, became very angry and mocked the Jews. And Tobiah the Ammonite used sarcasm. He said that which they build will be so weak that one of the foxes, which infested the broken-down walls ...

SAMARITAN ATTEMPT TO FRUSTRATE THE BUILDING OF THE WALLS. In Nehemiah 4:2 f. the text is very corrupt, though the general sense of the passage is fairly clear, viz. the Samaritans mock the efforts made by the Jews in building the walls; Sanballat's wrath in conjunction with his contempt is a little incongruous. The mention of the Samaritan army is difficult to account for; if an army had really been there some attempt would assuredly have been made there and then to stop the building; probably we must picture a crowd of Samaritans and not warriors. But the corrupt state of the text makes it impossible to feel sure what the meaning really is. Nehemiah 4:2. will they fortify themselves? The Heb. will they leave to them? is meaningless; Ryle emends the text so as to read, will they commit themselves t

BUT. In Hebrew text, Neh. begins here. AND. Note the Figure of speech _Polysyndeton_ (App-6), for emphasis. STOPPED. repaired. So the only other occurrence of the Hebrew (2 Chronicles 24:13)....

In most editions of the Hebrew Bible, this is the 1st verse of the ivth Chapter. _Sanballat … Ashdodites_ Here we have a complete list of the foes of Jerusalem. See notes on Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19. The Ammonites were the fellow-countrymen of Tobiah, the Arabians of Geshem (Nehemiah 2:19). With them are classed the dwellers by the coast (the Shephêlah) represented by the, Ashdodites or inhabitants of Ashdod (Azotus, modern Esdûd). Ashdod was one of the principal Philistine cities (1 Samuel 5). It occupied a strong position near the sea, and once seems to have commanded a seaport only 3 miles distant. The mention of Ashdod here is pec

WHEN SANBALLAT AND TOBIAH, &C.— The ingenious publisher of the Ruins of Balbeck tells us, that in Palestine he has often seen the husbandman sowing, accompanied by an armed friend, to prevent his being robbed of the seed by the Arabs. This robbing the husbandman of his seed seems to have been an ancient practice of theirs, and to have been referred to, Psalms 126:5 and made an image by the Psalmist of the happy issue of the first essays of the Jews to re-people their country. For surely it is much more natural to suppose that these verses referred to a violence of this sort, than to imagine, with many interpreters who have treated upon this circumstance, that they allude to a countryman's anxiety, who sows his corn in a very _scarce time,_ and is afraid of the failure of his next crop. The Israelites, who returned to Babylon upon the proclamation of Cyrus, were undoubtedly in simi