Table of Contents
Nehemiah 4
Nehemiah 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.
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?
3 Now 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.
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:
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 built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
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,
8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
9 Nevertheless 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 in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
12 And 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.
13 Therefore 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.
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, which 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.
16 And 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.
17 They 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.
18 For 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 therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.
21 So we laboured 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 labour on the day.
23 So 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.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>was repaired</b> Heb. עָלְתָה אָרוּכָה, [lit. attained a cure,] that the wall was built. <b>repaired</b> A [word having the] meaning of bandaging and healing. <b>that the people who were exposed had commenced to be closed in</b> that the people of the city, who had heretofore been exposed without a wall, were now closed in by the building of the wall.</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>and to wreak destruction therein</b> to wreak upon the building of the wall ruin and destruction. It is like (Isa. 32:5): “…and to speak destructively (תּוֹעָה) about the Lord.”</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>over them</b> over the builders. <b>because of them</b> because of the enemies.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>And Judea said</b> So were the people of Judea saying and complaining. <b>The porter’s strength has failed</b> Those who bear and load the stones and the wood for the building of the wall have failed in their strength, for they have no more strength to build because of the enemies. <b>and there is much earth</b> There is still much mud and clay to place into the wall, meaning that we still have much work, but we cannot build because of fear of the enemies.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>And our adversaries said</b> Nehemiah proceeds to tell this. <b>They will not know, and they will not see</b> So were our adversaries saying about us: “They will not know, and the Israelites will not recognize us until we come suddenly into their midst and kill them, and with this plot we will stop and curtail the building.”</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>Now it came to pass when the Jews came</b> And now, the adversaries who had conspired together to wage war against us gathered with the Jews who were among them in their lands, and those Jews who had joined them came before the army, as is customary for soldiers to do, to speak to us, and in this manner the Jews conspired against the enemies. Now it came to pass when the Jews who dwelt beside them came, etc. <b>that they said to us ten times</b> Those Jews warned us as many as ten times to wage war against our enemies because they were coming to war. And this is what they said to us, “From all the places, etc.” From all those places where you will be scattered while building the wall, here and there, be careful to assemble until you return upon us together to wage war against us.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>So I stationed from below…the wall</b> When I heard their words, I stationed [mighty men] from below that place around Jerusalem, from behind the wall of the city and on the bare rocks. <b>according to families</b> of the people, of the mighty men among them with their weapons, to fight against our enemies when they would come. <b>And I stationed from below, etc. and I stationed the people, etc.</b> This verse follows the pattern of (Exod. 4:9): “…and the water that you will take from the river will be…will become blood on the dry land;” (Ps. 92:10): “For behold, Your enemies, O Lord, for behold, Your enemies shall perish;” (Jud. 5:12): “Praise! Praise! Deborah. Praise! Praise! Utter a song;” (Ps. 115:1): “Not to us, O Lord, not to us.”</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>And I saw, and I arose</b> And when I saw the enemies coming, I arose to speak to the nobles and to the prefects to spur them to fight against our enemy. <b>for your brethren</b> Heb. עַל אֲחֵיכֶם, for the sake of your brethren.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>that it had become known to us</b> that they were coming to fight against us. <b>and we all returned</b> We all returned from the place where we had gathered to meet the enemies, each one to his work in the building of the wall.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>And it was from that day on</b> And from that day on, half the mighty men worked at the building of the wall, and the remaining half of the mighty men were armed with weapons to guard their brethren who were doing the work. <b>spears</b> Heb. וְהָרְמָחִים. The “vav” is superfluous, like the “vav” of (Gen. 36: 24): “And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah (וְאַיָה) and Anah.” <b>and the rulers</b> were close behind the entire tribe of Judah to be cautious in the battle.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>The builders of the wall, etc.</b> Those who were building the wall and those who were loading and carrying the loads were working with one hand, and carrying weapons with the other. <b>the sword</b> Heb. הַשָּׁלַח, an implement of war, like (Job 33:18): “…from perishing by the sword (מֵעֲבֹר בַּשָּׁלַח). And so did Menahem associate it (Machbereth Menahem p. 174).</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>And the builders</b> How were they building? They were all girded, each one with his sword on his waist, and thus did they build. <b>beside me</b> He was always beside me.</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>much</b> Heb. הַרְבֵּה, a great [amount of work].</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>will fight for us</b> [as translated,] will fight for us.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>Let each man and his youth</b> each of the builders and a youth with him. <b>lodge in the midst of Jerusalem</b> And the night was for their watch, and [during] the day they were doing work. The result was that they did not sleep at all.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>we did not take off our clothes</b> We were always zealous in guarding. <b>man took it even to the water</b> This refers back to “not” above, like (I Sam. 2:3): “…let not arrogance come out of your mouth.” None of us would take off his clothes to lie down or to wash them with water, and this is a double expression, [repeating,] we did not undress. <b>took it off</b> Heb. שִּׁלְחוֹ, taking off, like (Lev. 6: 4): “He shall then take off his garments,” which is translated by Targum as וְיִשְּׁלַח.</html>