Nehemiah 4:3 Komentář

We left all hands at work for the building of the wall about Jerusalem. But such good work is not wont to be carried on without opposition; now here we are told what opposition was given to it, and what methods Nehemiah took to forward the work, notwithstanding that opposition. I. Their enemies reproached and ridiculed their undertaking, but their scoffs they answered with prayers: they heeded them not, but went on with their work notwithstanding (Neh 4:1-6). II. They formed a bloody design against them, to hinder them by force of arms (Neh 4:7, Neh 4:8, Neh 4:10-12). To guard against this Nehemiah prayed (Neh 4:9), set guards (Neh 4:13), and encouraged them to fight (Neh 4:14), by which the design was broken (Neh 4:15), and so the work was carried on with all needful precaution against a surprise (Neh 4:16-23). In all this Nehemiah approved himself a man of great wisdom and courage, as well as great piety.

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 4 This chapter relates, how the Jews, while building, were mocked by their enemies, to which no answer was returned but by prayer to God, and they went on notwithstanding in their work, Neh 4:1 and how that their enemies conspired against them, to hinder them by force of arms, Neh 4:7 to oppose which, both spiritual and temporal weapons were made use of, so that the work was still carried on, Neh 4:13.

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him,.... Who was one of his brethren he spake before, Neh 4:2, and he said; in the like contemptuous and scoffing manner: even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall; signifying not only that it was so low that a fox could easily get up to it, or leap over it; but that the materials were so bad, and the work so poorly done, that the weight of a fox would break it down; of which creatures many were thereabout, since Jerusalem was desolate, see Lam 5:18.

But also Tobias the Ammonite, his neighbor, said: Let them build, etc. And both the person and words of this Tobias agree with heretics. The person indeed, because his patriarch Ammon was conceived from incest and drunkenness, and at night and in a cave. All of which clearly can be easily applied to any heresiarch; whose entire origin is from carnal pleasure and impurity, from the darkness of errors or crimes, from private gatherings, and not from the public symbol of the holy Church. Indeed, Tobias himself, meaning "good" of the Lord, said not by merit and truth, but by arrogance and pride, that the wall of the holy city could be leaped over by a fox; it is evident that heretics are called foxes. From which is that of the Song of Songs: Catch for us the little foxes that ruin the vineyards (Cant. II); which is to say quite clearly, Catch and bring to light the putrid and deceitful cunning of heretics, by which they strive to corrupt the fruitful minds of the faithful. Therefore, if, he says, a fox climbs up, it will leap over their stone wall. If against their faith's assertion any heretic arises, he immediately becomes proud and will subject all the confidence of their doctrine to his feet, which they boast is fortified like a stone and founded in Christ. But such blasphemers will come to what the sacred writer of this history, in imprecation, adds:

Sanballat and Tobiah mock the Jews, and endeavor to prevent the completing of the wall, Neh 4:1-3. Nehemiah prays against them, and the people complete one half of the wall, Neh 4:4-6. The Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, conspire together, and come to fight against the Jews, Neh 4:7, Neh 4:8. The Jews commend themselves to God, and determine to fight for their lives and liberties; on hearing of which their enemies are disheartened, Neh 4:9-16. The Jews divide themselves into two bands; one half working, and the other standing ready armed to meet their enemies. Even the workmen are obliged to arm themselves, while employed in building, for fear of their enemies, Neh 4:17, Neh 4:18. Nehemiah uses all precautions to prevent a surprise; and all labor with great fervor in the work, Neh 4:19-22.

WHILE THE ENEMIES SCOFF, NEHEMIAH PRAYS TO GOD, AND CONTINUES THE WORK. (Neh 4:1-6) when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth--The Samaritan faction showed their bitter animosity to the Jews on discovering the systematic design of refortifying Jerusalem. Their opposition was confined at first to scoffs and insults, in heaping which the governors made themselves conspicuous, and circulated all sorts of disparaging reflections that might increase the feelings of hatred and contempt for them in their own party. The weakness of the Jews in respect of wealth and numbers, the absurdity of their purpose apparently to reconstruct the walls and celebrate the feast of dedication in one day, the idea of raising the walls on their old foundations, as well as using the charred and mouldering debris of the ruins as the materials for the restored buildings, and the hope of such a parapet as they could raise being capable of serving as a fortress of defense--these all afforded fertile subjects of hostile ridicule.

if a fox go up--The foxes were mentioned because they were known to infest in great numbers the ruined and desolate places in the mount and city of Zion (Lam 5:18).

The ridicule of Tobiah and Sanballat. - As soon as Sanballat heard that we were building (בּנים, partic., expresses not merely the resolve or desire to build, but also the act of commencing), he was wroth and indignant, and vented his anger by ridiculing the Jews, saying before his brethren, i.e., the rulers of his people, and the army of Samaria (חיל, like Est 1:3; Kg2 18:17), - in other words, saying publicly before his associates and subordinates, - "What do these feeble Jews? will they leave it to themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish it to-day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps that are burned?" עשׂים מה, not, What will they do? (Bertheau), for the participle is present, and does not stand for the future; but, What are they doing? The form אמלל, withered, powerless, occurs here only. The subject of the four succeeding interrogative sentences must be the same. And this is enough to render inadmissible the explanation offered by older expositors of להם היעזבוּ: Will they leave to them, viz., will the neighbouring nations or the royal prefects allow them to build? Here, as in the case of the following verbs, the subject can only be the Jews. Hence Ewald seeks, both here and in Neh 4:8, to give to the verb עזב the meaning to shelter: Will they make a shelter for themselves, i.e., will they fortify the town? But this is quite arbitrary. Bertheau more correctly compares the passage, Psa 10:14, אלהים על עזבנוּ, we leave it to God; but incorrectly infers that here also we must supply אלהים על, and that, Will they leave to themselves? means, Will they commit the matter to God. This mode of completing the sense, however, can by no means be justified; and Bertheau's conjecture, that the Jews now assembling in Jerusalem, before commencing the work itself, instituted a devotional solemnity which Sanballat was ridiculing, is incompatible with the correct rendering of the participle. עזב construed with ל means to leave, to commit a matter to any one, like Psa 10:14, and the sense is: Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves? i.e., Do they think they are able with their poor resources to carry out this great work? This is appropriately followed by the next question: Will they sacrifice? i.e., bring sacrifices to obtain God's miraculous assistance? The ridicule lies in the circumstance that Sanballat neither credited the Jews with ability to carry out the work, nor believed in the overruling providence of the God whom the Jews worshipped, and therefore casts scorn by היזבּחוּ both upon the faith of the Jews in their God and upon the living God Himself. As these two questions are internally connected, so also are the two following, by which Sanballat casts a doubt upon the possibility of the work being executed. Will they finish (the work) on this day, i.e., to-day, directly? The meaning is: Is this a matter to be as quickly executed as if it were the work of a single day? The last question is: Have they even the requisite materials? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish which are burnt? The building-stone of Jerusalem was limestone, which gets softened by fire, losing its durability, and, so to speak, its vitality. This explains the use of the verb חיּה, to revive, bestow strength and durability upon the softened crumbled stones, to fit the stones into a new building (Ges. Lex.). The construction שׂרוּפות והמּה is explained by the circumstance that אבנים is by its form masculine, but by its meaning feminine, and that המּה agrees with the form אבנים.

Tobiah the Ammonite, standing near Sanballat, and joining in in his raillery, adds: "Even that which they build, if a fox go up he will break their stone wall;" i.e., even if they build up walls, the light footsteps of the stealthy fox will suffice to tread them down, and to make breaches in their work.