Nehemiah 4:1-3

Expanded Bible

Those Against the Rebuilding

4 When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, even furious. He ·made fun of [mocked; ridiculed] the Jewish people. ² He said to his ·friends [colleagues; ^Lbrothers] and ·those with power in [or the army/aristocracy of] Samaria, “What are these ·weak [feeble; pathetic] Jews doing? Will they ·rebuild the wall [or leave it all to God]? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in one day? Can they ·bring stones back to life from piles of trash and ashes [revive stones from piles of rubble—burnt stones at that]?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was ·next to Sanballat [^Lbeside him], said, “If a fox climbed up on the stone wall they are building, it would break it down.”