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1–8. The impression made by the beginning of the construction of the wall on the enemies of the Jews, and their plans. 9–23. Nehemiah taking measures to protect those working on the building. Nehemiah 4:1. When Sanballat heard that we were building a wall, he became angry and was much annoyed and mocked the Jews; Nehemiah 4:2. and he spoke before his brothers and before the Samarian military men, and said: What are these miserable Jews doing? will they really be allowed to do this? will they really make sacrifices? will they ever end? will they really revive stones from heaps of dust, and, moreover, burnt ones? First 6 tbsp. Chapter IV in many editions of the Bible they make up the end of ch. III. – The beginning of the construction of the wall aroused a feeling of anger among neighbors hostile to the Jews and a desire to hinder the construction. Sanballat, intending to weaken the energy of the Jews, among the Samaritan nobility mocked their enterprise, presenting it as a pipe dream. Sanballat's words: “will they really be allowed to do this” (hajaazbu lachem) are not clear, since the subject of the verb hajaazbn (to allow) is not specified. According to the context of the speech and, accordingly, the meaning of the verb asav in other places (Is. 10:14), in the words of Sanballat one must see a mockery of the faith of the Jews in God’s help: “do they (the Jews) provide themselves (in the matter of construction) to God,” i.e. Do they really hope that God will complete an undertaking for them that is beyond their capacity? Are they really thinking of helping themselves by making sacrifices? Nehemiah 4:3. And Tobiah the Ammonite, who was near him, said: Let them build them; a fox will come and destroy their stone wall. Like Sanballat, Tobiah points out the impossibility of the enterprise conceived by the Jews. Nehemiah 4:4. Hear, O our God, in what contempt we are, and turn their curse on their heads, and consign them to contempt in the land of captivity; Nehemiah 4:5. and do not cover up their iniquities, and let not their sin be blotted out before You, because they have upset those who are building! Likewise, the historical narrative is interrupted by prayer in (Neh. 5:19, 6:14, 13:14, 22, 29, 31). Neh.4:6. However, we built a wall, and the entire wall was built, up to half of it. And the people had enough zeal to work. The enemies’ ridicule, therefore, had no effect, and the wall was soon built “up to half of it,” i.e. up to half its height. Nehemiah 4:7. When Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Azothites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored, that the damage was beginning to be repaired, they were very annoyed. Nehemiah 4:8. And they all agreed together to go to war against Jerusalem and destroy it. The successful progress of the construction prompted the enemies of the Jews to act by force, and they decided to unexpectedly (v. 11) attack the Jews engaged in the construction, kill them and destroy Jerusalem. In Art. 7 the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashodites are named as the enemies of the Jews. Rawlinson believes that the writer does not mean entire tribes, but actually those individual people from these tribes who were part of Sanballat’s detachment, since an armed attack on Jerusalem by entire tribes, with the good organization of the Persian monarchy, is difficult to allow. But there is hardly any reason to deny the possibility of such an attack. Nehemiah 4:12. When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, from all places, that they would attack us: “When the Jews who lived near them came,” i.e. in places neighboring the Samaria region, etc. Those who came, obviously, did not participate in the work themselves, but took care of their relatives and friends who were at work. End of verse in Hebrew the text is not clear, and our Russian. the translation in this case gives its own interpretation (“from all places that they will attack us”). Nehemiah 4:13. Then in the low places near the city, outside the wall, in dry places, I set the people in tribes with their swords, with their spears and their bows. The exact meaning of the original is not clear, and Russian translators again give an interpretation by inserting the word "city" and translating the verb amad instead of twice once. Assuming an error in the text and correcting it, Rissel conveys the verse as follows: “then I placed throwing machines in place behind the wall at protected points and sent out people,” etc. Nehemiah 4:15. When our enemies heard that we knew their intention, then God ruined their plan, and we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. The construction of the wall stopped for a while. But the enemies of the Jews, seeing that their plan for a surprise attack had been discovered, abandoned it, and the construction work could continue. However, in order to prevent an unexpected attack, Nehemiah still considered it necessary to take a number of measures, which are discussed in Art. 16. Nehemiah 4:16. From that day on, half of my young men were engaged in work, and the other half of them held spears, shields and bows and armor; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. “From that day half of the young men” (nearim) have been with me,” that is, half of Nehemiah’s retinue, that detachment that was at his disposal for police duties (cf. Neh. 5:10, 16, 13:19). Nehemiah 4:21. This is how we did the work; and half held spears from the rising of dawn until the appearance of the stars. “This is how we did the work,” i.e. Nehemiah and his retinue, who carried out special labors. Nehemiah 4:22. Moreover, at the same time I told the people that everyone should spend the night in Jerusalem with their slaves, and they will be with us at night on guard, and during the day at work. In addition to other precautions, Nehemiah ordered that the people not disperse at the end of the day's work, but remain overnight in Jerusalem, posting a guard. This order was meant not only to protect the city, but also to give rest to the people who bore the greatest labor, i.e. Nehemiah and his retinue. Nehemiah 4:23. And neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the guards accompanying me took off their clothes; each one had a sword and water at hand. “They did not take off their clothes; everyone had a sword and water at hand.” The last sentence is omitted from the LXX and is rendered differently in other translations. In the Syriac text, the expression is conveyed in the sense that the defenders of Jerusalem did not take off their clothes for a month. In Lucian. καὶ ἄνδρα , ον῀ ἀπέστελον ἐπὶ τὸ ῦδωρ ανήρ καὶ ὅπλον είς τὸ ῦδωρ. In the Vulg.: unusquisque tantum nudabatur ad baptismum, everyone took off his clothes only for ablution. Exegetes also interpret the above expression differently: “everyone had his own weapon and water with him so as not to leave his post” (Cleric); “everyone had his bow in his right hand” and everyone exposed his body only for nighttime needs (maim - water). You might be interested in: