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Nehemiah 4:3

in Nehemiah 4

Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Nehemiah 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He had notice brought him of what they said. It is probable that they themselves sent him a message to this purport, to discourage him, hoping to jeer him out of his attempt; but he did not answer these fools according to their folly; he did not upbraid them with their weakness, but looked up to God by prayer.

This site's exposition

and mocked the Jews

on Nehemiah 4:1-3

Sanballat hears that the wall rises and answers with contempt before he answers with force, mocking feeble Jews who cannot finish what they started. Tobiah adds the sharper jab: a fox climbing the stones would break down all they have built. Matthew Henry reads the sequence as the pattern of every threatened enemy, ridicule tried first because it costs nothing and works if it lands. The mockery will harden into conspiracy by verse eight, words giving way to weapons.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

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 …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The prayer, therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge, nor any inferior passion, but a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and the success of His cause, held the ascendant sway.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְטוֹבִיָּ֥הand Tobiah

    vetoiyahH2900 →18 times

  • הָעַמֹּנִ֖יthe Ammonite

    haamoniH5984 →21 times

  • אֶצְל֑וֹ[was] beside him

    ʾetzloH681 →61 times

  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • גַּ֚םalso

    gamH1571 →769 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[that] which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הֵ֣םthey

    hemH1992 →553 times

  • בּוֹנִ֔ים[are] building

    bonimH1129 →376 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • יַעֲלֶ֣הit will go up

    yaalehH5927 →890 times

  • שׁוּעָ֔לa fox

    shualH7776 →

  • וּפָרַ֖ץand it will break down

    ufaratzH6555 →49 times

  • חוֹמַ֥ת[the] wall of

    chomatH2346 →133 times

  • אַבְנֵיהֶֽם׃ פstones their

    ʾavneihemH68 →273 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Nehemiah 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”3 works1 Kings 20:10Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”2 works1 Kings 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”2 works2 Kings 18:23Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!2 worksNehemiah 2:10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.2 works1 Chronicles 19:2And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console Hanun concerning his father. But when David’s servants arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him,2 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 13:15And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it—2 worksEzra 9:1After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.2 worksMicah 7:11The day for rebuilding your walls will come—the day for extending your boundary.2 worksNehemiah 13:1At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,2 worksNehemiah 6:1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—1 worksLamentations 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.1 worksDeuteronomy 23:3No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 2:19

    But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 6:6

      that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to…

    • Nehemiah 6:1–2

      When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the…

  • Through

    Nehemiah 2:10

    But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 2:19

      But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the…

    • Nehemiah 4:7

      When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

    • Ezekiel 25:6–8

      For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt,

    • Nehemiah 13:4

      Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God

  • Through

    1 Kings 20:10

    Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 19:2

      So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those…

    • Isaiah 10:13–14

      For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 4 →