Nehemiah 4:11

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
adversaries	צָרֵ֗ינוּ tza.Rei.nu	H6862	narrow · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
said	וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
know	יֵדְעוּ֙ ye.de.'U	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
see	יִרְא֔וּ yir.'U	H7200	to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
come	נָב֥וֹא na.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common plural
midst	תּוֹכָ֖ם to.Kham	H8432	a bisection · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
among	תָּוֶךְ tâvek	H8432	a bisection
slay	וַהֲרַגְנ֑וּם va.ha.rag.Num	H2026	to smite with deadly intent · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
work	הַמְּלָאכָֽה ha.me.la.Khah	H4399	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
cease	וְהִשְׁבַּ֖תְנוּ ve.hish.Bat.nu	H7673	to repose · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Judges 20:29-48 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
2 Samuel 17:2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I…
Psalms 56:6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
Isaiah 47:11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to…
Acts 23:12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink t…
Acts 23:21 But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that t…
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:7-15

We have here, I. The conspiracy which the Jews' enemies formed against them, to stay the building by slaying the builders. The conspirators were not only Sanballat and Tobiah, but other neighbouring people whom they had drawn into the plot. They flattered themselves with a fancy that the work would soon stand still of itself; but, when they heard that it went on a prospered, they were angry at the Jews for being so hasty to push the work forward and angry at themselves for being so slow in opposing it (Neh 4:7): They were very wroth. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. Nothing would serve but they would fight against Jerusalem, Neh 4:8. Why, what quar…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 4:7

HE SETS A WATCH. (Neh. 4:7-23) But . . . when Sanballat . . . heard that the walls . . . were made up, and . . . the breaches . . . stopped--The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse or intimidate the builders. The plot being discovered, Nehemiah adopted the most energetic measures for ensuring the common safety, as well as the uninterrupted building of the walls. Hitherto the governor, for the sake of despatch, had set all his attendants and guards on the work--now half of th…

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Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:10

The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed - They worked both day and night, scarcely ever putting off their clothes, except for the purpose of being washed, Neh 4:21, Neh 4:23. Much rubbish - The ruins they were obliged to clear away, before they could dig the foundation for a new wall: and in this labor they were nearly exhausted; see Neh 5:15.

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:11

And our adversaries said, they shall not know,.... Our designs upon them: neither see; or perceive what we are about to do: till we come in the midst of them; with an army suddenly, at an unawares, and unexpected: and slay them; they being unarmed, and not prepared to defend themselves: and cause the work to cease; as it must in course, the builders being slain.

The Church Fathers

And our enemies said: Let them not know and understand, etc. And this is always accustomed to be done in the spiritual building. For the tireless enemy remains with his satellites, namely unclean spirits and wicked men, who, caring less for the works of faith and virtues, strive to hinder and, as much as they can, always to attack, and they seek to kill the mind of the faithful with the sword of wicked suggestion. But we, according to the Apostle, must take up the armor of God against these, so that we may be able to resist on the evil day, and stand perfect in all things (Eph. VI). However, it is well said that he set up people with arms around the wall, so that the builders, surrounded by a line of armed men, might apply themselves to building the wall with a freer and more secure hand. For the degrees of the faithful are divided, and some adorn the Church with good works within; others, armed with the arms of sacred reading, watch over the Church against those heretics attacking it. These comfort their neighbors in the truth of the faith with devout religious fervor, those exercise necessary combat against the darts of the devil or vices, by which they labor to attack the same faith, and repel the insidious wolves from the Lord's fold with pastoral care.
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Armour — Is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive. (1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The “rod of iron” (Ps. 2:9) is…
Samaria, Modern · Inhabitants of: Opposed the Jews after their return from captivity — Inhabitants of: Opposed the Jews after their return from captivity

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Nehemiah 4:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:7-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 4:7

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:10

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 4:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:7-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 4:7

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:10

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 4:11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 4:11

Rashi on Nehemiah 4:11