Nehemiah 4:2

And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
spake	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
brethren	אֶחָ֗יו 'e.Chav	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
army	וְחֵיל֙ ve.Cheil	H2428	probably a force · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
Samaria	שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן sho.me.Ron	H8111	Shomeron · proper noun, a place name
said	וַיֹּ֕אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
do	עֹשִׂ֑ים 'o.Sim	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
feeble	הָאֲמֵלָלִ֖ים ha.'a.me.la.Lim	H537	languid · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
Jews	הַיְּהוּדִ֥ים hai.ye.hu.Dim	H3064	a Jehudite (i.e. Judaite or Jew) · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
fortify	הֲיַעַזְב֨וּ ha.ya.'az.Vu	H5800	to loosen · interrogative particle + verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
sacrifice	הֲיִזְבָּ֙חוּ֙ ha.yiz.Ba.chu	H2076	to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice) · interrogative particle + verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
end	הַיְכַלּ֣וּ hay.kha.Lu	H3615	to end · interrogative particle + verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
day	בַיּ֔וֹם vai.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
revive	הַיְחַיּ֧וּ hay.chai.Yu	H2421	to live · interrogative particle + verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
stones	הָאֲבָנִ֛ים ha.'a.va.Nim	H68	a stone · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
heaps	מֵעֲרֵמ֥וֹת me.'a.re.Mot	H6194	a heap · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
rubbish	הֶעָפָ֖ר he.'a.Far	H6083	dust (as powdered or gray) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
burned	שְׂרוּפֽוֹת se.ru.Fot	H8313	to be (causatively · verb, qal passive participle, feminine plural absolute

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

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the t…
Ezra 4:9-10 Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelite…
1 Samuel 17:43-44 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
Nehemiah 4:10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
Ezekiel 37:3-13 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
Zechariah 12:8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the hous…
1 Samuel 14:11-12 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of…
Nehemiah 12:27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedi…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:1-6

Here is, I. The spiteful scornful reflection which Sanballat and Tobiah cast upon the Jews for their attempt to build the wall about Jerusalem. The country rang of it presently; intelligence was brought of it to Samaria, that nest of enemies to the Jews and their prosperity; and here we are told how they received the tidings. 1. In heart. They were very angry at the undertaking, and had great indignation, Neh 4:1. It vexed them that Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel (Neh 2:10); but, when they heard of this great undertaking for their good, they were out of all patience. They had hitherto pleased themselves with the thought that while Jerusalem was unwalled they coul…

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Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:2

The army of Samaria - As he was governor, he had the command of the army, and he wished to excite the soldiers to second his views against Nehemiah and his men. What do these feeble Jews? - We may remark here, in general, that the enemies of God's work endeavor by all means to discredit and destroy it, and those who are employed in it. 1. They despise the workmen: What do these feeble Jews? 2. They endeavor to turn all into ridicule: Will they fortify themselves? 3. They have recourse to lying: If a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. 4. They sometimes use fair but deceitful speeches; see Neh 6:2, etc.

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:2

And he spake before his brethren,.... Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and perhaps some other governors of the king of Persia in those parts: and before the army of Samaria: which, and the inhabitants of it, were implacable enemies of the Jews: and said, what do these feeble Jews? what do they pretend to do, or what can they do? will they fortify themselves? by building a wall about their city; can they think they shall ever be able to do this, or that it will be allowed? will they sacrifice? meaning not their daily sacrifice, as Jarchi, that they had done a long time, but for the dedication of their building, as Aben Ezra: will they make an end in a day? they seem to be in…

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The Church Fathers

"Will the stones be rebuilt?" etc. For the stones were rebuilt, burnt from the heaps of dust, and were placed again in the work of the holy city, when those who had either denied the faith under the fire of persecutions or had lost the purity of conduct under the grips of vice, repented by the mercy of the Lord; so that they both recover the integrity of the catholic faith by steadfast profession, and obtain the ornaments of virtues by amended morals.
— 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…
Sanballat — Held some place of authority in Samaria when Nehemiah went up to Jerusalem to rebuild its ruined walls. He vainly attempted to hinder this work (Neh. 2:10, 19; 4:1-12; 6). His daughter became the…
Character Of The Wicked · Despising the works of the faithful — Despising the works of the faithful
Contempt · Exemplified: Sanballat, &c — Exemplified: Sanballat, &c
Fortresses · Places used as: Cities — Places used as: Cities
Samaria, Modern · Inhabitants of: Opposed the Jews after their return from captivity — Inhabitants of: Opposed the Jews after their return from captivity
Sarcasm · .Sanballat’ s address to the army of Samaria — .Sanballat’ s address to the army of Samaria

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 4:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:1-6

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:2

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 4:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 4:1-6

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 4:2

John Gill on Nehemiah 4:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 4:2

Rashi on Nehemiah 4:2