Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
Sanballat and Tobiah grew furious because they feared what a walled Jerusalem would become: strong and formidable against them. Their scorn was malice dressed up as mockery, yet it backfired. They despised the work as foolish and beneath serious opposition, so they delayed their attacks until the Jews had already made too much progress to be stopped.
AI summary
Commenting on Nehemiah 4:1-6
Hear, O our God, for we are despised,.... Here begins the prayer of Nehemiah, who had been informed of what these men said in contempt of him, and his builders, and to whom he sent no answer, but applied to God: and turn their reproach upon their own head; as they have despised and reproached us, let them be despised and reproached by their neighbours...
Hear, O our God; for we are despised--The imprecations invoked here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive; but it must be remembered that Nehemiah and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments.