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?
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
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?
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? (a) Of his companions who dwelt in Samaria.