41 And it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned? 3 And Tobijah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall.— 4 Hear, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in a land of captivity! 5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked the builders. 6 But we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nehemiah 4:1-6
Commentary on Nehemiah 4:1-6
(Read Nehemiah 4:1-6)
Many a good work has been looked upon with contempt by proud and haughty scorners. Those who disagree in almost every thing, will unite in persecution. Nehemiah did not answer these fools according to their folly, but looked up to God by prayer. God's people have often been a despised people, but he hears all the slights that are put upon them, and it is their comfort that he does so. Nehemiah had reason to think that the hearts of those sinners were desperately hardened, else he would not have prayed that their sins might never be blotted out. Good work goes on well, when people have a mind to it. The reproaches of enemies should quicken us to our duty, not drive us from it.