Nehemiah 4:11 (KJV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 4:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

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.

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.

Nehemiah 4:12 And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.

Nehemiah 4:13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "adversaries", "said", "shall", "neither", "till", "come", "midst", and "slay". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "adversaries" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And Judah said The strength of the..." into verse 12's "And it came to pass that when...", so "adversaries" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "adversaries" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.