Nehemiah 4:3 (WEB)

Passage

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 4:1 But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.

Nehemiah 4:2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”

Nehemiah 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”

Nehemiah 4:4 “Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;

Nehemiah 4:5 don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "tobiah", "ammonite", "said", "building", "climbed", "break", "down", and "stone". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "tobiah" and "ammonite", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "He spoke before his brothers and the..." into verse 4's "Hear our God for we are despised...", so "tobiah" and "ammonite" 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 "tobiah" and "ammonite" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.