Nehemiah 4:7 (WEB)

Passage

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry;

Nearby Context

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.”

Nehemiah 4:6 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.

Nehemiah 4:7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry;

Nehemiah 4:8 and they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion among us.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sanballat", "tobiah", "arabians", "ammonites", "ashdodites", "heard", "repairing", and "walls". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sanballat" and "tobiah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "So we built the wall and all..." into verse 8's "and they all conspired together to come...", so "sanballat" and "tobiah" 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 "sanballat" and "tobiah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.