EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Nehemiah 4:3
3Tobiah the Ammonite was with him. Tobiah said, ‘The wall that the Jews are trying to build is very weak. Even if a little fox climbs up on it, the stones would all fall down again!’
Nehemiah 4:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
- New International Version (NIV)Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
Context of Nehemiah 4:3
1Sanballat heard that we were building the wall. He was very angry and upset. He laughed at the Jews. 2His officers and Samaria's army were with him. He said to them, ‘Those Jews have great ideas, but they are weak. How will they ever repair the wall? Will they give sacrifices to their God? Will that help them to repair the wall in one day? They will never build anything from this heap of stones that fire has destroyed!’ Tobiah the Ammonite was with him. Tobiah said, ‘The wall that the Jews are trying to build is very weak. Even if a little fox climbs up on it, the stones would all fall down again!’ 4So I prayed, ‘Hear us, our God. Our enemies think that we are fools. Make them seem like fools themselves! Let their enemies take them away as slaves. 5Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
Read all of Nehemiah 4Nehemiah 4:3 word by word
וְטוֹבִיָּ֥ה הָעַמֹּנִ֖י אֶצְל֑וֹ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר גַּ֚ם אֲשֶׁר־הֵ֣ם בּוֹנִ֔ים אִם־יַעֲלֶ֣ה שׁוּעָ֔ל וּפָרַ֖ץ חוֹמַ֥ת אַבְנֵיהֶֽם׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now Tobiahטוֹבִיָּ֫הוּţôbîyâh ţôbîyâhû · TobiahH2900
- the Ammoniteעַמּוֹנִי‛ammônîy · AmmonH5984
- by himאֵ֫צֶל'êtsel · besideH681
- and he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Even that which they buildבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- if a foxשׁוּעָלshû‛âl shû‛âl · foxH7776
- go upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- he shall even break downפָּרַץpârats · to break throughH6555
- their stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
- wallחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
Cross-references for Nehemiah 4:3
- Nehemiah 2:10But two important men were not happy when they heard that I had come to help the Israelite people. They were Sanballat, who came from Horon, and Tobiah, an Ammonite officer.
- Nehemiah 6:1We had finished building the city's wall. There were no holes in it now, but we had not fixed the doors in the gates. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem (the Arab) and all our enemies heard that we had finished building the wall.
- 1 Kings 20:10Then Ben-Hadad sent men with another message to Ahab. He said, ‘I promise that my soldiers will completely destroy Samaria! There will be nothing left! There will not even be enough dirt to fill the hands of each of my soldiers. I pray that the gods will punish me very much if that does not happen!’
- 2 Kings 18:23So you should make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you have enough riders to put on them.
Commentaries on Nehemiah 4:3
Topics related to Nehemiah 4:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nehemiah 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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