"But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard {it}, they laughed …" — Nehemiah 2:19

Nehemiah 2:19 · KJV

“But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard {it}, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What {is} this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?”

— Nehemiah 2:19

Verse 18

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for {this} good {work}.

Verse 20

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 2 — Context

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we {are} in, how Jerusalem {lieth} waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard {it}, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What {is} this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Cross References

Nehemiah 6:6

Wherein {was} written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith {it, that} thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words. {Gashmu: also called, Geshem}

Nehemiah 6:1-2

Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and {that} there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)

Psalms 44:13-14

Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

Psalms 80:6

Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Mark 5:40

And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

Nehemiah 2:10

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard {of it}, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

Ezra 4:15-16

That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city {is} a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. {moved: Chaldee, made} {within...: Chaldee, in the midst thereof}

Nehemiah 4:1

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.