1
Ne 4:1-6.
繁體中文
英語原文
Ne 4:1-6.
WHILE THE ENEMIES SCOFF, NEHEMIAH PRAYS TO GOD, AND CONTINUES THE WORK.
1. when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth--The Samaritan faction showed their bitter animosity to the Jews on discovering the systematic design of refortifying Jerusalem. Their opposition was confined at first to scoffs and insults, in heaping which the governors made themselves conspicuous, and circulated all sorts of disparaging reflections that might increase the feelings of hatred and contempt for them in their own party. The weakness of the Jews in respect of wealth and numbers, the absurdity of their purpose apparently to reconstruct the walls and celebrate the feast of dedication in one day, the idea of raising the walls on their old foundations, as well as using the charred and mouldering debris of the ruins as the materials for the restored buildings, and the hope of such a parapet as they could raise being capable of serving as a fortress of defense--these all afforded fertile subjects of hostile ridicule.
3
無題
繁體中文
3. 狐狸上去——之所以提到狐狸，是因為牠們成群出沒於錫安山與錫安城那些毀壞荒涼之處，這是眾所周知的事
（La 5:18）。
英語原文
3. if a fox go up--The foxes were mentioned because they were known to infest in great numbers the ruined and desolate places in the mount and city of Zion
(La 5:18).
4
無題
繁體中文
4-5. 我們的神啊，求你垂聽，因為我們被藐視——此處所發的咒詛似嫌嚴厲、苛刻、報復；但須記得，尼希米和他的同伴視那些撒瑪利亞首領為神及其百姓之事业的仇敵，因此當受重罰。所以這禱告當視為出自這樣的心：在其中有敬虔與愛國、為神的榮耀與其事業之成功的熱忱掌管著主導之權，而非仇恨、報復或任何卑劣的情感。
英語原文
4, 5. Hear, O our God; for we are despised--The imprecations invoked here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive; but it must be remembered that Nehemiah and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments. The prayer, therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge, nor any inferior passion, but a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and the success of His cause, held the ascendant sway.
6
無題
繁體中文
6. 城牆修造至一半的高度——城牆的整個周圍已分成若干段，分派給各班百姓，並已修到預定高度的一半。
英語原文
6. all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof--The whole circuit of the wall had been distributed in sections to various companies of the people, and was completed to the half of the intended height.
7
Ne 4:7-23.
繁體中文
Ne 4:7-23.
他設立守望。
7-21. ……參巴拉……聽見城牆……修造，破口……補好——儘管他們百般預言相反，城牆的修繕卻進展迅速，這激怒了撒瑪利亞人。他們因猶太人日益強盛而懼怕將來的危險，便陰謀突襲他們、拆毀他們的工程、並驅散或恐嚇建造者。這陰謀既被發覺，尼希米便採取最嚴厲的措施，以確保共同的安全，並使城牆的建造不被中斷。省長為求速效，先前將所有隨從和衛士都派上工——如今撤回一半，使他們經常處於武裝狀態。做工的人一手做工、一手拿刀；因城牆範圍如此之大，他們彼此相隔甚遠，尼希米（他日夜駐守其地，並以敬虔的勸勉和榜樣鼓舞百姓的心）身邊常帶一名吹號的人，這樣一旦有突襲的消息傳來，便可立即吹響號角，並向最遠的弟兄分隊施援。藉著這些警醒的預防，仇敵的計謀被挫敗，工程迅速推進。神既要做重大的公開事工，必興起器皿來完成；在尼希米身上——他既具天生的敏銳和精力，又加上懇切的敬虔與英勇的奉獻——神預備了一位領袖，其崇高的資質正合乎危機的需要。尼希米的警醒預先防備了一切困難，他審慎的措施挫敗了一切阻撓，耶路撒冷竟以驚人的速度再次成為「堅固的城」。
英語原文
Ne 4:7-23.
HE SETS A WATCH.
7-21. But . . . when Sanballat . . . heard that the walls . . . were made up, and . . . the breaches . . . stopped--The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse or intimidate the builders. The plot being discovered, Nehemiah adopted the most energetic measures for ensuring the common safety, as well as the uninterrupted building of the walls. Hitherto the governor, for the sake of despatch, had set all his attendants and guards on the work--now half of them were withdrawn to be constantly in arms. The workmen labored with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other; and as, in so large a circuit, they were far removed from each other, Nehemiah (who was night and day on the spot, and, by his pious exhortations and example, animated the minds of his people) kept a trumpeter by his side, so that, on any intelligence of a surprise being brought to him, an alarm might be immediately sounded, and assistance rendered to the most distant detachment of their brethren. By these vigilant precautions, the counsels of the enemy were defeated, and the work was carried on apace. God, when He has important public work to do, never fails to raise up instruments for accomplishing it, and in the person of Nehemiah, who, to great natural acuteness and energy added fervent piety and heroic devotion, He provided a leader, whose high qualities fitted him for the demands of the crisis. Nehemiah's vigilance anticipated every difficulty, his prudent measures defeated every obstruction, and with astonishing rapidity this Jerusalem was made again "a city fortified."
Ne 4:1-6.
仇敵嗤笑之時，尼希米向神呼求，並繼續做工。
1. 參巴拉聽見我們修造城牆就發怒——撒瑪利亞一派發現猶太人有系統地要重新加固耶路撒冷時，便顯出對猶太人極深的仇恨。他們起初的對抗僅限於譏誚和侮辱；在這些事上首領們尤其賣力，散布各種貶損之詞，好在自己黨羽中加深對猶太人的仇恨與輕蔑。猶太人在財富和人數上的薄弱，他們顯然要在一日之內重建城牆並舉行奉獻之禮的荒謬設想，要在舊的根基上重新立牆、又要用燒焦朽爛的廢墟殘礫作為復建之料的打算，以及他們所能築起的如此矮牆竟能充當防禦堡壘的指望——這一切都為敵方的嘲弄提供了取之不盡的話題。