John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 4:8
And conspired all of them together ,.... All the above men and people entered into a confederacy and combination: to come and to fight against Jerusalem ; to bring an army with them, and by force cause the Jews to desist; the Jews F5 Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. pretend they came to war, and brought with them an army of 180,000 men, which is not probable: and to hinder it ; the building of the walls of it; or "to make a wandering for him" F6 לעשות לו תועה "ad faciendum ei... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 4:7-15
We have here, I. The conspiracy which the Jews? enemies formed against them, to stay the building by slaying the builders. The conspirators were not only Sanballat and Tobiah, but other neighbouring people whom they had drawn into the plot. They flattered themselves with a fancy that the work would soon stand still of itself; but, when they heard that it went on a prospered, they were angry at the Jews for being so hasty to push the work forward and angry at themselves for being so slow in... read more