Commentary for Nehemiah 3:34
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ לִפְנֵ֣י אֶחָ֗יו וְחֵיל֙ שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מָ֛ה הַיְּהוּדִ֥ים הָאֲמֵלָלִ֖ים עֹשִׂ֑ים הֲיַעַזְב֨וּ לָהֶ֤ם הֲיִזְבָּ֙חוּ֙ הַיְכַלּ֣וּ בַיּ֔וֹם הַיְחַיּ֧וּ אֶת־הָאֲבָנִ֛ים מֵעֲרֵמ֥וֹת הֶעָפָ֖ר וְהֵ֥מָּה שְׂרוּפֽוֹת׃
And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said: ‘What do these feeble Jews? will they restore at will? will they sacrifice? will they make an end this day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?’
Rashi on Nehemiah
before his brethren and the army of Samaria before his brethren and the army of Samaria, who were the adversaries of Judea.
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Rashi on Nehemiah
What are the Jews Why are the Jews doing this?
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the feeble Heb. הָאֲמֵלָלִִים, a term denoting weakness and feebleness.
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Rashi on Nehemiah
Will they let them Do they think that the heathens will allow them to build?
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Will they sacrifice Will they constantly slaughter their sacrifices for themselves as they think?
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Will they finish in one day Will they complete the work that they started in one day? That is to say that the heathens will not permit them to complete their building.
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Will they revive Will they revive and repair and restore stones to their previous state to be harder and stronger than the dust?
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from the heaps Heb. מֵעֲרֵמוֹת, a term denoting heaps and mounds.
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for they are burnt The stones were burnt and have become dust. So did they jeer and ridicule the building of the wall, which they were building from the burnt stones that had fallen to the earth from the fire when Jerusalem was burned.
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