Nehemiah 4:12

Whence ye shall return unto us. The Hebrew of this clause is obscure. A slight transposition of the letters of one Hebrew word gives the RSV rendering of the entire statement, “From all the places where they live they will come up against us.” This at least makes sense and is appropriate to the context. The meaning of v. 12 thus seems to be that ostentatious movements of the enemy forces, and the rumors of impending attack that they purposely circulated, frightened the Jews living in the border regions of Judea, and perhaps some in enemy territory, to flee to Jerusalem for safety. They brought the alarming report that their enemies were about to attack from all sides; Sanballat and the Samaritans from the north, the Ammonites from the east, the Arabians from the south, and the Philistines (Ashdodites) from the west (see PK 642). The expression “ten times” gives emphasis to the urgency with which the refugees pressed their report and the devastating effect it had on the workmen. Sanballat was counting on a war of nerves to frighten the Jews into inactivity.