{c} Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey {d} in the land of captivity:

(c) This is the remedy that the children of God have against the derision and threatenings of their enemies, to flee to God by prayer.

(d) Let them be spoiled and led away captive.

Wesley's Notes

4:4 A prey - Give them for a prey to their enemies, and let these carry them into the land of captivity.

King James Translators' Notes

despised: Heb. despite

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-6 Many a good work has been looked upon with contempt by proud and haughty scorners. Those who disagree in almost every thing, will unite in persecution. Nehemiah did not answer these fools according to their folly, but looked up to God by prayer. God's people have often been a despised people, but he hears all the slights that are put upon them, and it is their comfort that he does so. Nehemiah had reason to think that the hearts of those sinners were desperately hardened, else he would not have prayed that their sins might never be blotted out. Good work goes on well, when people have a mind to it. The reproaches of enemies should quicken us to our duty, not drive us from it.