And conspired all of them together to come [and] to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Ver. 8. And conspired all of them together] All of them, and together; and yet this was not unity, but conspiracy; such as is that among devils, Mark 5:9, among Antichristians, Revelation 17:13, among Turks, who have as little dissension in their religion as any. But well may that garment have no seam that hath no shape. The army of Nineveh was quiet, Nahum 1:12, no falling out nor complaining in their hosts; hence their king marched on, passed through. But so did not these conspirators, because they met with those that were no less well combined and far better resolved than themselves. The Thebans had a band of men they called Sacra Cohors, sacred cohorts, ιερος λοχος (Athen. 1.3), consisting of such only as were joined in the bonds of love, and resolved to live and die together. These Jews under the command of Nehemiah were none other, and were therefore insuperable.
To come and to fight] To turn their works into knocks.
And to hinder it] Heb. To make an error in it. The Hebrew word is used both of the error of the heart and of the foot, Isa 63:17 Psalms 119:176. It may be rendered here, to hinder him, to make an error in him; to make Nehemiah at a stand, or rather to run away, to creep into corners, and give over the work.