“And it happened, when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry, and it was greatly enraging to him, and he mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they bring to life the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox goes up, he will even break down their stone wall. O our God, hear. For we are despised. And turn their curse on their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity. And do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You. For they have provoked You to anger before the builders” (Nehemiah 4:1-5).
In the Bible those who are reproached for God’s sake pray that God will save their enemies. But there are other times where they pray imprecations upon the heads of their enemies. In this passage Nehemiah does NOT pray that God will have mercy on Sanballat. Instead, he prays that God would NOT cover the iniquity of Sanballat, Tobiah, and the rest of the mockers.
Agrammatos 