'What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?'
Do you, Nehemiah, intend to fortify Jerusalem, and then set up the standard of rebellion against Persia? Our master, the king, may be deceived by you, but I, Sanballat, see through your hypocrisy and your wicked designs.
Nehemiah's answer was clear and to the point. Three things he would have Sanballat know:
(1) We have higher authority than that of man for what we do.
'The God of heaven, He will prosper us.'
(2) We intend to go on with our work in spite of anything you may say or do.
'We His servants will arise and build.'
(3) It is no business or concern of yours. You, Sanballat, have nothing whatever to do with it.
'Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.'
Be content then, Sanballat, to manage your own province of Samaria, and to leave Jerusalem and the Jews to me and to their God.