Nehemiah 6:1
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; ( though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
The wall around Jerusalem had been built with no breach left in it, but the doors had not yet been set upon the gates, so the work was substantially complete yet still unfinished. Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of the enemies heard that the wall had been rebuilt. As the work neared completion, the opponents feared that a finished wall with secured gates would keep them from forcing their way into the city. Its progress drew their attention and made them more determined to stop and interrupt the work.
They tried to stop it by drawing Nehemiah away from the work in order to get him into their power. The episode teaches God's workers not to leave their duty to answer mockery or attacks, because doing so would delay the work, but to resist the opponents' purposes without being diverted. The enemies stand as the opposite example to Nehemiah's devotion and self-sacrifice, presenting a choice between obedience that brings blessing and transgression that brings fearful results.