John Trapp on Nehemiah 2:10

Verſe 10. When Sanballet the Horonite] That is, the Moabite, Iſa. 15.5. Jer. 48.3, 5.34. His name ſignifieth, ſaith one, a pure Enemy: he was come of that ſpiteful people, who were anciently irked becauſe of Iſrael, Num. 22.3, 4. or did inwardly fret and vex at them, as Exod. 1.12. who yet were allied unto them, and did them no hurt in their paſſage by them, yea had done them good by the ſlaughter of the Amorites, their encroaching Neighbours.

And Tobiah the ſervant] A ſervant or bond-ſlave once he had been, though now a Toparch, a Lieutenant to the King of Perſia. Now ſuch are moſt troubleſome, Prov. 30. ver. 22.

Aſperius nihil eſt humili, cùm ſurgit in altum A'[non-Latin text not transcribed]. Dio. lib. 60. Rer. Rom.

Heard it] As they might ſoon do by means of their Wives, who were Jeweſſes. And the Jewes to this day are generally found the moſt nimble and Mercurial wits in the World. Every Viſier and Baſha of State among the Turkes uſeth to keep a Jew of his private counſel: whoſe malice, wit and experience of Chriſtendome, with their continual intelligence is thought to adviſe moſt of that miſchief, which the Turk puts in execution againſt us. Blounts Voy[illegible: 1 letter] P. 114.

It grieved them exceedingly] Heb. It ſeemed to them an evil, a great evil: It diſpleaſed them ſore, and vexed them at the very heart, ſuch was their ſpleen and ſpite. Envy is a deadly miſchief: and becauſe it cannot feed upon other mens hearts, it feedeth upon its own; drinking up the moſt part of its own venome. The envious man is not like the mayd in Avicen, who feeding upon poiſon, was her ſelf healthy; yet infected others with her venemous breath: But like the Serpent Porphyrius, which is full of poyſon; but, wanting teeth, hurteth none but himſelf: or as the hill Aetna, &c.

That there was come a man to ſeek the welfare, &c.] This they looked upon with an evil eye, and were vexed. Invidiâ Siculi, &c. Who can ſtand before envy, Prov, 27.4? It eſpieth with great grief the ſmalleſt things the good mandoth or hath? and is therefore abſolutely the beſt thing to clear the eye-ſight, ſaid Actius Sincerus a Noble-man, to King Frederike.