What is the implication of his speaking his words “in the presence of”?
Nehemiah 4:2 (ESV)
2And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
The implication is that Sanballat spoke these words in public, likely in Samaria. Undoubtedly, he knew that his words would travel to Jerusalem.
2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”