Nehemiah 4:5

Nehemiah 4:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
• New King James Version (NKJV)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.

Context of Nehemiah 4:5

3Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!” 4Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let their sin be erased from your sight, because they have angered the builders. 6So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working. 7When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.

Nehemiah 4:5 word by word

וְאַל־תְּכַס֙ עַל־עֲוֹנָ֔ם וְחַטָּאתָ֖ם מִלְּפָנֶ֣יךָ אַל־תִּמָּחֶ֑ה כִּ֥י הִכְעִ֖יסוּ לְנֶ֥גֶד הַבּוֹנִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And coverכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• not their iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: guiltH5771
• and let not their sinחַטָּאתchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
• be blotted outמָחָהmâchâh · to wipeH4229
• from beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• to angerכָּעַסka‛as · to provokeH3707
• before the buildersבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129

Cross-references for Nehemiah 4:5

• Psalms 59:5Lord God of Armies, you are the God of Israel. Rise up to punish all the nations; do not show favor to any wicked traitors.Selah
• Psalms 69:27Charge them with crime on top of crime; do not let them share in your righteousness.
• Psalms 109:14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and do not let his mother’s sin be blotted out.
• Jeremiah 18:23But you, Lord, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their iniquity; do not blot out their sin before you. Let them be forced to stumble before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
• 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works.
• Psalms 51:1Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.
• Isaiah 43:25“I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.
• Isaiah 44:22I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
• Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”

Commentaries on Nehemiah 4:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Let not their sin be blotted out - These are the most terrible imprecations; but probably we should understand them as declaratory, for the same form of the verb, in the Hebrew, is used as precative and imperative. Turn their reproach - Their reproach shall be turned. Give them for a prey - They shall be given for a prey. Cover not their iniquity - Their iniquity shall not be covered. Let not their sin be blotted out - Their sin shall not be blotted out…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Do not...let their sin be blotted out from Your sight: See also “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-54-5. Hear, O our God; for we are despised--The imprecations invoked here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive; but it must be remembered that Nehemiah and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments. The prayer, therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge, nor any inferior passion, but a pious and…Read the comment

Topics related to Nehemiah 4:5

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Prayer
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Armour
• Sanballat
• Ammon; Ammonites
• Blot
• Esdras, the First Book of

Commentaries on Nehemiah 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings