English Standard Version
Nehemiah 4:5
5Do 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”
Context of Nehemiah 4:5
3Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!" 4Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 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. 6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.
Read all of Nehemiah 4Nehemiah 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 59:5You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
- Psalms 69:27Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you.
- Psalms 109:14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
- Jeremiah 18:23Yet you, O Lord, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
- 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
- Psalms 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
- Isaiah 43:25"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
- Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing 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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries