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

3Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, “Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they’re building!” 4⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners. Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.” 6So we rebuilt the wall, which was rebuilt to about half its ⌞original⌟ height. The people worked with determination. 7When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod heard that the repair work on the walls of Jerusalem was making progress and that the gaps were being filled in, 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 59:5O Lord God of Armies, God of Israel, arise to punish all the nations. Have no pity on any traitors. Selah
• Psalms 69:27Charge them with one crime after another. Do not let them be found innocent.
• Psalms 109:14Let the Lord remember the guilt of his ancestors and not wipe out his mother’s sin.
• Jeremiah 18:23But you, O Lord, know that they plan to kill me. Don’t forgive their crimes. Don’t wipe their sins out of your sight. Make them stumble in your presence. Deal with them when you get angry.
• 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will pay him back for what he did.
• Psalms 51:1Have pity on me, O God, in keeping with your mercy. In keeping with your unlimited compassion, wipe out my rebellious acts.
• Isaiah 43:25I alone am the one who is going to wipe away your rebellious actions for my own sake. I will not remember your sins ⌞anymore⌟.
• Isaiah 44:22I made your rebellious acts disappear like a thick cloud and your sins like the morning mist. Come back to me, because I have reclaimed you.
• Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the field commander, “Speak to us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Judean language as long as there are people on the wall listening.”

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