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 close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!” 4Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended the builders! 6So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work. 7(4:1) When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.

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 59:5You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, the God of Israel, rouse yourself and punish all the nations! Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)
• Psalms 69:27Hold them accountable for all their sins! Do not vindicate them!
• Psalms 109:14May his ancestors’ sins be remembered by the Lord! May his mother’s sin not be forgotten!
• Jeremiah 18:23But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not pardon their crimes! Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! Let them be brought down in defeat before you! Deal with them while you are still angry!
• 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds.
• Psalms 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love! Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts!
• Isaiah 43:25I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake; your sins I do not remember.
• Isaiah 44:22I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. Come back to me, for I protect you.”
• Isaiah 36:11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect in 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

• 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