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 standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” 4Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” 6At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were 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 Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, wake up and punish those hostile nations. Show no mercy to wicked traitors. Interlude
• Psalms 69:27Pile their sins up high, and don’t let them go free.
• Psalms 109:14May the Lord never forget the sins of his fathers; may his mother’s sins never be erased from the record.
• Jeremiah 18:23Lord, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger.
• 2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done.
• Psalms 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
• Isaiah 43:25“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.
• Isaiah 44:22I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
• Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”

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