Nehemiah 1:4 BSB — MannaFest

Nehemiah 1:4

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

KJV

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

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Commentary

2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

And it came to pass, when I heard these words,.... This sad and melancholy account of things: that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; sat down upon the ground in dust and ashes, after the manner of mourners, and wept bitterly, and mourned in a most sorrowful manner, see Job 2:8, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven; that made it, and dwells in it.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

And mourned certain days - From the month Chisleu to the month Nisan; about four months from the time he received the above information, till the time that Artaxerxes noticed his grief, Neh 2:1. All this time he probably spent in supplication to God; waiting for a favorable opening in the Divine providence. Every good work is not to be undertaken hastily; prayer and watchfulness are necessary to its completion. Many good works have been ruined by making haste.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיְהִ֞י	vay.Hi	and it was	H1961 →
כְּשָׁמְעִ֣י׀	ke.sha.me.'I	when heard I	H8085 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הַדְּבָרִ֣ים	ha.de.va.Rim	the words	H1697 →
הָאֵ֗לֶּה	ha.'E.leh	<the> these	H428 →
יָשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙	ya.Shav.ti	I sat down	H3427 →
וָֽאֶבְכֶּ֔ה	va.'ev.Keh	and I wept	H1058 →
וָאֶתְאַבְּלָ֖ה	va.'et.'a.be.Lah	and I mourned !	H56 →
יָמִ֑ים	ya.Mim	days	H3117 →
וָֽאֱהִ֥י	va.'e.Hi	and I was	H1961 →
צָם֙	tzam	fasting	H6684 →
וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל	u.mit.pa.Lel	and praying	H6419 →
לִפְנֵ֖י	lif.Nei	<to> before	H6440 →
אֱלֹהֵ֥י	'e.lo.Hei	[the] God of	H430 →
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃	ha.sha.Ma.yim	the heavens	H8064 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Daniel 9:3
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
leads to
- Jeremiah 33:3
  Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- Jeremiah 29:10–13
  For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
- James 5:16–18
  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Nehemiah 1:4–11
  When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Through
Ezra 10:1
While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
leads to
- Daniel 9:20
  While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
- Psalms 119:136
  My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Romans 9:2
  I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Through
Psalms 137:1
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
leads to
- Ezekiel 1:1
  In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

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Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Nehemiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Nehemiah