Nehemiah 1:4
in Nehemiah 1When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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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This verse in Nehemiah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
are burned with fire
on Nehemiah 1:3-4
Hanani's answer is stark: "The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire," a report reaching Susa. Nehemiah "sat down and wept," mourning, fasting and praying "before the God of heaven" (1:4). The mourning falls in Chislev, and the request waits until Nisan.
This site's exposition
I sat down and wept
Mourners sat down on the ground, and Gill compares Job among the ashes (Job 2:8). Fasting and prayer before the God of heaven filled these days. Clarke draws the lesson that a good work begun in haste is often ruined, and that prayer before God carries it through.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And when I heard such words, I sat and wept, etc., up to And direct your servant, etc. For if a holy man, hearing the buildings of stones and wood destroyed, rightly mourned, fasted, and prayed, and for a long time sat in sadness; how …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For I was the king's cupbearer. We have here Nehemiah's prayer, a prayer that has reference to all the prayers which he had for some time before been putting up to God day and night, while he continued his sorrows for the desolations of Jerusalem, and withal to the petition he was now intending to present to the king his master for his favour to Jerusalem.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when I heard these words, that I sat down . . . and mourned . . . and fasted, and prayed--The recital deeply affected the patriotic feelings of this good man, and no comfort could he find but in earnest and protracted prayer, that God would favor the purpose, which he seems to have secretly formed, of asking the royal permission to go to Jerusalem.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The God of heaven - This title of the Almighty, which is Persian rather than Jewish (see 2Ch 36:23; Ezr 1:2 note; Ezr 6:10; Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:21), is a favorite one with Nehemiah, who had been born and brought up in Persia.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And they said to me They answered my first question first and my latter question last; first, concerning the Jews and afterwards, concerning the wall and the gates.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I beseech You Heb. אָנָא, an expression of request and supplication.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֞י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּשָׁמְעִ֣י׀ | keshamei | when heard I | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדְּבָרִ֣ים | hadevarim | the words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הָאֵ֗לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| יָשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ | yashavti | I sat down | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| וָֽאֶבְכֶּ֔ה | vaevkeh | and I wept | H1058 → | 114 times |
| וָאֶתְאַבְּלָ֖ה | vaetabelah | and I mourned ! | H56 → | |
| יָמִ֑ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וָֽאֱהִ֥י | vaehi | and I was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| צָם֙ | tzam | fasting | H6684 → | |
| וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל | umitpalel | and praying | H6419 → | 84 times |
| לִפְנֵ֖י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
וַיְהִ֞יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כְּשָׁמְעִ֣י׀when heard I
keshameiH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדְּבָרִ֣יםthe words
hadevarimH1697 →1440 times
הָאֵ֗לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
יָשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙I sat down
yashavtiH3427 →1079 times
וָֽאֶבְכֶּ֔הand I wept
vaevkehH1058 →114 times
וָאֶתְאַבְּלָ֖הand I mourned !
vaetabelahH56 →
יָמִ֑יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
וָֽאֱהִ֥יand I was
vaehiH1961 →3559 times
צָם֙fasting
tzamH6684 →
וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔לand praying
umitpalelH6419 →84 times
לִפְנֵ֖י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
it 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.
- Jeremiah 33:3
Through
Ezra 10:1While 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.
it 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.
- Daniel 9:20
Through
Psalms 137:1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
it 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.
- Ezekiel 1:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.