Nehemiah 4:10
in Nehemiah 4Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
KJV
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
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This verse in Nehemiah 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed - They worked both day and night, scarcely ever putting off their clothes, except for the purpose of being washed, Neh 4:21, Neh 4:23. Much rubbish - The ruins they were obliged to clear away, before they could dig the foundation for a new wall: and in this labor they were nearly exhausted; see Neh 5:15.
This site's exposition
The strength of the laborer fails
on Nehemiah 4:10-12
The builders lose heart before the enemy strikes a blow. The enemy's plan surfaces at the same moment, and Jews living nearby bring the warning "ten times over" (4:12). Discouragement and conspiracy arrive together, and the chapter answers them as one.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But Judas said: The strength of the bearer is weakened, etc. Judas speaks of the tribe of Judah's sons. However, the question is about not being able to build the wall because an excessive amount of soil was piled up at the place of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
); while they held the weapons, they were eased and yet not idle. Thus dividing their time between the trowels and the spears, they are said to work with one hand and hold their weapons with the other (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Judah - The Jews now dwelling in Judah, some of them being partly terrified by their enemies, and partly wearied with continual labour. Rubbish - More than we are able suddenly to remove.
And Judah said,.... Several of the men of Judah: the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed; through much labour, in carrying heavy loads of stone and timber to the builders, and yet more through fear of the enemy: and there is much rubbish; which ought to be removed, but that the labourers were so weak that they could not do it: so that we are not able to build the wall; to finish it before the enemy comes to attack us.
Can Judah, that warlike valiant tribe, sneak thus? Active leading men have many times as much ado to grapple with the fears of their friends as with the terrors of their enemies. The information that was brought to Nehemiah of the enemies' designs,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
REMEMBER that Jerusalem had been totally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and what is meant by the destruction by the Babylonians may be inferred from the vast heaps of the dust of powdered bricks and charred wood which have been discovered upon the sites of cities which were utterly razed to the ground by the fierce soldiers of that terrible king. The ruins are frequently so complete that even tradition has forgotten the name of the mound or heap which is the sole memorial to mark the sepulcher of a queenly city.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Nehemiah's vigilance anticipated every difficulty, his prudent measures defeated every obstruction, and with astonishing rapidity this Jerusalem was made again "a city fortified."
REMEMBER that Jerusalem had been totally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and what is meant by the destruction by the Babylonians may be inferred from the vast heaps of the dust of powdered bricks and charred wood which have been discovered upon the sites of cities which were utterly razed to the ground by the fierce soldiers of that terrible king. The ruins are frequently so complete that even tradition has forgotten the name of the mound or heap which is the sole memorial to mark the sepulcher of a queenly city. The Babylonians made sure work when they did it, their plowers made deep furrows and their destroyers cried one, to another, "Overturn, overturn, overturn, till not a stone shall abide in its place." They reaped a nation with their swords as corn is cut down by the sickle and they beat their cities till the ruins were small as the dust of the summer threshing floor. Do you wonder that on the site of Jerusalem there remained much rubbish? Many modern destroyers have done their desolating work most wonderfully and I may venture to quote what I have seen of their doings as an example of the much rubbish with which the foundations of a ruined city are sure to be covered. I have stood upon the Palatine Mount in Rome, where formerly the pale of the Caesars raised themselves in more than imperial grandeur. But what an Alp of fragments! What a mountain of broken walls and columns, and stones peering upward like the natural rock of mother earth! Houses, convents, palaces have been built upon the mass and for many seasons trees have bloomed and fruited, and gardens have brought forth their harvests above the spot where once the imperial tyrant was known to awe the nations with a nod.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And it was from that day on And from that day on, half the mighty men worked at the building of the wall, and the remaining half of the mighty men were armed with weapons to guard their brethren who were doing the work.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The builders of the wall, etc. Those who were building the wall and those who were loading and carrying the loads were working with one hand, and carrying weapons with the other.
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. 3 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and it said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוּדָ֗ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| כָּשַׁל֙ | kashal | it has failed | H3782 → | |
| כֹּ֣חַ | koach | [the] strength of | H3581 → | |
| הַסַּבָּ֔ל | hasabal | the burden-bearer[s] | H5449 → | |
| וְהֶעָפָ֖ר | veheafar | and the debris | H6083 → | |
| הַרְבֵּ֑ה | harbeh | [is] much | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ | vaanachnu | and we | H587 → | 120 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נוּכַ֔ל | nukhal | we will be able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| לִבְנ֖וֹת | livnot | to rebuild | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בַּחוֹמָֽה׃ | bachomah | <on> the wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand it said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוּדָ֗הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
כָּשַׁל֙it has failed
kashalH3782 →
כֹּ֣חַ[the] strength of
koachH3581 →
הַסַּבָּ֔לthe burden-bearer[s]
hasabalH5449 →
וְהֶעָפָ֖רand the debris
veheafarH6083 →
הַרְבֵּ֑ה[is] much
harbehH7235 →227 times
וַאֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙and we
vaanachnuH587 →120 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נוּכַ֔לwe will be able
nukhalH3201 →194 times
לִבְנ֖וֹתto rebuild
livnotH1129 →376 times
בַּחוֹמָֽה׃<on> the wall
bachomahH2346 →133 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
Numbers 13:31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw…
- Joshua 14:8
Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.
- Hebrews 3:19
So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.
- Numbers 32:9
For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.
- Deuteronomy 9:1
Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.
- Deuteronomy 1:28
Through
Haggai 1:2that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Ezra 4:23
When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
- Ezra 4:23
Through
Ezekiel 29:18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 27:6
So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Jeremiah 27:6
About Nehemiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1156: “Rubbish” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.