Nehemiah 4:12
in Nehemiah 4At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass that, when the Jews that dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times from all places, Ye must return unto us.
KJV
And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.
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This verse in Nehemiah 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFrom all places whence ye shall return unto us - This verse is extremely difficult. Our translators have supplied the words, they will be upon you, which have nothing correspondent in the Hebrew. The Septuagint have given a good sense, Αναβαινουσιν εκ παντων των τοπων εφ’ ἡμας, They come up from all places against us.
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.
This site's exposition
told us ten times over
Clarke finds this verse hard in Hebrew, where translators supply the words of the warning the Jews brought. The Septuagint has the enemies coming up from every place against the Jews. The Jews who lived nearby said it again and again.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Near Samaria, Arabia, and Ashdod, and had intelligence of their designs: came, they said to us ten times; that is, they came to them at Jerusalem, and often told them, as this phrase "ten times" signifies; see Gill on Gen 31:7, from all places whence ye shall return unto us: they will be upon you, come which way you will, so that ye are in the utmost danger: or "from all places"; where you are repairing and rebuilding: return to us; that ye may enjoy peace and prosperity with us under Sanballat, &c. and escape the wrath and fury you are now exposed to; or "from all places we come, that ye may return to us"; so De Dieu; these Jews, though they pretended to be friends, to their brethren, yet seemed to be in friendship with their enemies, and sought to discourage them, and weaken their minds, and cause them to cease building.
The intelligence they gave is expressed abruptly, and finds work for the critics to make out the sense of it, which perhaps is designed to intimate that they gave this intelligence as men out of breath and in confusion, whose very looks would make up the deficiencies of their words.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ten times - i. e. repeatedly. From all places ... - Better as in the margin. The Jews who dwelt on the Samaritan border, came to Jerusalem and tried to withdraw their contingents of workmen from the work, representing to them the impending danger, and saying, “You must return to your homes, and so escape it.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And the builders How were they building? They were all girded, each one with his sword on his waist, and thus did they build.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר־ | kaasher- | just when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֣אוּ | bau | they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים | haiyehudim | the Jews | H3064 → | 75 times |
| הַיֹּשְׁבִ֖ים | haiyoshevim | who were dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אֶצְלָ֑ם | ʾetzlam | beside them | H681 → | 61 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֙נוּ֙ | lanu | to us | ||
| עֶ֣שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| פְּעָמִ֔ים | peamim | times | H6471 → | 118 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַמְּקֹמ֖וֹת | hamekomot | the places | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תָּשׁ֥וּבוּ | tashuvu | you will turn | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עָלֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾaleinu | to us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר־just when
kaasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֣אוּthey came
bauH935 →2568 times
הַיְּהוּדִ֔יםthe Jews
haiyehudimH3064 →75 times
הַיֹּשְׁבִ֖יםwho were dwelling
haiyoshevimH3427 →1079 times
אֶצְלָ֑םbeside them
ʾetzlamH681 →61 times
וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
לָ֙נוּ֙to us
lanu
עֶ֣שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
פְּעָמִ֔יםtimes
peamimH6471 →118 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
הַמְּקֹמ֖וֹתthe places
hamekomotH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
תָּשׁ֥וּבוּyou will turn
tashuvuH7725 →1056 times
עָלֵֽינוּ׃to us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 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
Job 19:3Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:7
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 31:7
Through
Numbers 14:22not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
it leads to
- Job 19:3
Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.
- Hebrews 3:17–18
And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
- Deuteronomy 1:31–35
and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”
- Exodus 32:1
Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses…
- Job 19:3
Through
Genesis 31:7And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:29
I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Genesis 31:41
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
- Genesis 31:29
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.