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Nehemiah 4:13

in Nehemiah 4

So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set there the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

KJV

Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

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This verse in Nehemiah 4

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall,.... Where the wall was lowest, and the enemy could more easily break it down, or get over it: and on the higher places; where the wall was higher; or rather on the towers upon the walls, as the word signifies the tops of rocks, which are dry and smooth, see Eze 24:2. I even set the people after their families; according to their rank, number, strength, and valour: with their swords, their spears, and their bows; with weapons they could use both near, and at a distance.

This site's exposition

behind the lowest sections of the wall

on Nehemiah 4:13-15

Nehemiah stations the people "by families with their swords, spears, and bows" in the low and exposed places. He answers their fear on the ground of his prayer. When the enemy learns the plan is known, the text credits God directly, "God had frustrated it," and the builders return.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The lower places - The places where those within the walls had the least advantage of elevation, the naturally weak places, where an enemy was likely to make his attack.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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."

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And the builders How were they building? They were all girded, each one with his sword on his waist, and thus did they build.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Nehemiah 4:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וָֽאַעֲמִ֞ידand I stationed

    vaaamidH5975 →521 times

  • מִֽתַּחְתִּיּ֧וֹתfrom [the] lower parts

    mitachtiyotH8482 →

  • לַמָּק֛וֹםof the place

    lamakomH4725 →401 times

  • מֵאַחֲרֵ֥יfrom behind

    meachareiH310 →715 times

  • לַחוֹמָ֖הof the wall

    lachomahH2346 →133 times

  • בַּצְּחִיחִ֑יםin the open places

    batzechichiyimH6706 →

  • וָֽאַעֲמִ֤ידand I stationed

    vaaamidH5975 →521 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • לְמִשְׁפָּח֔וֹתto clans

    lemishpachotH4940 →

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • חַרְבֹתֵיהֶ֛םswords their

    charvoteihemH2719 →

  • רָמְחֵיהֶ֖םspears their

    ramecheihemH7420 →15 times

  • וְקַשְּׁתֹתֵיהֶֽם׃and bows their

    vekashetoteihemH7198 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Nehemiah 4:17–18who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.3 worksEphesians 6:11–20Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.3 worksPsalms 112:5It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.2 worksMatthew 10:16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.2 works1 Corinthians 14:20Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.2 worksGenesis 32:13–20Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau:2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Song of Solomon 3:7–8Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty of the mightiest men of Israel.2 works2 Chronicles 32:2–8When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to make war against Jerusalem,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 10:16

    Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

    it leads to

    • Philippians 2:15

      so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

    • Luke 10:3

      Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

    • 1 Corinthians 14:20

      Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

    • Colossians 4:5

      Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.

    • Ephesians 5:15–17

      Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 14:20

    Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 13:11

      When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.

    • 1 Peter 2:2

      Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

    • Romans 16:19

      Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 4 →

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 John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.

Read on in Nehemiah 4 →