Nehemiah 4:5
in Nehemiah 4Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
KJV
And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
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This verse in Nehemiah 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseLet not their sin be blotted out - These are the most terrible imprecations; but probably we should understand them as declaratory, for the same form of the verb, in the Hebrew, is used as precative and imperative. Turn their reproach - Their reproach shall be turned. Give them for a prey - They shall be given for a prey. Cover not their iniquity - Their iniquity shall not be covered. Let not their sin be blotted out - Their sin shall not be blotted out.
This site's exposition
for we are despised
on Nehemiah 4:4-5
Nehemiah answers no insult directly and prays it upward: "Turn their scorn back upon their own heads" (4:4). Adam Clarke notes that the Hebrew verb form allows a declaratory reading as well as a request. The plea "Do not cover up their iniquity" is Nehemiah's whole reply.
This site's exposition
for they have provoked the builders
Clarke judges such a prayer, taken literally, sits uneasily beside the command of Jesus to love enemies, and excuses it in a man under provocation. The ground of the prayer is the last clause. Mocking the builders is treated as sin before God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); and this was spoken rather by a spirit of prophecy than by a spirit of prayer, and is not to be imitated by us who are taught of Christ to pray for those that despitefully use and persecute us. Christ himself prayed for those that reproached him: Father, forgive them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Cover not - Let their wickedness be in thy sight, so as to bring down judgments upon them, that either they may be reformed, or others may be warned by their example. God is said to cover or hide sin when he forbears to punish it.
And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּכַס֙ | tekhas | you cover | H3680 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֲוֹנָ֔ם | ʾavonam | iniquity their | H5771 → | |
| וְחַטָּאתָ֖ם | vechatatam | and sin their | H2403 → | 295 times |
| מִלְּפָנֶ֣יךָ | milefaneikha | from to before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּמָּחֶ֑ה | timacheh | it be wiped out | H4229 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִכְעִ֖יסוּ | hikhisu | they have provoked to anger | H3707 → | |
| לְנֶ֥גֶד | leneged | to before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| הַבּוֹנִֽים׃ | habonim | the builders | H1129 → | 376 times |
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תְּכַס֙you cover
tekhasH3680 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֲוֹנָ֔םiniquity their
ʾavonamH5771 →
וְחַטָּאתָ֖םand sin their
vechatatamH2403 →295 times
מִלְּפָנֶ֣יךָfrom to before you
milefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּמָּחֶ֑הit be wiped out
timachehH4229 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִכְעִ֖יסוּthey have provoked to anger
hikhisuH3707 →
לְנֶ֥גֶדto before
lenegedH5048 →151 times
הַבּוֹנִֽים׃the builders
habonimH1129 →376 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
Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- 1 Corinthians 6:20
you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
- Acts 3:18–19
But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
- Isaiah 43:1
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Isaiah 43:25
Through
2 Timothy 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 1:20
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
- Psalms 28:4
Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6
After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
- 1 Timothy 1:20
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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.