Nehemiah 7:4
in Nehemiah 7Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now the city was wide and large; but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded.
KJV
Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded.
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This verse in Nehemiah 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The people were few - The number of those who returned with Zerubbabel was no more than 42,360 Neh 7:66. Less than 2,000 people had come with Ezra Ezra 8:1-20.
This site's exposition
Do not open the gates of Jerusalem
on Nehemiah 7:3-4
The gates stay shut "until the sun is hot," a city defending itself street by street. Verse 4 states the problem the roster answers. The wall had outrun the population, and Nehemiah moves to number who is there.
This site's exposition
the city was large and spacious
Barnes counts the people against the size of the city: 42,360 came up with Zerubbabel, and fewer than 2,000 with Ezra. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown describe the houses as rough sheds. Lots later bring one in ten of the people into the city to live, 11:1.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The city, in compass, was large and great. The walls enclosed the same ground as formerly; but much of it lay waste, for the houses were not built, few at least in comparison with what had been; so that Nehemiah walled the city in faith, and with an eye to that promise of the replenishing of it which God had lately made by the prophet, Zech. viii.
Now the city was large and great,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This extent, in the then state of Jerusalem, was the more observable as the population was comparatively small, and the habitations of the most rude and simple construction--mere wooden sheds or coverings of loose, unmortared stones.
The houses were not builded - The city was not yet rebuilt, only a row of houses in the inside of the wall all round.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
until the sun becomes hot until midday, for the day was long.
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. 4 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָעִ֞יר | vehair | and the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| רַחֲבַ֤ת | rachavat | [was] broad of | H7342 → | 21 times |
| יָדַ֙יִם֙ | yadayim | both hands | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וּגְדוֹלָ֔ה | ugedolah | and large | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְהָעָ֥ם | vehaam | and the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מְעַ֖ט | meat | [were] few | H4592 → | |
| בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ | betokhah | in [the] midst of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בָּתִּ֖ים | batim | houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְּנוּיִֽם׃ | benuyim | [were] rebuilt | H1129 → | 376 times |
וְהָעִ֞ירand the city
vehairH5892 →1090 times
רַחֲבַ֤ת[was] broad of
rachavatH7342 →21 times
יָדַ֙יִם֙both hands
yadayimH3027 →1618 times
וּגְדוֹלָ֔הand large
ugedolahH1419 →526 times
וְהָעָ֥םand the people
vehaamH5971 →1873 times
מְעַ֖ט[were] few
meatH4592 →
בְּתוֹכָ֑הּin [the] midst of it
betokhahH8432 →418 times
וְאֵ֥יןand not
veeinH369 →789 times
בָּתִּ֖יםhouses
batimH1004 →2046 times
בְּנוּיִֽם׃[were] rebuilt
benuyimH1129 →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
Matthew 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
it leads to
- Luke 12:31
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Psalms 84:11–12
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Luke 12:31
Through
Isaiah 58:12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:4
They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
- Amos 9:14
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Ezekiel 36:33
This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 61:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.