Nehemiah 4

Nehemiah · Chapter 4

Nehemiah 4:12

1But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.2And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:5And 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.6So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.10And 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.11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.12And 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.13Therefore 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.14And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.15And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.16And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.17They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.18For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.19And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.20In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.21So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.22Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.23So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
12And 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.At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”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.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and it wasוַֽיְהִי֙vay-HIH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

just whenכַּאֲשֶׁר־ka-'a-SHER-H0834D
as which

כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka.a.sher) conj 1) according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

they cameבָּ֣אוּBA-'uH0935G
to come (in): come

בּוֹא (bo) : come/go_in 1) to go in, enter, come, go, come in 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to enter, come in 1a2) to come 1a2a) to come with 1a2b) to come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy) 1a2c) to come to pass 1a3) to attain to 1a4) to be enumerated 1a5) to go 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to lead in 1b2) to carry in 1b3) to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring against, bring upon 1b4) to bring to pass 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought, brought in 1c2) to be introduced, be put

the Jewsהַיְּהוּדִ֔יםhai-ye-hu-DIMH3064
Jew

יְהוּדִי (ye.hu.di) Someone descended from Judah (H3063) and possibly other tribes, first mentioned at 2Ki.25.25 § Jew

who were dwellingהַיֹּשְׁבִ֖יםhai-yo-she-VIMH3427
to dwell

יָשַׁב (ya.shav) 1) to dwell, remain, sit, abide 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to sit, sit down 1a2) to be set 1a3) to remain, stay 1a4) to dwell, have one's abode 1b) (Niphal) to be inhabited 1c) (Piel) to set, place 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to sit 1d2) to cause to abide, set 1d3) to cause to dwell 1d4) to cause (cities) to be inhabited 1d5) to marry (give an dwelling to) 1e) (Hophal) 1e1) to be inhabited 1e2) to make to dwell Aramaic equivalent: ye.tiv (יְתִב "to dwell" H3488)

beside themאֶצְלָ֑ם'etz-LAMH0681
beside

אֵ֫צֶל (e.tsel) 1) beside, by, near, nearness, joining, proximity subst 2) (BDB) 2a) conjunction, proximity 2b) beside, in proximity, contiguous to, from beside

and they saidוַיֹּ֤אמְרוּvai-YO-me-ruH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

tenעֶ֣שֶׂר'E-serH6235
ten

עֶשֶׂר (e.ser) 1) ten 1a) ten 1b) with other numbers Aramaic equivalent: a.sar (עֲשַׂר "ten" H6236)

timesפְּעָמִ֔יםpe-'a-MIMH6471
beat

פַּ֫עַם (pa.am) 1) stroke, beat, foot, step, anvil, occurrence 1a) foot, hoof-beat, footfall, footstep 1b) anvil 1c) occurrence, time, stroke, beat 1c1) one time, once, twice, thrice, as time on time, at this repetition, this once, now at length, now...now, at one time...at another

from allמִכָּל־mi-kolH3605
all

כֹּל (kol) 1) all, the whole 1a) all, the whole of 1b) any, each, every, anything 1c) totality, everything Aramaic equivalent: kol (כֹּל "all" H3606)

the placesהַמְּקֹמ֖וֹתha-me-ko-MOTH4725
place

מָקוֹם (ma.qom) 1) standing place, place 1a) standing place, station, post, office 1b) place, place of human abode 1c) city, land, region 1d) place, locality, spot 1e) space, room, distance 1f) region, quarter, direction 1g) give place to, instead of

whichאֲשֶׁר־'a-SHER-H0834A
which

אֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

you will turnתָּשׁ֥וּבוּta-SHU-vuH7725G
to return: return

שׁוּב (shuv) : return 1) to return, turn back 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to turn back, return 1a1a) to turn back 1a1b) to return, come or go back 1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back 1a1d) of dying 1a1e) of human relations (fig) 1a1f) of spiritual relations (fig) 1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise 1a1f2) to turn away (of God) 1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent 1a1f4) turn back (from evil) 1a1g) of inanimate things 1a1h) in repetition 1b) (Polel) 1b1) to bring back 1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (fig) 1b3) to lead away (enticingly) 1b4) to show turning, apostatise 1c) (Pual) restored (participle) …

to usעָלֵֽינוּ׃'a-LEI-nuH5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.