Nehemiah 4:5

5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have {provoked the builders to anger}.

Nehemiah 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 4:5

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted
out from before thee
Let it not go unpunished, and even let it not be pardoned; which is spoken, not from a private spirit of revenge, but from a public spirit for the glory of God, and his justice; and not as a mere imprecation, but as a prophecy of what would be the case, in like manner as many of David's petitions in the Psalms; and for this there was a good foundation, since God had threatened the Moabites and Ammonites with utter destruction:

for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders;
by despising his people, and mocking at the work the Lord had called them to; and this they did publicly, and on purpose to discourage the workmen.

Nehemiah 4:5 In-Context

3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, "Their wall of stone that they are building would break down if a fox went on it!"
4 Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn on their head and give them over to plunder in the land of captivity.
5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have {provoked the builders to anger}.
6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all of the wall was joined up to half [its height]. For the people had a heart to do [it].
7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem were going forward and the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "provoked anger before the builders"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.