Nehemiah 2:17

17 And I said to them, Ye know the torment, in which we Jews be, for Jerusalem is deserted, and the gates thereof be wasted with fire; come ye, build we [up] the walls of Jerusalem, and be we no more (a) shame/and be we no more in shame. (And so I said to them, Ye know the torment in which we Jews be, for Jerusalem is deserted, and its gates have been destroyed by fire; come ye, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and let us be in shame no more.)

Nehemiah 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:17

Then said I unto them
The priests and princes of the Jews:

you see the distress that we are in;
lie open to our enemies, and exposed to their insults:

how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire,
( Nehemiah 1:3 ) ( Nehemiah 2:3 Nehemiah 2:13 ) ,

come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a
reproach;
to their neighbours about them, who scoffed at them as a defenceless people and frequently came in upon them, and spoiled and plundered them of their goods and substance.

Nehemiah 2:17 In-Context

15 and in the night I went up by the strand, and I beheld the wall, and I turned again, and came to the gate of the valley, and I went again (to my lodging). (and then I went up that night by the valley, and I looked at the wall, and then I returned, and came back to the Valley Gate, and went home to my lodging.)

16 Forsooth the magistrates knew not, whither I had gone, either what I would do; but also I had not showed any thing to the Jews, and [the] priests, and to the best men, and [the] magistrates, and to [the] other men that made the work, till that time. (But the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I planned to do; and also I had not told anything to the Jews, or the priests, or the leaders, or the magistrates, or the other men who would do the work, up to that time.)

17 And I said to them, Ye know the torment, in which we Jews be, for Jerusalem is deserted, and the gates thereof be wasted with fire; come ye, build we [up] the walls of Jerusalem, and be we no more (a) shame/and be we no more in shame. (And so I said to them, Ye know the torment in which we Jews be, for Jerusalem is deserted, and its gates have been destroyed by fire; come ye, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and let us be in shame no more.)

18 And I showed to them the hand of my God, that it was good with me, and the words of the king, which he spake to me; and I said, Rise we up, and build we (it again); and the hands of them were strengthened in good. (And I told them how the good hand of my God was upon me, and the words of the king, which he had spoken to me; and they said, Rise we up, and let us rebuild it; and so they strengthened their hands to do this good work.)

19 And Sanballat (the) Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, (the) Ammonite, and Geshem (of) Arabs, heard this, and they scorned us, and despised; and said, What is this thing, that ye do? whether ye rebel against the king? (And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard of this, and they scorned us, and despised us; and they said, What is this, that ye do? do ye rebel against the king?)