Bible Strands
Nehemiah 2:17
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the Jewish nobles, officials, and workers after his secret night survey but before he discloses God's favor and the king's decree.
The words — The Hebrew רֹאִים (ro'Im) translates literally as "seeing" or "you see," grounding the appeal in observable reality, while הָרָעָה (ha-ra'ah) means "trouble" or "distress."
The thread — The passage directly continues Nehemiah 1:3's description of the exiles living in trouble and disgrace, and aligns with Ezekiel 5:14's theme of national ruin as a source of shame among surrounding nations.
Why it lands — The text commands immediate physical labor to repair Jerusalem's walls, presenting the work as a practical solution to communal shame rather than a symbolic gesture.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 5:14 I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
- Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!
- Nehemiah 1:3 And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
- Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
- Lamentations 3:45 You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
- Lamentations 3:51 My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
- Psalms 89:50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—
- Lamentations 2:8 The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.
- Ezekiel 22:4 you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.
- Ezra 5:1 Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.