Nehemiah 4:23

So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Nehemiah reports to the rebuilding community regarding the wall project. He describes his personal compliance with the day-and-night guard order issued in the preceding verse.

The words — וְאֵין (ve’ên) means “and not,” establishing the absolute nature of the vigilance. אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּשְׁמָר (’anšê hammišmār) translates as “the men of the guard,” specifying the military personnel stationed alongside the laborers.

The thread — The verse parallels the armed construction in Judges 9:48 and reinforces the leadership consistency detailed in Nehemiah 5:16.

Why it lands — The text states that leaders and guards kept their garments and weapons on at all times, even for basic needs like fetching water. It requires readers to maintain practical readiness and refuse to compartmentalize duty from daily life.

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

וְאֵ֨יןve./'Einand/ not אֲנִ֜י'a.NiI וְאַחַ֣יve./'a.Cha/iand/ brothers/ my וּנְעָרַ֗יu./ne.'a.Ra/iand/ servants/ my וְאַנְשֵׁ֤יve./'an.Sheiand/ [the] men of הַמִּשְׁמָר֙ha./mish.Marthe/ guard אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwho אַחֲרַ֔י'a.cha.Ra/i[were] behind/ me אֵין־'ein-not אֲנַ֥חְנוּ'a.Nach.nuwe פֹשְׁטִ֖יםfo.she.Tim[were] stripping off בְּגָדֵ֑ינוּbe.ga.Dei./nuclothes/ our אִ֖ישׁ'isheach one שִׁלְח֥וֹshil.Ch/oweapon/ his הַמָּֽיִם׃ סha./Ma.yimthe/ water

King James Version

So 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.

Cross-references

Judges 5:11 the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:
Judges 9:48 he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
Nehemiah 5:16 Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
Nehemiah 7:2 Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.