Bible Strands
Nehemiah 4:5
Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses God while the wall reconstruction faces mockery from surrounding opponents. He petitions the Lord to judge those who have actively provoked the builders.
The words — The Hebrew תְּכַס (te.Khas) means "you cover" and תִּמָּחֶ֑ה (ti.ma.Cheh) means "it be wiped out." These verbs define the precise boundary of the plea to withhold pardon from the adversaries.
The thread — This petition aligns with the curses in Psalms 109:14 and Psalms 69:27, and mirrors Jeremiah 18:23 where the prophet asks God not to blot out the guilt of those plotting against him.
Why it lands — The text states that provocation of the builders warrants withheld mercy rather than automatic forgiveness. It requires the reader to recognize that active opposition to God's work justifies a demand for unblotted judgment.
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
And 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.
Cross-references
- Psalms 109:14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
- Jeremiah 18:23 But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.
- Psalms 69:27 Add iniquity to their iniquity; let them not share in Your righteousness.
- Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- 2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
- Psalms 51:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Psalms 51:9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
- Psalms 59:5 O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah
- Isaiah 36:11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”