Nehemiah 6:15

So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the conclusion of the wall rebuilding at the exact moment the labor ends, positioned between Nehemiah’s recorded prayer against his opponents and the immediate report of their fear.

The words — The Hebrew verb וַתִּשָּׁלֵם (vatishlam) translates literally to “and it was completed,” anchored by the chronological phrase בְּעֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה לְאֵלוּל (be'esrim va'chamishah le'Elul), meaning “on the twenty-fifth of Elul.”

The thread — This structural completion mirrors Ezra 6:15, which similarly dates a sacred project to a specific calendar day, and aligns with the Psalm 1:3 description of steadfast growth under divine provision.

Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that the finished wall resulted from sustained work under direct opposition, demanding a plain recognition of God’s agency in historical events without attributing the outcome to human effort alone.

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

וַתִּשְׁלַם֙va./tish.Lamand/ it was complete הַֽחוֹמָ֔הha./cho.Mahthe/ wall בְּעֶשְׂרִ֥יםbe./'es.Rimon/ [day] twenty וַחֲמִשָּׁ֖הva./cha.mi.Shahand/ five לֶאֱל֑וּלle./'e.Lulof/ Elul לַחֲמִשִּׁ֥יםla./cha.mi.Shimto/ fifty וּשְׁנַ֖יִםu./she.Na.yimand/ two יֽוֹם׃ פYomday[s]

King James Version

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

Cross-references

Nehemiah 4:1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
Ezra 6:15 And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.