Nehemiah 4:10

Neh 4:10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and [there is] much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.

Ver. 10. And Judah said] Here was επεμβολη, impedimenti domestici; aliud ex alio malum, a worse discouragement than the former. Judah (the chief labourers) begins to murmur and mutiny, to faint and fall off. A perilous practice in such a dangerous time, and enough to have undone all; as one coward in an army, breaking the array and running away, may set the rest a running, and the day be thereby lost. Lo, this was Judah, whose escutcheon was a lion; but here unlike himself.

The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed] Very specious reasons they allege; their shoulders ached, their strength was gone, there was no end of their painstaking, their work grew upon them, &c. The truth was, deerat ignis, deerat animus, they were weary of well doing, and not valiant for the truth, Jer 9:3. More like they were to those fugitives of Ephraim, Jdg 12:4, than the lions of the tribe of Judah. Nehemiah therefore might well have said to them, as Alexander once did to a faint hearted soldier of his, that was of his own name, Either give up the name of Alexander, or be valiant. So, either hold out, and bear up under your burdens, or be Judah no more.

So that we are not able] Never was anything too hard for Alexander; because he never held anything impossible to be effected.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 4:10. And Judah said — That is, the Jews now dwelling in Judah; to wit, some of them, being partly terrified by their enemies, and partly wearied with continual labour: the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed — The labourers have wrought so long and so hard that they are quite spent; and there is much rubbish — More than we are able soon to remove: so that we are not able to build the wall — Being forced to spend our time in removing the rubbish, and therefore we must desist for a season. Can Judah, that warlike, valiant tribe, speak thus? Active, leading men, have many times as much to do to grapple with the fears of their friends as with the terrors of their enemies.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 10. The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed] They worked both day and night, scarcely ever putting off their clothes, except for the purpose of being washed, Ne 4:21; Ne 4:23.

Much rubbish] The ruins they were obliged to clear away, before they could dig the foundation for a new wall: and in this labour they were nearly exhausted; see Ne 5:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) And Judah said.—As hereafter, in the case of the complaints of the people (Nehemiah 5), the writer gives a summary of difficulties. The Jews, or “Judah”—a significant term—complained of their growing feebleness, especially as so many were diverted to the watches.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. And Judah said] i.e. the Jewish community speaking, by their rulers or representatives, to Nehemiah.

The strength of the bearers of burdens, &c.] Literally ‘the strength of the bearer of burdens, &c.,’ referring to the whole class of the working population. The LXX. wrongly ἡ ἰσχὺς τῶν ἐχθρῶν.

so that we are not able, &c.] The complaint here described seems to be introduced at this point to show the variety of obstacles to the work. Besides the direct hostility of the Samaritans, the Jews themselves declared their strength to be giving way before the fatigue. The task of clearing away the accumulated rubbish before building the walls had exhausted their patience and their powers. It is not necessary to regard this declaration as mutinous. It was occasioned by the pressure felt by the whole community in consequence of the continuous labour upon the wall. There was no reserve to fall back upon in case of a sudden alarm. To Nehemiah at such a crisis the complaint must have greatly added to the difficulties of the moment. It had all the tone of disaffection, and reminded him that in the face of a hostile foe he could place little confidence either in the power or in the willingness of the Jewish citizens to defend themselves.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Judah said,.... Several of the men of Judah:

the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed; through much labour, in carrying heavy loads of stone and timber to the builders, and yet more through fear of the enemy:

and there is much rubbish; which ought to be removed, but that the labourers were so weak that they could not do it:

so that we are not able to build the wall; to finish it before the enemy comes to attack us.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Juda. Some of the Jews, (Menochius) who were dispirited at the greatness of the work and the threats of the enemy. --- Burdens. Septuagint, "of the enemies." Arabic, "the Jews were strengthened, there were many porters, but they could not finish the work." (Calmet) --- Rubbish to be removed. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And Judah said, i.e. the Jews now dwelling in Judah, to wit, some of them, being partly terrified by their enemies, and partly wearied with hard and continual labours.

There is much rubbish; more than we are able suddenly to remove.

We are not able to build the wall; being forced to spend our time in removing the rubbish, and other works imposed upon us; and therefore we must desist at least for a season.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Judah said — By his representatives, heads of the tribe of Judah.

The strength… is decayed — They are worn-out and exhausted by excessive toil.

Much rubbish — This had been accumulating for more than a hundred years, and in some places presented to the builders insuperable difficulties.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed. The complaint seems to be, that by the drawing off of men from the working parties to act as guards, those parties were so weakened that they could not continue the work, the quantity of rubbish being so great.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Judah - The Jews now dwelling in Judah, some of them being partly terrified by their enemies, and partly wearied with continual labour. Rubbish - More than we are able suddenly to remove. Not able - Being forced to spend our time in removing the rubbish, and therefore we must desist for a season.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The placing of the watch day and night, and the continuous labour, must have pressed heavily upon the people; therefore Judah said: "The strength of the bearers of burdens fails, and there is much rubbish; we are not able to build the wall." That is to say, the labour is beyond our power, we cannot continue it.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

There is too much rubble

Rubble is "burned stone" or "broken rock" or "unusable stone."

They will not know or see until we come among them

"They will not see us coming until we are beside them"

translationWords

people group

kingdom of Judah

burden

know

works

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And it was from that day on And from that day on, half the mighty men worked at the building of the wall, and the remaining half of the mighty men were armed with weapons to guard their brethren who were doing the work.

spears Heb. וְהָרְמָחִים. The “vav” is superfluous, like the “vav” of (Gen. 36: 24): “And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah (וְאַיָה) and Anah.”

and the rulers were close behind the entire tribe of Judah to be cautious in the battle.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.