Nehemiah 4:5

Neh 4:5 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.

Ver 5. And cover not their iniquity.] O fearful imprecation! Surely if they only are blessed whose sin is covered, Psa 32:1, what shall become of those that are in a contrary condition? If pardon of sin be such a voluminous mercy, as having many other mercies bound up with it, think what a misery it is to have sin imputed; and get a cover speedily, for that abominable filth, and to God himself an eye sore.

For they have provoked thee to anger, &c.] This was it that Nehemiah so stomached; and that drew from him these dreadful imprecations, viz. God’s glory, and not any self-concern: he hated and cursed non virum, sed virium, &c.

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.

4:5 Do not ignore their guilt: See also “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Let the plagues declare to the world that they set themselves against thee and against thy Church: that he prayeth only having respect to God’s glory and not for any private affection, or grudge.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. Let not their sin be blotted out] These are the most terrible imprecations; but probably we should understand them as declaratory, for the same form of the verb, in the Hebrew, is used as precative and imperative. Turn their reproach - Their reproach shall be turned. Give them for a prey - They shall be given for a prey. Cover not their iniquity - Their iniquity shall not be covered. Let not their sin be blotted out - Their sin shall not be blotted out. All who know the genius of the Hebrew language, know that the future tense is used to express all these senses. Besides, we may rest assured that Nehemiah's curses, or declaration of God's judgments, had respect only to their bodies, and to their life: not to their souls and the world to come. And then they amount to no more than this: What a man soweth that he shall reap.

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

5. and cover not their iniquity] i.e. forgive it not. Cf. Psa_85:2, ‘Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin’—i.e. so as not to see and visit it.

and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee] i.e. let its record remain for ever in the book of divine remembrance and cry for retribution. Compare Psa_109:14, ‘Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.’ The metaphor is differently applied in Psa_69:28, ‘Let them be blotted out of the book of life.’

for they have provoked thee to anger] The verb, which is of frequent occurrence in connexion with idolatrous practices, is here used absolutely as in 2Ki_21:6; 2Ki_21:22. But there is no ambiguity of meaning, if we supply the pronoun ‘thee’ as the object. The LXX. omit the clause: the Vulg. renders ‘quia irriserunt aedificantes.’

before the builders] Sanballat and Tobiah had publicly contemned Jehovah; perhaps they sought to alienate the Jews engaged in building the wall by means of their mockery and their provocation. Nehemiah prays, as it were, that the same builders who had heard their utterance of defiance might witness their overthrow. Compare again Rabshakeh’s endeavour to shake the fidelity of the people of Jerusalem, 2Ki_18:26-28.

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 cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee,.... Let it not go unpunished, and even let it not be pardoned; which is spoken, not from a private spirit of revenge, but from a public spirit for the glory of God, and his justice; and not as a mere imprecation, but as a prophecy of what would be the case, in like manner as many of David's petitions in the Psalms; and for this there was a good foundation, since God had threatened the Moabites and Ammonites with utter destruction:

for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders; by despising his people, and mocking at the work the Lord had called them to; and this they did publicly, and on purpose to discourage the workmen.

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

Face. Punish the obstinate. (Tirinus) --- He does not wish that they may continue impenitent. (Calmet) --- But, on that supposition, he approves of the divine justice, and foretells what will happen. (Estius) --- Revenge was equally criminal under the old law, as it is at present. But the servants of God express their approbation (Calmet) of his inscrutable counsels. The imperative in Hebrew is often used for the future tense. (Haydock) --- Mocked. Protestants, "provoked thee....before the builders." Septuagint omit most of this and the following verses; having only, "Do not hide thyself, with respect to wickedness." (Haydock)

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).

Let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; let their wickedness be in thy sight, so as to bring down deserved judgments it. upon them, that either they may be convinced and reformed, or others may be warned by their example. God is said to cover or hide sin when he forbears to punish.

They have provoked thee to anger before the builders, i.e. they have not only provoked us builders, but thee also. Or, they have provoked or derided the builders to their face, i.e. openly and impudently, in contempt of God, and of this work, which is done by his direction and encouragement.

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

5. Cover not — That is, forgive not; do not pardon.

Let not their sin be blotted out — All these imprecations of Nehemiah are to be understood and explained, like the imprecatory psalms, as the voice of down-trodden humanity and injured innocence uttering by a divine inspiration the judgments of righteousness upon the wicked oppressor. Such psalms as the one hundred and twenty-third and the one hundred and twenty-fourth were probably written on this occasion.

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

Cover not their iniquity, etc. Some of David"s imprecations are very similar, (Psa_109:7, Psa_109:14, Psa_109:15, etc.) as also some of Jeremiah"s. (Jer_18:23) They have provoked thee to anger before the builders. It is not as if they had merely thought scorn" of thee, or insulted thee before one or two. They have uttered their insult publicly, so that it is known to the whole body of the builders. Therefore they deserve not to be forgiven.

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

Cover not - Let their wickedness be in thy sight, so as to bring down judgments upon them, that either they may be reformed, or others may be warned by their example. God is said to cover or hide sin when he forbears to punish it. Provoked thee - They have not only provoked us builders, but thee also.

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

And our adversaries said Nehemiah proceeds to tell this.

They will not know, and they will not see So were our adversaries saying about us: “They will not know, and the Israelites will not recognize us until we come suddenly into their midst and kill them, and with this plot we will stop and curtail the building.”

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.