Nehemiah 6:9

Neh 6:9 For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, [O God], strengthen my hands.

Ver. 9. For they all made us afraid] This they aimed at; but could not attain unto; for faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear, Psa 46:1-2. Audacia est pro muro, saith Sallust. Let the wicked flee when none pursueth, but the righteous will be bold as as lion, Pro 28:1.

Saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work] So measuring them by themselves, as if they would have been soon scared and discouraged. But they knew not the Aes triplex, the power of the Spirit, that spirit of power (opposed to the spirit of fear), of love, and of a sound mind, 2Ti 1:7. They knew not the privy armour of proof that these good Jews had about their hearts.

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands] He acknowledgeth himself to be in the condition of a poor garrison soldier, that hath no help or supplies but from the Captain of his salvation which, therefore, he thus humbly calleth in and craveth. Of ejaculations, see Neh 2:4. This here is despatched in four words.

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_6:9

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

Gods various ways of strengthening His peoples hands

He sometimes does it by infusing into them an extraordinary measure of wisdom and knowledge. Joseph and Daniel appear to have been thus enriched, the faculty of interpreting dreams being conferred upon them, at a momentous juncture, to qualify them for a great and special work; our Lord promised His disciples that, in the critical moment, though not before, they should be supplied with the mouth of wisdom, that might answer all their adversaries. Sometimes the hands of such believers are strengthened by a strange alteration in the feelings of powerful foes towards them, or by an unexpected accession of friends from quarters where, perhaps, they have expected the least. When a mans ways please the Lord, He maketh even His enemies to be at peace with him. Laban shall be arrested in a dream by night, with the stern command, See that thou speak not to Jacob good or bad; the gaolers heart shall be softened, that he bring forth Paul and Silas out of their dungeon, and wash their stripes, and set meat before them; and the Pharisees, those determined foes of the gospel, moved by their hatred of the Sadducees, take the part of the preacher of the resurrection. God may add to our strength by confounding and debilitating our enemies; as He acted by David, when on his behalf He turned the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness; when He struck the inhabitants of Sodom with blindness; when He poured terror on the Syrian army that invaded Judea; and when the host of the Midianites fled in dismay before the lamps and pitchers of Gideon, and not a sword was drawn. And now that miracles are not wrought, we must still recognise in thousands of instances the overruling providence of God, working under the cover of natural causes to strengthen His peoples hands. (J. N. Pearson, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 6:9. For they all made us afraid — That is, they endeavoured to do so, and actually did terrify some persons. Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands — It is a great relief to good people, that in all their straits and difficulties they can have recourse to God, and by faith and prayer derive from him grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands, while their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and to weaken their hands. And this prayer of Nehemiah is particularly suitable when we are entering on any particular services or conflicts in our Christian warfare, and especially need to have our hands strengthened.

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

Hebrew, strengthen thou mine hand.

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

(9) Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.—The answer sent was that the thing was not true, and that the report itself did not exist. The reflection in Nehemiah’s journal was that they sought to make him afraid. Quoting this, he adds the prayer that he recorded when he wrote it. It is one of those sudden, interjectional petitions which abound in the narrative, and is all the more remarkable from the absence of the words “O God,” which are here inserted.

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

9. For they all made us afraid] R.V. For they all would have made us afraid. The participle in the original does not convey more than that the attempt was made. It does not assert, as the A.V. rendering, that the attempt succeeded. By ‘they all’ Nehemiah refers to the enemies mentioned in Neh_6:1. The present verse is his comment upon the whole episode.

saying] i.e. amongst themselves and in their own minds.

Their hands shall be weakened] For this expression cf. Job_4:3; Isa_35:3; Jer_38:4; 2Ch_15:7. Cf. ‘fearful hearts and faint hands’ (Sir_2:12); ‘hands that hang down’ (Heb_12:12).

Now therefore, O God, strengthen, &c.] R.V. But now, O God, strengthen. Marg. ‘Or, I will strengthen my hands’. The adversative ‘but’ is required, since the clause is Nehemiah’s reply to his enemies’ machinations, which are summarized in the previous sentence. The construction in the Hebrew creates a difficulty in the translation. The words ‘O God’ are not in the original: the verb ‘strengthen’ may either be the imperative or the infinitive.

(i) The A.V. and R.V. and the majority of commentators accept the view that the verb is in the imperative, and regard the words as a prayerful soliloquy with which Nehemiah closes his description of this scene. To this rendering it is an objection (1) that the name of the Deity must be supplied in order to make the words intelligible; (2) that even for an interjectional prayer the language is abrupt; (3) that the substance as well as the form of the sentence differs from the interjectional prayers in Neh_5:19, Neh_6:14.

(ii) If the verb be in the infin., the words express Nehemiah’s resolution in the face of his difficulties, ‘I will strengthen my hands.’ There would be no difficulty presented by such a construction if either the infinitive had been preceded by a verb in a finite form, or the subject of the verb had been expressed. But as both those conditions are lacking, the infinitival construction is certainly extremely harsh and unusual. It is strange to find ‘a note added, in the form of a soliloquy, to a description of events which had happened at least 12 years before the final publication of these memoirs.’

Somewhat in favour of the latter view is the evidence of the Gr. and Latin versions, which give, ‘And I strengthened my hands.’ LXX. καὶ νῦν ἐκραταίωσα τὰς χεῖράς μου. Vulg. ‘quam ob causam magis confortavi manus meas,’ and ‘But I will strengthen my hands,’ Syr. and Arab. It may be contended that the Versions have merely aimed at giving the most probable sense, without facing the grammatical difficulty; and that, if so, their evidence is of little value. On the other hand their unanimity possibly indicates a difference of text at any early time. So far as they only record a traditional interpretation, they are opposed to the view that the words are a prayer. On the whole the rendering of the R.V. margin seems preferable. It is a harsh construction, but with a simple meaning. The explanation of a prayer escapes the difficulty of construction, but creates a greater objection in the ellipse of the Sacred Name. Among the older explanations of this clause there is the very strange one which suggested that Nehemiah’s words are addressed to Sanballat, whom he invites to strengthen his hands instead of weakening them in the task of completing the walls. For the phrase ‘strengthen my hands,’ cf. 1Sa_23:16, ‘strengthened his hands in God.’

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.

For they all made us afraid,.... Or you all, as Aben Ezra interprets it; or all the Heathen nations, as Jarchi; this was the design of all those scandalous reports, to intimidate them, and with this they pleased themselves, as follows:

their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done; this they hoped would be the effect of those reports sent to them:

now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands; and let them not have what they will, and hope for; according to Aben Ezra, these words are directed to Sanballat, that if he was a friend, as he pretended, that instead of weakening, he would strengthen his hands by a sincere reconciliation; so Vatablus; but they are an address to God, such short ejaculations being usual with Nehemiah.

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

I. Hebrew, "Now, O Lord, strengthen my hands; (Junius, &c.) or, "now strengthening my hands, (Calmet) I went," &c. Septuagint, &c., agree with the Vulgate. (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).

They all made us afraid, i.e. they endeavoured to do so, and actually did terrify some persons.

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

9. Made us afraid — Kept us in continual anxiety and alarm, and apprehensive of some hostile movement against us.

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

They all made us afraid. Rather, sought to affright us." Their attempts did not succeed. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. "O God" is not in the original; whence some critics do not see in the words used a prayer, but only a statement I now strengthened my hands" (so the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions). This meaning, however, cannot be obtained from the present text.

Prayer for strength.

"Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands." Another instance of Nehemiah"s prayerfulness. In every difficulty he calls upon God, and not in vain. Thus he obtains strength, and teaches us where to seek it, with assurance of finding it. The manner in which the prayer is recorded is noticeable. He does not say, Then I offered this prayer, etc., but abruptly writes down the.prayer itself. It seems as if, while recording the events of those times, he lived them m imagination and feeling over again; and so, experiencing the old anxiety, he half unconsciously prayed and wrote the old prayer as a present supplication to God.

I WHAT WILL INCITE THE CHRISTIAN TO SUCH A PRAYER.

1. A great and good undertaking. Such as God approves.

2. Dependence of others engaged in the enterprise on our lead and spirit. Influence which our weakness would have on them.

3. Great difficulties in the work.

4. Great opposition to it.

5. Feebleness of fellow workers. In numbers, ability, zeal, courage. Fear of their defection.

6. Depression of spirit arising from these or other causes.

7. Strong desire to accomplish the work notwithstanding.

II How THE PRAYER MAY BE ANSWERED.

1. By the gift of internal strength. (see Eph_3:16) This may be given direct from heaven, or through the medium of encouragement from men. (see Neh_2:18)

2. By affording better external assistance. More and better helpers, or more favourable circumstances. Finally, some have good reason to offer this prayer with special emphasis on its last two words. They are strong in the head, and have strong emotions, but are weak in the hands for giving or doing. Unhappily, those who most need thus to pray are least disposed to do so.

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

Strengthen my hands - A good prayer, when we are entering on any particular services or conflicts in our Christian warfare.

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

For they all for all the nations.

fear us Heb. מְיָרְאִים. They fear us, and so they say, “Let their hands be slackened, etc.”

and now, strengthen my hands to help me with the building of the wall.

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.