Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who built the wall, and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands did the work, and with the other held his weapon.
- KJV They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
- BSB who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
- NKJV Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
- NLT who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The workers labor with one hand and hold a weapon in the other. Every laborer is also a soldier.
Overview
Even those carrying burdens stay armed, ready to fight at a moment's notice. The vivid image of one hand working and one hand armed captures the dual demand of building and defending. It has long served as a picture of the Christian life, which combines diligent kingdom labor with constant spiritual watchfulness against the enemy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Tim 2:3You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- 2 Tim 4:7I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
- 2 Cor 6:7in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
- Phil 1:28and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
- 1 Cor 16:13Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!
- Eph 6:11–20Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
- 1 Cor 16:9for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
- Dan 9:25Know therefore and discern, that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
- 1 Cor 9:12If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 4:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.