So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
Parallel translations
- WEB So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.
- KJV So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
- NKJV So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared.
- NASB So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.
- NLT We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard.
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 people work from dawn until the stars appear, with half always on guard. They press on with sustained, sacrificial diligence.
Overview
The summary verse shows tireless labor through long days under constant watch. Such perseverance reveals a people wholly committed to the God-given task despite exhaustion and danger. Their steadfastness commends the kind of endurance Scripture urges on believers who labor for the Lord, knowing their toil is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gal 6:9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- Col 1:29To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- 1 Cor 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:21 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.