So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.
Parallel translations
- KJV So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
- BSB So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
- 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 be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
- Col 1:29for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- 1 Cor 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which 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.