Devine Scripture

Nehemiah 2:14

What does Nehemiah 2:14 mean?

A plain-English look at Nehemiah 2:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Nehemiah 2:14 means

Nehemiah proceeds to the fountain gate and the king’s pool but finds the rubble so dense that his mount cannot pass. The detail shows the depth of Jerusalem’s ruin—travel is obstructed even for a single rider. It also demonstrates why a careful, on-the-ground survey was necessary: plans must account for impassable sections and the need for clearing before building. The mention of the king’s pool hints at once-grand infrastructure now crippled. The verse invites sober realism. The task is not cosmetic repair but comprehensive restoration, and Nehemiah is learning exactly where the obstacles lie.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Then I went on to the door of the fountain and to the king's pool: but there was no room for my beast to get through.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And I went on to the fountain-gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no place for the beast under me to pass.

Context

Continuing the night inspection, this verse records a specific impediment on the route. It enlarges the reader’s sense of the devastation and readies us for Nehemiah’s later strategy. After encountering the blockage, he will adjust his path, complete the survey, and return. These details support the authority with which he will soon address the leaders and people, calling them to rebuild despite the scale of the damage and the opposition that will arise.

v.13And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

v.14This passage

v.15Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 2 Kings 20:20

    Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

  • 2 Kings 18:17

    And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.

  • Nehemiah 3:15

    And the fountain gate repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

  • 2 Chronicles 32:30

    This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

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