Nehemiah 2:20
What does Nehemiah 2:20 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 2:20 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 2:20 means
Nehemiah answers with clear confidence: the God of heaven will give success. On that basis, God’s servants will rise and build. He then draws a firm boundary—Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem. The work’s authority rests in God’s purpose and the community he has chosen, not in the approval of adversaries. This reply refuses to be baited into political fear. It asserts divine sanction and denies the enemies any stake in the city’s identity. Faith speaks boldly, sets limits, and returns to the mission at hand: to build under God’s prospering hand.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Then answering them I said, The God of heaven, he will be our help; so we his servants will go on with our building: but you have no part or right or any name in Jerusalem.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And I return them word, and say to them, `The God of the heavens--He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And I answered them, and said to them, TheGod of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.
Context
This final verse directly responds to the mockery and accusation of the previous one. By appealing to the God of heaven, Nehemiah counters the charge of rebellion with higher authority, while also implicitly standing on the royal approval already granted. The boundary he sets closes the chapter with resolve. The next phase, to be described later, will be the actual organization of the builders, now that opposition has been answered and confidence in God’s prospering has been declared.
v.19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
v.20This passage
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Nehemiah 2:4
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
- Psalms 20:5
We will triumph in thy salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners: Jehovah fulfil all thy petitions.
- Zechariah 6:14
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah.
- Ecclesiastes 7:18
It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth from them all.
- Leviticus 2:2
and he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof. And the priest shall burn it as the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah:
- Isaiah 56:5
Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
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