Verse Lens · Context pointer
Nehemiah 4:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse shows Nehemiah stationing armed people by families in low exposed places behind the wall.
Read It With
- Nehemiah 4:13–4:15
Read Nehemiah 4:13–4:15 together. This verse shows Nehemiah stationing armed people by families in low exposed places behind the wall. Read Nehemiah 4:13–4:15 as one complete scene: People stand by families with weapons; Nehemiah calls them to remember God and fight for households, and the enemies' plan is deterred without a battle being narrated.
Why It Needs Context
This line performs one particular step inside Nehemiah 4:13–4:15; read it with the unit's movement. The text attributes exposure of the plan to God but does not narrate the mechanism or a fought engagement. Specifically, this verse shows Nehemiah stationing armed people by families in low exposed places behind the wall.
Read Nehemiah 4:13–15 together
Why these verses belong together: Nehemiah stations families, inspects fear, exhorts defense, and then reports that the exposed plan was frustrated before work resumes.
Verse 13. 13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
Verse 14. 14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
Verse 15. 15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Nehemiah 4:13–4:15 — Families are armed, exhorted, and return after deterrenceSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Nehemiah 4:13–4:15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nehemiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 4:13–4:15
Open source ↗