Verse Lens · Concise explanation

Nehemiah 4:15 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 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.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse reports that the exposed plan is frustrated and everyone returns to work, with no battle narrated.

Read It With

  • Nehemiah 4:13–4:15

Read Nehemiah 4:13–4:15 together. This verse reports that the exposed plan is frustrated and everyone returns to work, with no battle narrated. 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 This Verse Appears Here

Nehemiah stations families, inspects fear, exhorts defense, and then reports that the exposed plan was frustrated before work resumes. Its placement advances the book. The family appeal belongs to a direct threat and leads here to deterrence and resumed work, not conquest. Within that movement, this verse reports that the exposed plan is frustrated and everyone returns to work, with no battle narrated.

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. 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. 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. 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.

What Remains True

Within Nehemiah 4:13–4:15, Nehemiah 4:15 reports that the exposed plan is frustrated and everyone returns to work, with no battle narrated. Protection under immediate threat must aim at safety and restoration rather than permanent mobilization or hatred.

How It Can Shape Life

  • At Nehemiah 4:15, attend to how the verse reports that the exposed plan is frustrated and everyone returns to work, with no battle narrated. Use proportionate, lawful safeguards and measure success by prevented harm and restored ordinary life.

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 deterrence
Sources used for this Verse Lens

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 ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Nehemiah with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed pp. 767–768, translation text and any translator notes printed for 4:13–4:15

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