Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Nehemiah 5:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people.
Read It With
- Nehemiah 5:14–5:19
Read Nehemiah 5:14–5:19 together. This verse closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people. Read Nehemiah 5:14–5:19 as one complete scene: Nehemiah says he refused the governor's food allowance, avoided prior exactions, fed many at his table, continued wall work, and asks God to remember him.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The twelve-year date, contrast with former governors, table provision, work record, and remember-me prayer form Nehemiah's self-evaluation. Its placement advances the book. The memoir offers relevant leadership evidence, but it remains interested self-testimony and does not silence the people affected by his administration. Within that movement, this verse closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people.
Read Nehemiah 5:14–19 together
Why these verses belong together: The twelve-year date, contrast with former governors, table provision, work record, and remember-me prayer form Nehemiah's self-evaluation.
Verse 14. 14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
Verse 15. 15 But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
Verse 16. 16 Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.
Verse 17. 17 Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.
Verse 18. 18 Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.
Verse 19. 19 Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
Follow the Context
- Nehemiah says he refused the governor's food allowance, avoided prior exactions, fed many at his table, continued wall work, and asks God to remember him.
- The memoir offers relevant leadership evidence, but it remains interested self-testimony and does not silence the people affected by his administration.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Nehemiah 5:19 does not reduce its distinct role—closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people—to a standalone claim or rule; read it within Nehemiah 5:14–5:19. Nehemiah's self-report is not a guarantee that visible sacrifice proves a leader just, and the text does not place his conduct beyond review.
What Remains True
Within Nehemiah 5:14–5:19, Nehemiah 5:19 closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people. Leaders should disclose benefits they declined and resources they used while remaining accountable to independent testimony.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Nehemiah 5:19, attend to how the verse closes with Nehemiah asking God to remember his good deeds for the people. Publish compensation, hospitality, procurement, and conflicts of interest, then invite affected people to test the leader's account.
Teach It Back
Explain Nehemiah 5:19's precise role in Nehemiah 5:14–5:19. Include the first historical horizon, the surrounding verses, one person or cost that could be obscured, material uncertainty, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Nehemiah 5:14–5:19 — Nehemiah presents his gubernatorial restraintSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The memoir's figures and comparisons lack an independent administrative audit; their literary role in Nehemiah's self-presentation is significant.
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 5:14–5:19, 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 5:14–5:19
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. 768–769, translation text and any translator notes printed for 5:14–5:19
Open source ↗