Nehemiah 4 · a question people ask
"Don't cover their iniquity" (4:5). How do Christians read a prayer against enemies?
The prayer comes straight after the mocking: "Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders" (4:4-5). It is spoken to God (4:4), and the very next words are "So we built the wall" (4:6). The chapter doesn't comment on the prayer. The book has two more like it: "Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works" (6:14), and "Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood" (13:29). Christians read such prayers in two main ways, each resting on its verses, and these notes don't choose between them. Both agree that the prayer is spoken to God (4:4), and that the chapter tells of no revenge taken by the builders (4:6, 4:15). Christians who hold each view take both of these as words for them: "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19), and Jesus' "love your enemies… pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). They differ on how 4:4-5 sits beside them.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
An appeal to God's justice, leaving vengeance to him
Those who read it this way note that the prayer asks God, not the builders, to act: "Turn back their reproach on their own head" (4:4). Paul writes, "Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”" (Romans 12:19). In Revelation the souls under the altar cry out, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10), and "They were told that they should rest yet for a while" (Revelation 6:11). Paul says of one man, "Alexander the coppersmith did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds" (2 Timothy 4:14). On this reading, 4:4-5 is a right cry to God for justice from people who leave the repaying to him, and it sits alongside the call to love one's enemies.
Nehemiah 4:4 · Romans 12:19 · Revelation 6:9-11 · 2 Timothy 4:14
An honest prayer that Jesus' words and example go beyond
Those who read it this way take 4:4-5 as a true record of what was prayed, and read it beside what Jesus taught and did. Jesus said, "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). On the cross he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). As Stephen was stoned he "cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!”" (Acts 7:60), where 4:5 asks, "Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you" (4:5). Paul wrote, "Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse" (Romans 12:14). On this reading, 4:4-5 shows how honestly God's people may bring their hurt to him, and Jesus' words and example teach his followers to pray for their enemies' good.
Nehemiah 4:4-5 · Matthew 5:44 · Luke 23:34 · Acts 7:59-60 · Romans 12:14
The verses
““Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.” So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”
“When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.”
““Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.””
“Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.”