Nehemiah 1:3 (ASV)

Passage

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

Nehemiah 1:2 that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Nehemiah 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

Nehemiah 1:5 and said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "remnant", "left", "captivity", "province", "great", "affliction", and "reproach". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "remnant", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "that Hanani one of my brethren came..." into verse 4's "And it came to pass when I...", so "said" and "remnant" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "remnant" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.