Nehemiah 6:9 (GNV)

Passage

For all they afrayed vs, saying, Their handes shalbe weakened from the worke, and it shall not be done: nowe therefore incourage thou me.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 6:7 Thou hast also ordeyned the Prophets to preach of thee at Ierusalem, saying, There is a King in Iudah: and nowe according to these wordes it shall come to the Kings eares: come now therefore, and let vs take counsell together.

Nehemiah 6:8 Then I sent vnto him, saying, It is not done according to these wordes that thou sayest: for thou feynest them of thine owne heart.

Nehemiah 6:9 For all they afrayed vs, saying, Their handes shalbe weakened from the worke, and it shall not be done: nowe therefore incourage thou me.

Nehemiah 6:10 And I came to the house of Shemaiah the sonne of Delaiah the sonne of Mehetabeel, and he was shut vp, and he said, Let vs come together into the house of God in the middes of the Temple, and shut the doores of the Temple: for they will come to slay thee: yea, in the night will they come to kill thee.

Nehemiah 6:11 Then I said, Should such a man as I, flee? Who is he, being as I am, that would go into the Temple to liue? I will not goe in.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "afrayed", "saying", "handes", "shalbe", "weakened", "worke", "shall", and "done". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "afrayed" and "saying", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Then I sent vnto him saying It..." into verse 10's "And I came to the house of...", so "afrayed" and "saying" 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 "afrayed" and "saying" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.