Then I saw their fear. And I arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not fear them; remember the Lord who is great and fearsome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Nehemiah 4:12 Now it happened when the Jews who lived near them came and said to us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”
Nehemiah 4:13 that I had men stand in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I had the people stand by families with their swords, spears, and bows.
Nehemiah 4:14 Then I saw their fear. And I arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not fear them; remember the Lord who is great and fearsome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Nehemiah 4:15 Now it happened that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had thwarted their counsel, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.
Nehemiah 4:16 And it happened that from that day on, half of my young men carried on the work while half of them took hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the commanders were behind the whole house of Judah.
The verse centers on "fear", "arose", "said", "nobles", "officials", "rest", and "people". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "fear" and "arose", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "that I had men stand in the..." into verse 15's "Now it happened that when our enemies...", so "fear" and "arose" 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 "fear" and "arose" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.