Nehemiah 4:10 (YLT)

Passage

And Judah saith, `The power of the burden-bearers hath become feeble, and the rubbish <FI>is<Fi> abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.'

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 4:8 and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.

Nehemiah 4:9 And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

Nehemiah 4:10 And Judah saith, `The power of the burden-bearers hath become feeble, and the rubbish <FI>is<Fi> abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.'

Nehemiah 4:11 And our adversaries say, `They do not know, nor see, till that we come in to their midst, and have slain them, and caused the work to cease.'

Nehemiah 4:12 And it cometh to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places whither ye return--<FI> they are<Fi> against us.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "judah", "saith", "power", "burden-bearers", "hath", "become", "feeble", and "rubbish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "judah" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And we pray unto our God and..." into verse 11's "And our adversaries say They do not...", so "judah" and "saith" 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 "judah" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.