Nehemiah 7:4 kjv
Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded.
Nehemiah 7:4 nkjv
Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt.
Nehemiah 7:4 niv
Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
Nehemiah 7:4 esv
The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.
Nehemiah 7:4 nlt
At that time the city was large and spacious, but the population was small, and none of the houses had been rebuilt.
Nehemiah 7 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference ||-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|| Isa 44:28 | "...who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” | God's promise to rebuild Jerusalem. || Jer 30:18 | "‘Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; and the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall remain in its place." | Divine promise of urban restoration. || Psa 127:1 | "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." | Divine necessity for true city building. || Isa 58:12 | "And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." | Spiritual restoration enabling physical return and rebuilding. || Zech 1:16 | "Therefore thus says the LORD: I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it... and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem." | God's intention to rebuild His house and city. || Zech 8:3 | "Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in your midst in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city..." | God's return to fill and make Jerusalem holy. || Zech 8:4-5 | "Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem... And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." | Promise of future repopulation and vitality. || Zech 8:8 | "And I will bring them that they may dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness." | God's people dwelling in the city. || Ezr 2:64 | "The whole assembly together was 42,360," | Numbers of returnees (comparatively small for the large city). || Jer 33:10 | "Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, 'It is a waste, without man or beast,' in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again" | Prophecy of reversing desolation. || Isa 62:4 | "You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married..." | Future naming reflecting city's reversal from desolation. || Neh 11:1-2 | "Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city..." | Nehemiah's solution to repopulate the city. || Lam 1:1, 4 | "How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! ...The roads to Zion mourn... her virgins are afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterness." | Lament over Jerusalem's desolation (pre-Nehemiah). || Mic 7:11 | "A day for building your walls! In that day a distant decree shall come." | Prophetic anticipation of wall rebuilding. || Joel 3:18-20 | "In that day... Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation." | Prophecy of eternal inhabitation. || Acts 2:5 | "Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven." | Fulfillment of Jerusalem as a populated gathering place for God's people. || Gal 4:26 | "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother." | The heavenly Jerusalem, fully populated and glorious, contrasting the earthly desolation. || Rev 21:24-26 | "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it... into it will be brought the glory and the honor of the nations." | Vision of New Jerusalem as fully populated and glorious. || Ezra 9:8-9 | "...has shown us favor, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage." | God's grace in allowing any remnant to return and have a foothold. || Eze 36:33-35 | "Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places to be rebuilt... And the desolate land shall be tilled instead of being a desolation..." | God's future plan to inhabit and rebuild ruined cities. || Hag 1:4 | "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" | Rebukes the people for prioritizing their own homes over God's house, indicating widespread unbuilt houses. || Isa 49:19-20 | "For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land – now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants..." | Prophecy of future overpopulation, reversing the current state. || Luk 19:41-44 | "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes... they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’" | Christ's lament foreshadowing future destruction and desolation. |
Nehemiah 7 verses
Nehemiah 7 4 Meaning
Nehemiah 7:4 describes the desolate state of post-exilic Jerusalem even after the city walls were rebuilt. It states that Jerusalem was very large in physical area, yet its population was exceedingly small, and many houses remained unbuilt or were still in ruins. This verse highlights a critical challenge for Nehemiah: securing inhabitants for the restored city.
Nehemiah 7 4 Context
Nehemiah 7:4 immediately follows the completion of the wall of Jerusalem, a monumental physical achievement documented in Chapter 6. After the intense labor and conflict surrounding the wall's construction, Nehemiah wisely recognizes that a city with walls but no inhabitants is still vulnerable and unproductive. The walls provide defense, but without people and functioning homes, the city is an empty shell. This verse sets the stage for the rest of chapter 7, where Nehemiah, inspired by God, undertakes a census (the list of exiles who first returned) to address the underpopulation and formulate a plan for bringing people back into the city, specifically described in Nehemiah 11. Historically, the returned exiles comprised a small remnant compared to Jerusalem's historical size and former glory, making the issue of depopulation a significant administrative and societal challenge during the post-exilic period.
Nehemiah 7 4 Word analysis
וְהָעִיר֙ (vəhā‘îr): "And the city." Refers specifically to Jerusalem. This is the capital and the focal point of God's dwelling and His people. Its condition reflects the nation's spiritual and physical state.
רַחֶ֤בֶת (raḥăvet): "wide," "broad," "spacious." Describes Jerusalem's extensive geographical footprint. Despite its greatness in size, it lacked inhabitants.
יָדַ֖יִם (yādayim): "in area," literally "two hands" or "sides." Used idiomatically to indicate expanse or spaciousness in two dimensions. This emphasizes the sheer vastness of the city grounds, indicating much undeveloped or ruined land.
וּגְדֹלָה (ûgədōlāh): "and great." Reinforces the previous terms, stressing the city's significant size. The city's greatness was in its historical legacy and divine destiny, not its present occupation.
וְהָעָם֙ (vəhā‘ām): "and the people." Refers to the Jewish remnant who had returned from exile and were dwelling primarily in the surrounding towns and villages of Judah.
בְתֹכָ֣הּ (bətōḵāh): "in its midst," "within it." Specifies that the few people were scattered sparsely throughout the city's large expanse.
מְעַ֣ט (mə‘aṭ): "few," "little," "small in number." Directly states the critical problem of depopulation, contrasting sharply with the city's large size. This quantitative assessment directly motivates Nehemiah's next actions.
וְהַבָּתִּ֥ים (vəhabāttîm): "and the houses," "the dwellings." Refers to the residential structures, which would provide homes for the people. Their absence was a practical obstacle to habitation.
לֹא־בְנוּיִן (lō’-bənûyîn): "were not built," "not yet built up." This indicates a lack of complete construction or repair, suggesting widespread desolation and ruins dating back to the Babylonian destruction. It's not just a matter of empty lots, but also structurally unsound or nonexistent buildings.
Words-group: "the city was wide in area and great" This phrase powerfully illustrates the paradox of Jerusalem post-exile. It possessed the grand dimensions and historical significance of a capital city, yet it stood largely vacant. This emphasizes the incompleteness of the restoration project even after the walls were finished.
Words-group: "the people in its midst were few" This highlights the primary social and logistical problem facing Nehemiah. The human element was critically lacking, hindering economic and community development, as well as making defense challenging despite the new walls.
Words-group: "and the houses were not built" This provides a concrete reason or symptom of the underpopulation. It means people had nowhere suitable to live, reflecting ongoing physical devastation. The work of rebuilding Jerusalem was far from complete.
Nehemiah 7 4 Bonus section
- This verse underscores the profound difference between constructing a physical shell (the wall) and cultivating a vibrant, functioning city. The physical structure was necessary, but insufficient on its own.
- It serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of war and exile, with ruins still visible generations after the initial destruction.
- The fact that houses were not built points to the economic challenges faced by the returnees. People often chose to build houses in surrounding villages first, where they might have had agricultural land, rather than in the ruined capital.
- The empty city foreshadows the divine promise of a future, gloriously inhabited Jerusalem (Zech 8:4-5), demonstrating that Nehemiah's actions are part of a larger divine plan for restoration.
Nehemiah 7 4 Commentary
Nehemiah 7:4 provides a crucial transition in the book of Nehemiah, shifting focus from external defense to internal consolidation. With the walls completed, Nehemiah identifies the core challenge: a large city that is largely empty and without proper dwellings. This reveals that true restoration involves more than just physical infrastructure; it requires a living, breathing community within the city. The problem was not that the wall wasn't strong enough, but that the city's heart – its people and their homes – was absent. Nehemiah, guided by God, moves from the grand task of civil engineering to the equally vital administrative and social task of repopulation. This practical concern sets the stage for the crucial census and subsequent steps to settle the returned exiles, illustrating the divine-human partnership in God's redemptive work. The verse shows a responsible leader identifying a need and seeking to meet it, mirroring God's own care for His dwelling place and His people.