What Does Nehemiah 1:6 Mean in the King James?
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The prayer confesses Israel’s missing as “we,” then includes the speaker and his father’s house in that same admission.
THE MEANING
The prayer asks to be heard with attentive ears and open eyes, then names the people’s missing without sheltering the speaker. The confession says “we,” and explicitly includes “I and my father’s house.” The verse speaks now of confession that leaves no safe distance between the one praying and the failure being named.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that someone can confess a community’s failure while remaining untouched by it: the speaker says “we,” then names himself and his father’s house.
THE ROOT
חָטָאנוּ
ḥāṭāʾnû
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
To miss, miss the mark; by extension, to commit an offense.
The passage repeats this root in “sins,” “we have sinned,” and “have sinned.” The same seed runs through all three: the missing is named in a shared first-person voice, and the speaker does not stand outside that “we.”
ALSO GROWS
ḥēṭʾ: A missing, offense, or sin.
חֵטְא
It makes the noun “sins” part of the same word family as the acts the speaker admits.
ḥōṭēʾ: One who misses or sins.
חוֹטֵא
It names the person through the same root, underscoring that the passage speaks of actions the people have done rather than assigning the speaker an outside position.
וּמִתְוַדֶּה
ûmitvaddêh
GROWS FROM
ידה
yādâ
To acknowledge, confess, or give thanks.
“confess” in this verse is ûmitvaddêh. The verb for confession belongs to the same root as תּוֹדָה (tōdâ, thanksgiving). Both words carry acknowledgment into expression; here, what is spoken openly is the missing the prayer has just named.
ALSO GROWS
tōdâ: Thanksgiving or acknowledgment expressed in praise.
תּוֹדָה
It shows that this root can voice what is recognized, whether the speaker is naming failure or giving thanks.
mōdeh: One who acknowledges, confesses, or gives thanks.
מוֹדֶה
This related form keeps the focus on the act of acknowledging rather than on a label for the person.
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmōaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear or listen, with the sense of attending and responding.
The prayer asks God to hear, while the root can carry hearing into response. Paired with open eyes and attentive ears, hearing here reaches beyond sound registering to the request being received.
ALSO GROWS
shemāʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
It shows the fuller sense carried by the root: hearing can include response.
shemūʿāh: A report, message, or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
It shows the root’s range from the act of hearing to what reaches the hearer.
THE PATTERN
Confession brings what is hidden into open speech, joining acknowledgment with prayer and shared responsibility.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.THE THREAD
And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:Leviticus binds “confess” to “sinned,” from the root חטא (ḥāṭāʾ, miss) that Nehemiah repeats. Leviticus names an individual’s confession; Nehemiah gives the same missing a collective voice, “we”, and includes the one praying.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us