What Does Nehemiah 13:14 Mean?
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my faithful love that I have done for the house of my God, and for its watch.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.THE KEY
What the KJV calls “good deeds” is faithful love made visible in service, and the prayer asks that love’s trace remain.
THE MEANING
The desire for your labor to be remembered stands openly before God. The “good deeds” are acts of faithful love, offered for God’s house and its watchful service. The prayer asks that these acts remain in regard rather than be wiped away.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that service leaves no trace unless people remember it: the prayer asks for its work to remain in God’s regard.
THE ROOT
חֲסָדַי
ḥasadāy
GROWS FROM
חסד
Faithful love or loyalty expressed through action.
The Hebrew word is “my acts of faithful love,” giving the KJV’s “good deeds” a relational depth. The prayer asks that love embodied in service not be erased.
ALSO GROWS
ḥesed: Faithful love, loyalty, or kindness.
חֶסֶד
This is the root’s central form and names the quality embodied in the speaker’s work.
ḥāsīd: A devoted or faithful person.
חָסִיד
This branch shows how faithful love describes a person’s character as well as their actions.
מִשְׁמָרָיו
mishmarāw
GROWS FROM
שמר
To watch, guard, or keep.
“watch” in this verse is mishmarāw. The word rendered “offices” carries the sense of watches, charges, or guarded duties. The verse pictures service to God’s house as attentive keeping, not merely holding a position.
ALSO GROWS
shāmar: To watch, guard, or keep.
שָׁמַר
This basic verb reveals the watchful care inside the temple service named in the verse.
mishmeret: A guard duty, charge, or assigned watch.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This related form makes the “office” concrete as a duty entrusted to someone’s care.
זָכְרָה־לִּי
zokhrah-lî
GROWS FROM
זכר
To remember, call to mind, or keep in regard.
The request to remember is paired with a plea not to wipe out the speaker’s work. Together they make remembrance more than retrieving a fact: it is keeping a person and their faithful acts within regard.
ALSO GROWS
zikkārôn: A remembrance or memorial.
זִכָּרוֹן
This branch shows how remembering can preserve a lasting trace.
zēkher: Remembrance, name, or renown.
זֵכֶר
This branch links being remembered with a name that remains present.
THE PATTERN
A request to be remembered places a person and their need within God’s active regard.
Do not remember the shortcomings of my youth or my rebellions. According to your faithful love, remember me, for the sake of your goodness, LORD.And they rose early in the morning and bowed down before the LORD, then turned back and came to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your governance.THE THREAD
Do not remember the shortcomings of my youth or my rebellions. According to your faithful love, remember me, for the sake of your goodness, LORD.Both verses use זכר (zākar, remember): Nehemiah asks that faithful acts remain before God, while the psalm asks to be remembered according to God’s goodness. Together they open “remember me” as a request for active regard, with the prayer also naming what must not be erased.
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