From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic
“Cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thy face, because they have mocked thy builders.”
“And our adversaries said Nehemiah proceeds to tell this. They will not know, and they will not see So were our adversaries saying about us: “They will not know, and the Israelites will not recognize us until we come suddenly into their midst and kill them, and with this plot we will stop and curtail the building.””
“And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee,.... Let it not go unpunished, and even let it not be pardoned; which is spoken, not from a private spirit of revenge, but from a public spirit for the glory of God, and his justice; and not as a mere imprecation, but as a prophecy of what would be the case, in like manner as many of David's petitions in the Psalms; and for this there was a good foundation, since God had threatened the Moabites and Ammonites with utter destruction: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders; by despising his people, and mocking at the work the Lord had called them to; and this they did publicly, and on purpose to discourage the workmen.”
“Let not their sin be blotted out - These are the most terrible imprecations; but probably we should understand them as declaratory, for the same form of the verb, in the Hebrew, is used as precative and imperative. Turn their reproach - Their reproach shall be turned. Give them for a prey - They shall be given for a prey. Cover not their iniquity - Their iniquity shall not be covered. Let not their sin be blotted out - Their sin shall not be blotted out. All who know the genius of the Hebrew language, know that the future tense is used to express all these senses. Besides, we may rest assured that Nehemiah's curses, or declaration of God's judgments, had respect only to their bodies, and to their life: not to their souls and the world to come. And then they amount to no more than this: What a man soweth that he shall reap.”
“Face. Punish the obstinate. (Tirinus) — He does not wish that they may continue impenitent. (Calmet) — But, on that supposition, he approves of the divine justice, and foretells what will happen. (Estius) — Revenge was equally criminal under the old law, as it is at present. But the servants of God express their approbation (Calmet) of his inscrutable counsels. The imperative in Hebrew is often used for the future tense. (Haydock) — Mocked. Protestants, “provoked thee…. before the builders.” Septuagint omit most of this and the following verses; having only, “Do not hide thyself, with respect to wickedness.” (Haydock)”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.