Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra 7:9

7:9 On the first day of the first month he had determined to make ¹  the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, ²  for the good hand of his God was on him.

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over ³  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ⁴  until a report could be dispatched ⁵  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 8:18

8:18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel. This man was Sherebiah, ⁶  who was accompanied by his sons and brothers, ⁷  18 men,

Nehemiah 2:8

2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, ⁸  so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall ⁹  and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, ¹⁰  for the good hand of my God was on me.

Nehemiah 2:2

2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

Nehemiah 4:17-18

4:17 who were rebuilding the wall. ¹¹  Those who were carrying loads did so ¹²  by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon. 4:18 The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ¹³  remained with me.

¹ tc The translation reads יִסַּד (yissad, “he appointed” [= determined]) rather than the reading יְסֻד (yÿsud, “foundation”) of the MT. (The words “to make” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.)

² sn Apparently it took the caravan almost four months to make the five hundred mile journey.

³ tn Aram “the eye of their God was on.” The idiom describes the attentive care that one exercises in behalf of the object of his concern.

⁴ tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

⁵ tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.

⁶ tn Heb “and Sherebiah.” The words “this man was” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Or “relatives” (so CEV; NRSV “kin”); also in v. 19.

⁸ tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

⁹ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

¹¹ tn The first words of v. 17, “who were rebuilding the wall,” should be taken with the latter part of v. 16.

¹² tn Heb “were carrying loads.” The LXX reads ἐν ὅπλοις (en hoplois, “with weapons”).

¹³ tn Heb “the one blowing the shophar.”