Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ¹  O Lord, listen attentively ²  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ³  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁴  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁵  I was cupbearer for the king.

Psalms 106:45-46

106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,

and relented ⁶  because of his great loyal love.

106:46 He caused all their conquerors ⁷ 

to have pity on them.

Proverbs 16:7

16:7 When a person’s ⁸  ways are pleasing to the Lord, ⁹ 

he ¹⁰  even reconciles his enemies to himself. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

² tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

³ tn Heb “fear.”

⁴ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

⁵ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

⁶ tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.

⁷ tn Or “captors.”

⁸ tn Heb “ways of a man.”

⁹ tn The first line uses an infinitive in a temporal clause, followed by its subject in the genitive case: “in the taking pleasure of the Lord” = “when the Lord is pleased with.” So the condition set down for the second colon is a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.

¹⁰ tn The referent of the verb in the second colon is unclear. The straightforward answer is that it refers to the person whose ways please the Lord – it is his lifestyle that disarms his enemies. W. McKane comments that the righteous have the power to mend relationships (Proverbs [OTL], 491); see, e.g., 10:13; 14:9; 15:1; 25:21-22). The life that is pleasing to God will be above reproach and find favor with others. Some would interpret this to mean that God makes his enemies to be at peace with him (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). This is workable, but in this passage it would seem God would do this through the pleasing life of the believer (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

¹¹ tn Heb “even his enemies he makes to be at peace with him.”