Nehemiah 1:1

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ¹ These are the words of Nehemiah ²  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ³  I was in Susa ⁴  the citadel.

Nehemiah 8:13

8:13 On the second day of the month the family leaders ⁵  met with ⁶  Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.

Nehemiah 12:23

12:23 The descendants of Levi were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles ⁷  as heads of families up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.

Nehemiah 2:18

2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ⁸  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ⁹  So they readied themselves ¹⁰  for this good project.

Nehemiah 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹¹  Ezra the priestly scribe, ¹²  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ¹³  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

¹ sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. A.D. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.

² sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

³ tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

⁴ tn Heb “Shushan.”

⁵ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

⁶ tn Heb “were gathered to”; NAB, NIV “gathered around”; NRSV “came together to.”

⁹ tn Or “the Book of the Annals” (so NRSV); NLT “The Book of History.”

¹³ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

¹⁵ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

¹⁷ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

¹⁸ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.