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.

Genesis 40:11

40:11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his 6  cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 7 

Genesis 40:21

40:21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position 8  so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand,

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 Heb “the cup of Pharaoh.” The pronoun “his” has been used here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

7 sn The cupbearer’s dream is dominated by sets of three: three branches, three stages of growth, and three actions of the cupbearer.

8 tn Heb “his cupbearing.”