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.

Nehemiah 2:5

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ⁶  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 2:7-8

2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ⁷  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah, 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 6:6

6:6 Written in it were the following words:

“Among the nations it is rumored ¹¹  (and Geshem ¹²  has substantiated ¹³  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ¹⁴  you are going to become their king.

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 “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

¹¹ tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.

¹⁶ tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

²¹ tn Heb “heard.”

²² tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.

²³ tn Heb “is saying.”

²⁴ tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.