Nehemiah 10:30

10:30 “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons.

Nehemiah 3:12

3:12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to him, assisted by his daughters. ¹ 

Nehemiah 5:5

5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ²  and our children are just like their children, ³  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ⁴  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ⁵  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ⁶ 

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off ⁷  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

Nehemiah 5:2

5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ⁸  grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Nehemiah 6:18

6:18 For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him, ⁹  because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jonathan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

Nehemiah 7:63

7:63 And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a woman from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).

Nehemiah 4:14

4:14 When I had made an inspection, ¹⁰  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ¹¹  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ¹² 

Nehemiah 10:28

10:28 “Now the rest of the people – the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples ¹³  because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand –

Nehemiah 11:25

11:25 As for the settlements with their fields, some of the people of Judah settled in Kiriath Arba and its neighboring villages, ¹⁴  in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements,

Nehemiah 11:28

11:28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages,

Nehemiah 11:27

11:27 in Hazar Shual, in Beer Sheba and its villages,

Nehemiah 11:30-31

11:30 Zanoah, Adullam and their settlements, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its villages. So they were encamped from Beer Sheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

11:31 Some of the descendants of ¹⁵  Benjamin settled in Geba, ¹⁶  Micmash, Aija, Bethel ¹⁷  and its villages,

Nehemiah 12:28-29

12:28 The singers ¹⁸  were also assembled from the district around Jerusalem and from the settlements of the Netophathites 12:29 and from Beth Gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 13:28

13:28 Now one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I banished him from my sight.

¹ tc The reference to daughters, while not impossible, is odd in light of the cultural improbability that young women would participate in the strenuous labor of rebuilding city walls. All other such references in the Book of Nehemiah presuppose male laborers. Not surprisingly, some scholars suspect a textual problem. One medieval Hebrew MS and the Syriac Peshitta read וּבָנָיו (uvanayv, “and his sons”) rather than the MT reading וּבְנוֹתָיו (uvÿnotayv, “and his daughters”). Some scholars emend the MT to וּבֹנָיו (uvonayv, “and his builders”). On the other hand, the MT is clearly the more difficult reading, and so it is preferred.

¹ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

² tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

³ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

⁴ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

⁵ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

¹ tn Heb “give.”

¹ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

¹ tn Heb “were lords of oath.”

¹ tn Heb “And I saw.”

² tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

³ tn Heb “houses.”

¹ tn Heb “from the peoples of the lands.” Cf. vv. 30, 31.

¹ tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.

¹ tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the Syriac Peshitta וּמִבְּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and some of the descendants of”; cf. NLT) rather than the MT reading וּבְנֵי (uvÿne, “and the sons of”).

² tc Heb “from Geba.” It is preferable to delete the preposition “from” read by the MT.

³ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹ tn Heb “the sons of the singers.”