Nehemiah 11:35

11:35 in Lod, Ono, and ¹  the Valley of the Craftsmen. ² 

Nehemiah 3:32

3:32 And between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and traders worked.

Nehemiah 5:10

5:10 Even I and my relatives ³  and my associates ⁴  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ⁵ 

Nehemiah 4:10

4:10 Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers ⁶  has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

Nehemiah 2:16

2:16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers.

Nehemiah 3:8

3:8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ⁷  the city wall of Jerusalem ⁸  as far as the Broad Wall.

Nehemiah 3:31

3:31 After him Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, worked as far as the house of the temple servants and the traders, opposite the Inspection Gate, ⁹  and up to the room above the corner.

Nehemiah 4:22-23

4:22 At that time I instructed ¹⁰  the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day. 4:23 We did not change clothes ¹¹  – not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water. ¹² 

¹ tc The translation reads וְגֵי (vÿgey, “and the valley”) rather than the MT reading גֵּי (gey, “the valley”). The original vav (ו) probably dropped out accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word.

² tn Heb “Ge-harashim,” which could be left untranslated as a place name.

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁴ tn Heb “lads.”

⁵ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

⁵ tn Heb “burden-bearers.”

⁷ tc Assuming that the MT reading וַיַּעַזְבוּ (vayya’azvu) is related to the root עָזַב I (“to abandon”) – which makes little sense contextually – some interpreters emend the MT to וַיַּעַזְרוּ (vayya’azru, “they aided”), as suggested by the editors of BHS. However, it is better to relate this term to the root II עָזַב meaning “to restore; to repair” (BDB 738 s.v. II עָזַב) or “to plaster” (HALOT 807 s.v. II עזב qal.1). This homonymic root is rare, appearing elsewhere only in Exod 23:5 and Job 9:27, where it means “to restore; to put in order” (HALOT 807-8 s.v. II עזב qal.2). The related Mishnaic Hebrew noun מעזיבה refers to a “plastered floor.” This Hebrew root is probably related to the cognate Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Sabean verbs that mean “to restore” and “to prepare; to lay” (see BDB 738 s.v.; HALOT 807 s.v.). Some scholars in the nineteenth century suggested that this term be nuanced “paved.” However, most modern English versions have “restored” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rebuilt” (so NCV, CEV).

⁸ tn Heb “[the city wall of] Jerusalem.” The term “Jerusalem” probably functions as a metonymy of association for the city wall of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the phrase “the city wall of” has been supplied in the translation to clarify this figurative expression.

⁹ tn Heb “Miphkad Gate” (so TEV; KJV similar); NRSV “Muster Gate.”

¹¹ tn Heb “said [to].”

¹³ tn Heb “strip off our garments.”

¹⁴ tc Heb “a man, his weapon, the waters.” The MT, if in fact it is correct, is elliptical and difficult. Some scholars emend the MT reading הַמָּיִם (hammayim, “the waters”) to בִּמִנוֹ (bimino, “in his right hand”; cf. NAB, NRSV) or מִינוּ(י)הֵ (heminu, “they held on the right side”).