Nehemiah 12:45

12:45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David and ¹  his son Solomon.

Nehemiah 12:2

12:2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

Nehemiah 1:5

1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ²  with those who love him and obey ³  his commandments,

Nehemiah 1:1

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ⁴ These are the words of Nehemiah ⁵  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ⁶  I was in Susa ⁷  the citadel.

¹ tc With many medieval Hebrew MSS and the ancient versions the translation reads the conjunction (“and”). It is absent in the Leningrad MS that forms the textual basis for BHS.

² tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).

³ tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.

⁴ 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.

⁵ sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

⁶ tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

⁷ tn Heb “Shushan.”