4:7 (4:1) 9 When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem 10 had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.
“Among the nations it is rumored 18 (and Geshem 19 has substantiated 20 this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors 21 you are going to become their king.
8:16 So the people went out and brought these things 26 back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple 27 of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.
9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, 28 nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel.
9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. 29 They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon 30 and the land of King Og of Bashan.
9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to 31 their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.
1 tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”
2 tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”
3 tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”
4 tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.
5 tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).
7 tn Heb “brothers.”
8 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
9 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”
10 sn Chapter 4 begins here in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 4:1.
11 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”
14 tn Heb “nobles.”
15 tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew
16 tn Heb “his brothers.”
17 tn Heb “I gave.”
16 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
17 tn Heb “your brothers.”
19 tn Heb “heard.”
20 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.
21 tn Heb “is saying.”
22 tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.
22 tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere, a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
23 tn Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ad), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).
24 tn Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד, especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.
25 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
28 tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “the house.”
31 tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”
34 tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
35 tc Most Hebrew
37 tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”
40 tn Heb “great.”
41 tn Heb “given them.”
42 tn Heb “given.”