Nehemiah 2:19

2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

Nehemiah 1:8

1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ² 

Nehemiah 5:9

5:9 Then I ³  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ⁴  Should you not conduct yourselves ⁵  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

Nehemiah 5:11

5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ⁶  that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.”

Nehemiah 13:17

13:17 So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?

Nehemiah 1:9

1:9 But if you repent ⁷  and obey ⁸  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ⁹  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

Nehemiah 2:17

2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.”

Nehemiah 5:7-8

5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹⁰  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ¹¹  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹²  from your own countrymen!” ¹³  Because of them I called for ¹⁴  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹⁵  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ¹⁶  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Nehemiah 13:21

13:21 But I warned them and said, ¹⁷  “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” ¹⁸  From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “peoples.”

³ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

⁴ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

⁵ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

⁴ tc The MT reads וּמְאַת (umÿ’at, “and the hundredth”) which is somewhat enigmatic. The BHS editors suggest emending to וּמַשַּׁאת (umasha’t, “and the debt”) which refers to the interest or collateral (pledge) seized by a creditor (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; see HALOT 641-42 s.v. מַשָּׁא). The term מַשַּׁאת (masha’t) is related to the noun מָשָּׁא (masha’, “debt”) in 5:7, 10.

⁵ tn Heb “turn to me.”

⁶ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

⁷ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

⁶ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

⁷ tn Heb “nobles.”

⁸ 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 MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

⁹ tn Heb “his brothers.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “I gave.”

⁷ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

⁸ tn Heb “your brothers.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes the words “to them,” but they have been excluded from the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “I will send a hand on you.”

¹⁰ sn This statement contains a great deal of restrained humor. The author clearly takes pleasure in the effectiveness of the measures that he had enacted.