Nehemiah 3:17

3:17 After him the Levites worked – Rehum son of Bani and ¹  after him Hashabiah, head of half the district of Keilah, for his district.

Nehemiah 3:30

3:30 After him ²  Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, worked on another section. After them Meshullam son of Berechiah worked opposite his quarters.

Nehemiah 4:3

4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

Nehemiah 4:10

4:10 Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers ³  has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

Nehemiah 4:18

4:18 The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ⁴  remained with me.

Nehemiah 8:8

8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it ⁵  and imparting insight. Thus the people ⁶  gained understanding from what was read.

Nehemiah 9:23

9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

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, ⁷  in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements,

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 ⁸  his son Solomon.

¹ tc The translation reads וְעַל (vÿ’al, “and unto”) with several medieval Hebrew MSS and some MSS of LXX, rather than the MT reading עַל (’al, “unto”).

² tc The translation reads אַחֲרָיו (’akharayv, “after him”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than the reading אַחֲרֵי (’akharey, “after me”) of the MT. So also in v. 31.

³ tn Heb “burden-bearers.”

⁴ tn Heb “the one blowing the shophar.”

⁵ tn The exact meaning of the pual participle מְפֹרָשׁ (mÿforash) in this verse is uncertain. The basic sense of the Hebrew word seems to be “to make distinct.” The word may also have the sense of “to divide in parts,” “to interpret,” or “to translate.” The context of Neh 8:8 does not decisively clarify how the participle is to be understood here. It probably refers to the role of the Levites as those who explained or interpreted the portions of biblical text that had been publicly read on this occasion. A different option, however, is suggested by the translation distincte (“distinctly”) of the Vulgate (cf. KJV, ASV). If the Hebrew word means “distinctly” here, it would imply that the readers paid particular attention to such things as word-grouping and pronunciation so as to be sure that the listeners had every opportunity to understand the message that was being read. Yet another view is found in the Talmud, which understands translation of the Hebrew text into Aramaic to be what is in view here. The following explanation of Neh 8:8 is found in b. Megillah 3a: “‘And they read in the book, in the law of God’: this indicates the [Hebrew] text; ‘with an interpretation’: this indicates the targum; ‘and they gave the sense’: this indicates the verse stops; ‘and caused them to understand the reading’: this indicates the accentuation, or, according to another version, the Masoretic notes.” However, this ancient rabbinic view that the origins of the Targum are found in Neh 8:8 is debatable. It is not clear that the practice of paraphrasing the Hebrew biblical text into Aramaic in order to accommodate the needs of those Jews who were not at home in the Hebrew language developed this early. The translation of מְפֹרָשׁ adopted above (i.e., “explaining it”) understands the word to have in mind an explanatory function (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT) rather than one of translation.

⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.

⁷ 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.