Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ¹  and the army of Samaria ²  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ³  Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

Nehemiah 7:61

7:61 These are the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ⁴  their family connection ⁵  or their ancestry, ⁶  as to whether they were really from Israel):

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 4:19

4:19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding ⁷  and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.

Nehemiah 4:14

4:14 When I had made an inspection, ⁸  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ⁹  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ¹⁰ 

Nehemiah 10:37

10:37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce ¹¹  of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

² map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

³ 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?”

⁴ tn Heb “relate.”

⁵ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

⁶ tn Heb “their seed.”

⁷ tn Heb “much.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “And I saw.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹² tn Heb “houses.”

¹³ tn Heb “a tithe of our land.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “of our work.”