Nehemiah 5:2

5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ¹  grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ²  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ³  by fire?”

Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ⁴  and the army of Samaria ⁵  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ⁶  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 9:6

9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, ⁷  along with all their multitude of stars, ⁸  the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Nehemiah 9:29

9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, ⁹  will live. They boldly turned from you; ¹⁰  they rebelled ¹¹  and did not obey.

¹ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

³ tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁴ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁵ 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 “the heavens of the heavens.”

⁵ tn Heb “all their host.”

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

⁶ tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”

⁷ tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”