Nehemiah 6:9

6:9 All of them were wanting ¹  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! ² 

Nehemiah 6:13

6:13 He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I ³  would be discredited. ⁴ 

¹ tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

² tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).

³ tc The translation reads לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the MT reading לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”).

⁴ tn Heb “would have a bad name.”