8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, 1 Ezra the priestly scribe, 2 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, 3 “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
10:1 On the sealed documents were the following names: 4
Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah,
1 tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.
2 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
3 tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
4 tn The words “were the following names” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. vv. 9, 10, 14.
5 tn The Hebrew word תִּרְשָׁתָא (tirshata’) is an official title of the Persian governor in Judea, perhaps similar in meaning to “excellency” (BDB 1077 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 395).
6 tn Heb “to stand.”