Nehemiah 4:1-4

Opposition to the Work Continues

4:1 (3:33) ¹  Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews, 4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ²  and the army of Samaria ³  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ⁴  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?”

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!”

4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Psalms 12:5

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ⁵ 

because of the painful cries ⁶  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ⁷  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁸ 

Psalms 44:13-16

44:13 You made us ⁹  an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ¹⁰ 

44:14 You made us ¹¹  an object of ridicule ¹²  among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt. ¹³ 

44:15 All day long I feel humiliated ¹⁴ 

and am overwhelmed with shame, ¹⁵ 

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 79:9-11

79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!

For the sake of your glorious reputation, ¹⁷  rescue us!

Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! ¹⁸ 

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ¹⁹ 

79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! ²⁰ 

Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! ²¹ 

Isaiah 11:12

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ²² 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

Lamentations 2:15

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ²³ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ²⁴ 

‘The perfection of beauty, ²⁵ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 35:12

35:12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate, they have been given to us for food.”

Ezekiel 36:2-3

36:2 This is what the sovereign Lord says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights ²⁷  have become our property!”’ 36:3 So prophesy and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Surely because they have made you desolate and crushed you from all directions, so that you have become the property of the rest of the nations, and have become the subject of gossip ²⁸  and slander among the people,

Ezekiel 36:20

36:20 But when they arrived in the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name. It was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they have departed from his land.’

[4:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:23 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:33 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:34 HT, 4:3 ET = 3:35 HT, 4:4 ET = 3:36 HT, 4:5 ET = 3:37 HT, 4:6 ET = 3:38 HT, 4:7 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 4:23 ET = 4:17 HT. Thus in the Hebrew Bible chap. 3 of the Book of Nehemiah has 38 verses, while chap. 4 has only 17 verses.

[4:2]  ² tn Heb “brothers.”

[4:2]  ³ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[4:2]  ⁴ 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?”

[12:5]  ⁵ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).

[12:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the Lord would be promising protection to those who have the courage to support the oppressed in the court of law. However, the first part of the verse focuses on the oppressed, not their advocates.

[44:13]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”

[44:14]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:14]  ¹² tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”

[44:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).

[44:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the day my humiliation [is] in front of me.”

[44:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the shame of my face covers me.”

[44:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

[79:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[79:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your name.”

[79:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[79:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”

[79:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[11:12]  ²² tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[2:15]  ²³ tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).

[2:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.

[2:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.

[36:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “high places.”

[36:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “lip of the tongue.”