Nehemiah 1:2-3

1:2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ¹  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ²  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ³ 

1:3 They said to me, “The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable ⁴  adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!” ⁵ 

Nehemiah 3:20

3:20 After him Baruch son of Zabbai worked on another section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

Nehemiah 5:17

5:17 There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely, ⁶  in addition to those who came to us from the nations ⁷  all around us.

Nehemiah 6:9

6:9 All of them were wanting ⁸  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! ⁹ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[1:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:2]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “great.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “have been burned with fire” (so also in Neh 2:17). The expression “burned with fire” is redundant in contemporary English; the translation uses “burned down” for stylistic reasons.

[5:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “who were gathered around us at my table.”

[5:17]  ⁸ tn Or “from the Gentiles.” The same Hebrew word can refer to “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” Cf. the phrase in 6:16.

[6:9]  ¹⁰ tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

[6:9]  ¹¹ 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”).