Nehemiah 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ¹  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 4:12

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ²  about all the schemes ³  they were plotting ⁴  against us.

Nehemiah 7:73

7:73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.

The People Respond to the Reading of the Law

When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites ⁵  were settled in their cities, ⁶ 

Nehemiah 8:14

8:14 They discovered written in the law that the LORD had commanded through ⁷  Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month,

Nehemiah 11:25

11:25 As for the settlements with their fields, some of the people of Judah settled in Kiriath Arba and its neighboring villages, ⁸  in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements,

Nehemiah 13:27

13:27 Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying ⁹  foreign wives?”

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

[4:12]  ² tn Heb “ten times.”

[4:12]  ³ tc The MT reads the anomalous מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת (mikkol hammÿqomot, “from every place”) but the BHS editors propose כָּל־הַמְּזִמּוֹת (kol hammÿzimmot, “about every scheme”). The initial mem (מ) found in the MT may have been added accidentally due to dittography with the final mem (ם) on the immediately preceding word, and the MT qof (ק) may have arisen due to orthographic confusion with the similar looking zayin (ז). The emendation restores sense to the line in the MT, which makes little sense and features an abrupt change of referents: “Wherever you turn, they will be upon us!” The threat was not against the villagers living nearby but against those repairing the wall, as the following context indicates. See also the following note on the word “plotting.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tc The MT reads תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “you turn”) which is awkward contextually. The BHS editors propose emending to חָשְׁבוּ (hashÿvu, “they were plotting”) which harmonizes well with the context. This emendation involves mere orthographic confusion between similar looking ח (khet) and ת (tav), and the resultant dittography of middle vav (ו) in MT. See also the preceding note on the word “schemes.”

[7:73]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.” So also in vv. 14, 17; 9:1.

[7:73]  ⁴ tn The traditional understanding of the chapter and verse division here is probably incorrect. The final part of v. 73 is best understood as belonging with 8:1.

[8:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[11:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.

[13:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “give a dwelling to.”