Nehemiah 1:5

1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ¹  with those who love him and obey ²  his commandments,

Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ³  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ⁴  by fire?”

Nehemiah 7:61

7:61 These are the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ⁵  their family connection ⁶  or their ancestry, ⁷  as to whether they were really from Israel):

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.

[2:3]  ³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

[7:61]  ⁵ tn Heb “relate.”

[7:61]  ⁶ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[7:61]  ⁷ tn Heb “their seed.”