Nehemiah 1:9

1:9 But if you repent ¹  and obey ²  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ³  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ⁴  O Lord, listen attentively ⁵  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁶  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁷  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁸  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 2:5

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ⁹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 2:8

2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, ¹⁰  so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall ¹¹  and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, ¹²  for the good hand of my God was on me.

Nehemiah 2:13

2:13 I proceeded through the Valley Gate by night, in the direction of the Well of the Dragons ¹³  and the Dung Gate, ¹⁴  inspecting ¹⁵  the walls of Jerusalem that had been breached and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

Nehemiah 4:15

4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ¹⁶  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Nehemiah 6:10

6:10 Then I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. ¹⁷  He said, “Let’s set up a time to meet in the house of God, within the temple. Let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. It will surely be at night that they will come to kill you.”

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “turn to me.”

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

[1:11]  ⁴ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁸ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

[2:8]  ¹¹ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

[2:8]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

[2:13]  ¹³ tn Or “Well of the Serpents”; or “Well of the Jackals” (cf. ASV, NIV, NLT).

[2:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Rubbish Gate” (so TEV); NASB “Refuse Gate”; NCV “Trash Gate”; CEV “Garbage Gate.”

[2:13]  ¹⁵ tc For the MT reading שֹׂבֵר (sover, “inspecting”) the LXX erroneously has שֹׁבֵר (shover, “breaking”). However, further destruction of Jerusalem’s walls was obviously not a part of Nehemiah’s purpose.

[4:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it was known to us.”

[6:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “shut in.” The reason for his confinement is not stated. BDB 783 s.v. עָצַר suggests that it had to do with the fulfillment of a vow or was related to an issue of ceremonial uncleanness.