Nehemiah 13:17

13:17 So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off ¹  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

Nehemiah 5:6-13

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ²  5:7 I considered these things carefully ³  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ⁴  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ⁵  from your own countrymen!” ⁶  Because of them I called for ⁷  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ⁸  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ⁹  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ¹⁰  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ¹¹  Should you not conduct yourselves ¹²  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies? 5:10 Even I and my relatives ¹³  and my associates ¹⁴  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ¹⁵  5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ¹⁶  that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.”

5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, ¹⁷  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ¹⁸  swear to do what had been promised. ¹⁹  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ²⁰  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ²¹  this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised. ²² 

Job 31:34

31:34 because I was terrified ²³  of the great multitude, ²⁴ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ²⁵ 

Proverbs 28:4

28:4 Those who forsake the law ²⁶  praise the wicked, ²⁷ 

but those who keep the law contend ²⁸  with them.

[13:25]  ¹ tn Heb “give.”

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[5:9]  ¹⁰ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[5:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

[5:9]  ¹² tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:11]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads וּמְאַת (umÿ’at, “and the hundredth”) which is somewhat enigmatic. The BHS editors suggest emending to וּמַשַּׁאת (umasha’t, “and the debt”) which refers to the interest or collateral (pledge) seized by a creditor (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; see HALOT 641-42 s.v. מַשָּׁא). The term מַשַּׁאת (masha’t) is related to the noun מָשָּׁא (masha’, “debt”) in 5:7, 10.

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ²² tn Heb “according to this word.”

[31:34]  ²³ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ²⁵ sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

[28:4]  ²⁶ sn Some commentators do not think that the word refers to the Mosaic law, but to “instruction” or “teaching” in general (cf. NCV “who disobey what they have been taught”). However, the expression “keep the law” in the second line indicates that it is binding, which would not be true of teaching in general (J. Bright, “The Apodictic Prohibition: Some Observations,” JBL 92 [1973]: 185-204). Moreover, Proverbs 28:9 and 29:18 refer to the law, and this chapter has a stress on piety.

[28:4]  ²⁷ sn The proverb gives the outcome and the evidence of those who forsake the law – they “praise the wicked.” This may mean (1) calling the wicked good or (2) justifying what the wicked do, for such people are no longer sensitive to evil.

[28:4]  ²⁸ tn The verb is the Hitpael imperfect of גָּרָה (garah), which means “to stir up strife” but in this stem means “to engage in strife” (cf. NIV “resist them”). Tg. Prov 28:4 adds an explanatory expansion, “so as to induce them to repent.”