Nehemiah 2:12
Context2:12 I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me, except for the one 1 I was riding.
Nehemiah 2:19
Context2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, 2 they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
Nehemiah 4:2
Context4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues 3 and the army of Samaria 4 he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? 5 Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”


[2:19] 2 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
[4:2] 4 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[4:2] 5 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”