Nehemiah 2:12

2:12 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 2:20

2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ²  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ³ 

Nehemiah 5:5

5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ⁴  and our children are just like their children, ⁵  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ⁶  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ⁷  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ⁸ 

Nehemiah 8:10

8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ⁹  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “the animal.”

[2:20]  ² tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ³ tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ⁷ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[8:10]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).