Nehemiah 2:16

2:16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers.

Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ¹  and the army of Samaria ²  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ³  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?”

Nehemiah 5:8

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ⁴  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ⁵  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Nehemiah 6:6

6:6 Written in it were the following words:

“Among the nations it is rumored ⁶  (and Geshem ⁷  has substantiated ⁸  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ⁹  you are going to become their king.

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[4:2]  ² map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[4:2]  ³ 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?”

[5:8]  ¹ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ² tn Heb “your brothers.”

[6:6]  ¹ tn Heb “heard.”

[6:6]  ² tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.

[6:6]  ³ tn Heb “is saying.”

[6:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.