Nehemiah 2:16-20

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. 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.” 2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ¹  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ²  So they readied themselves ³  for this good project. 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ⁴  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ⁵  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ⁶ 

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

[2:18]  ² tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

[2:19]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ⁶ 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”).