Nehemiah 2:18

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.

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. ⁴  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ⁵ 

Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ⁶  and the army of Samaria ⁷  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ⁸  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 4:7

4:7 (4:1) ⁹  When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem ¹⁰  had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.

Nehemiah 5:7-8

5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹¹  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ¹²  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹³  from your own countrymen!” ¹⁴  Because of them I called for ¹⁵  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹⁶  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ¹⁷  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 ¹⁸  (and Geshem ¹⁹  has substantiated ²⁰  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ²¹  you are going to become their king.

Nehemiah 7:3

7:3 I ²²  said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, ²³  until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. ²⁴  Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”

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. ²⁵  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:16

8:16 So the people went out and brought these things ²⁶  back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple ²⁷  of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.

Nehemiah 9:19

9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, ²⁸  nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel.

Nehemiah 9:22

9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. ²⁹  They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon ³⁰  and the land of King Og of Bashan.

Nehemiah 9:28

9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ³¹  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.

Nehemiah 9:35

9:35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ³²  goodness that you had lavished ³³  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³⁴  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

[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.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ⁵ 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”).

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[4:2]  ⁸ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[4:2]  ⁹ 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?”

[4:7]  ¹⁰ sn Chapter 4 begins here in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 4:1.

[4:7]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[6:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “heard.”

[6:6]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “is saying.”

[6:6]  ²² tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.

[7:3]  ²² tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere, a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[7:3]  ²³ tn Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ad), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).

[7:3]  ²⁴ tn Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד, especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.

[8:10]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:16]  ²⁸ tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the house.”

[9:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”

[9:22]  ³⁴ tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ³⁵ tc Most Hebrew MSS read “the land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon.” The present translation (along with NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT) follows the reading of one Hebrew MS, the LXX, and the Vulgate.

[9:28]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”

[9:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “great.”

[9:35]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “given them.”

[9:35]  ⁴² tn Heb “given.”