Nehemiah 2:6-7

2:6 Then the king, with his consort ¹  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ²  I gave him a time. 2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ³  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

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 3:1

The Names of the Builders

3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues ⁴  arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated ⁵  it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred ⁶  and ⁷  the Tower of Hananel.

Nehemiah 3:8

3:8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ⁸  the city wall of Jerusalem ⁹  as far as the Broad Wall.

Nehemiah 3:13

3:13 Hanun and the residents of Zanoah worked on the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars, in addition to working on fifteen hundred feet ¹⁰  of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

Nehemiah 3:16

3:16 Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of a half-district of Beth Zur, worked after him as far as the tombs of David and the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.

Nehemiah 6:1

Opposition to the Rebuilding Efforts Continues

6:1 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and no breach remained in it (even though up to that time I had not positioned doors in the gates),

Nehemiah 7:3

7:3 I ¹¹  said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, ¹²  until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. ¹³  Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”

Nehemiah 8:3

8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon ¹⁴  before the men and women and those children who could understand. ¹⁵  All the people were eager to hear ¹⁶  the book of the law.

Nehemiah 8:17-18

8:17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy. ¹⁷  8:18 Ezra ¹⁸  read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. ¹⁹  They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly ²⁰  as was required. ²¹ 

Nehemiah 9:5

9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”

“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. ²²  May your glorious name ²³  be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.

Nehemiah 9:32

9:32 “So now, our God – the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity ²⁴  – do not regard as inconsequential ²⁵  all the hardship that has befallen us – our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people – from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!

Nehemiah 13:1

Further Reforms by Nehemiah

13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing ²⁶  of the people. They found ²⁷  written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,

Nehemiah 13:19

13:19 When the evening shadows ²⁸  began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered ²⁹  the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned ³⁰  some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

[2:6]  ¹ tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

[2:7]  ³ tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Or “consecrated” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, ASV “sanctified”; NCV “gave it to the Lord’s service.”

[3:1]  ⁷ tc The MT adds קִדְּשׁוּהוּ (qidshuhu, “they sanctified it”). This term is repeated from the first part of the verse, probably as an intentional scribal addition to harmonize this statement with the preceding parallel statement.

[3:1]  ⁸ tc The translation reads וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “and unto”) rather than the MT reading עַד (ad, “unto”). The original vav (ו) was probably dropped accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word in the MT.

[3:8]  ⁷ tc Assuming that the MT reading וַיַּעַזְבוּ (vayya’azvu) is related to the root עָזַב I (“to abandon”) – which makes little sense contextually – some interpreters emend the MT to וַיַּעַזְרוּ (vayya’azru, “they aided”), as suggested by the editors of BHS. However, it is better to relate this term to the root II עָזַב meaning “to restore; to repair” (BDB 738 s.v. II עָזַב) or “to plaster” (HALOT 807 s.v. II עזב qal.1). This homonymic root is rare, appearing elsewhere only in Exod 23:5 and Job 9:27, where it means “to restore; to put in order” (HALOT 807-8 s.v. II עזב qal.2). The related Mishnaic Hebrew noun מעזיבה refers to a “plastered floor.” This Hebrew root is probably related to the cognate Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Sabean verbs that mean “to restore” and “to prepare; to lay” (see BDB 738 s.v.; HALOT 807 s.v.). Some scholars in the nineteenth century suggested that this term be nuanced “paved.” However, most modern English versions have “restored” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rebuilt” (so NCV, CEV).

[3:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the city wall of] Jerusalem.” The term “Jerusalem” probably functions as a metonymy of association for the city wall of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the phrase “the city wall of” has been supplied in the translation to clarify this figurative expression.

[3:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long, so this section of the wall would be about fifteen hundred feet (450 m).

[7:3]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[8:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).

[8:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”

[8:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And there was very great joy.”

[8:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ezra) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the last day.”

[8:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “on the eighth day an assembly.” The words “they held” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to the judgment.”

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the name of your glory.”

[9:32]  ²¹ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys. The second noun retains its full nominal sense, while the first functions adjectivally: “the covenant and loyalty” = covenant fidelity.

[9:32]  ²² tn Heb “do not let it seem small in your sight.”

[13:1]  ²³ tn Heb “ears.”

[13:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.

[13:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the gates of Jerusalem grew dark.”

[13:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “said” (so also in v. 22).

[13:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “caused to stand.”