Nehemiah 3:3

3:3 The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Nehemiah 3:5

3:5 The men of Tekoa worked on the section adjacent to them, but their town leaders ¹  would not assist ²  with the work of their master. ³ 

Nehemiah 3:9

3:9 Rephaiah son of Hur, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to them.

Nehemiah 3:12

3:12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to him, assisted by his daughters. ⁴ 

Nehemiah 3:18

3:18 After him their relatives ⁵  worked – Binnui ⁶  son of Henadad, head of a half-district of Keilah.

Nehemiah 3:26

3:26 and the temple servants who were living on Ophel worked ⁷  up to the area opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the protruding tower.

Nehemiah 6:4

6:4 They contacted ⁸  me four times in this way, and I responded the same way each time. ⁹ 

Nehemiah 7:11

7:11 the descendants of Pahath-Moab (from the line ¹⁰  of Jeshua and Joab), 2,818;

Nehemiah 7:29

7:29 the men of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

Nehemiah 7:39

7:39 The priests:

the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family ¹¹  of Jeshua), 973;

Nehemiah 7:62

7:62 the descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, and the descendants of Nekoda, 642.

Nehemiah 8:8

8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it ¹²  and imparting insight. Thus the people ¹³  gained understanding from what was read.

Nehemiah 11:6

11:6 The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.

Nehemiah 11:14

11:14 and his colleagues ¹⁴  who were exceptional men – 128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “their nobles.”

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “bring their neck.”

[3:5]  ³ tn The plural form אֲדֹנֵיהֶם (’adonehem, “lords”) is probably a plural of majesty referring to Nehemiah (e.g., Isa 19:4; see GKC 399 §124.i). However, some English versions take the plural to refer to the “supervisors” (NIV, NCV, TEV) and others to “their Lord” (KJV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ¹ tc The reference to daughters, while not impossible, is odd in light of the cultural improbability that young women would participate in the strenuous labor of rebuilding city walls. All other such references in the Book of Nehemiah presuppose male laborers. Not surprisingly, some scholars suspect a textual problem. One medieval Hebrew MS and the Syriac Peshitta read וּבָנָיו (uvanayv, “and his sons”) rather than the MT reading וּבְנוֹתָיו (uvÿnotayv, “and his daughters”). Some scholars emend the MT to וּבֹנָיו (uvonayv, “and his builders”). On the other hand, the MT is clearly the more difficult reading, and so it is preferred.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:18]  ² tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the Syriac Peshitta בִּנֻּי (binnuy) rather than the MT reading בַּוַּי (bavvay).

[3:26]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text lacks the verb “worked.” It is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation.

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “sent to.”

[6:4]  ² tn Heb “and I answered them according to this word.”

[7:11]  ¹ tn Heb “to the sons of.”

[7:39]  ¹ tn Heb “to the house of.”

[8:8]  ¹ tn The exact meaning of the pual participle מְפֹרָשׁ (mÿforash) in this verse is uncertain. The basic sense of the Hebrew word seems to be “to make distinct.” The word may also have the sense of “to divide in parts,” “to interpret,” or “to translate.” The context of Neh 8:8 does not decisively clarify how the participle is to be understood here. It probably refers to the role of the Levites as those who explained or interpreted the portions of biblical text that had been publicly read on this occasion. A different option, however, is suggested by the translation distincte (“distinctly”) of the Vulgate (cf. KJV, ASV). If the Hebrew word means “distinctly” here, it would imply that the readers paid particular attention to such things as word-grouping and pronunciation so as to be sure that the listeners had every opportunity to understand the message that was being read. Yet another view is found in the Talmud, which understands translation of the Hebrew text into Aramaic to be what is in view here. The following explanation of Neh 8:8 is found in b. Megillah 3a: “‘And they read in the book, in the law of God’: this indicates the [Hebrew] text; ‘with an interpretation’: this indicates the targum; ‘and they gave the sense’: this indicates the verse stops; ‘and caused them to understand the reading’: this indicates the accentuation, or, according to another version, the Masoretic notes.” However, this ancient rabbinic view that the origins of the Targum are found in Neh 8:8 is debatable. It is not clear that the practice of paraphrasing the Hebrew biblical text into Aramaic in order to accommodate the needs of those Jews who were not at home in the Hebrew language developed this early. The translation of מְפֹרָשׁ adopted above (i.e., “explaining it”) understands the word to have in mind an explanatory function (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT) rather than one of translation.

[8:8]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:14]  ¹ tc The translation reads with the LXX וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brothers”) rather than the MT reading וַאֲחֵיהֶם (va’akhehem, “and their brothers”).