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 9:38

The People Pledge to be Faithful

9:38 (10:1) ⁵  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ⁶  in written form; ⁷  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁸  on the sealed document.”

[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]  ⁴ 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.

[9:38]  ⁷ sn Beginning with 9:38, the verse numbers through 10:39 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:38 ET = 10:1 HT, 10:1 ET = 10:2 HT, 10:2 ET = 10:3 HT, etc., through 10:39 ET = 10:40 HT. Beginning with 11:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “we are cutting.”

[9:38]  ⁹ tn Heb “and writing.”

[9:38]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “our leaders, our Levites, and our priests on the sealed document.” The Hebrew text is elliptical here; the words “have affixed their names” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. Cf. v. 2.