Nehemiah 4:1

Opposition to the Work Continues

4:1 (3:33) ¹  Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews,

Nehemiah 4:4

4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Nehemiah 4:6

4:6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. ²  The people were enthusiastic in their work. ³ 

Nehemiah 4:12

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ⁴  about all the schemes ⁵  they were plotting ⁶  against us.

Nehemiah 4:22

4:22 At that time I instructed ⁷  the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

Nehemiah 6:8

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ⁸  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ⁹ 

Nehemiah 6:13-14

6:13 He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I ¹⁰  would be discredited. ¹¹ 

6:14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in light of these actions of theirs – also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who were trying to scare me!

Nehemiah 8:5

8:5 Ezra opened the book in plain view ¹²  of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, ¹³  all the people stood up.

[4:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:23 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:33 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:34 HT, 4:3 ET = 3:35 HT, 4:4 ET = 3:36 HT, 4:5 ET = 3:37 HT, 4:6 ET = 3:38 HT, 4:7 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 4:23 ET = 4:17 HT. Thus in the Hebrew Bible chap. 3 of the Book of Nehemiah has 38 verses, while chap. 4 has only 17 verses.

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “up to its half.”

[4:6]  ³ tn Heb “the people had a heart to work.”

[4:12]  ³ tn Heb “ten times.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tc The MT reads the anomalous מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת (mikkol hammÿqomot, “from every place”) but the BHS editors propose כָּל־הַמְּזִמּוֹת (kol hammÿzimmot, “about every scheme”). The initial mem (מ) found in the MT may have been added accidentally due to dittography with the final mem (ם) on the immediately preceding word, and the MT qof (ק) may have arisen due to orthographic confusion with the similar looking zayin (ז). The emendation restores sense to the line in the MT, which makes little sense and features an abrupt change of referents: “Wherever you turn, they will be upon us!” The threat was not against the villagers living nearby but against those repairing the wall, as the following context indicates. See also the following note on the word “plotting.”

[4:12]  ⁵ tc The MT reads תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “you turn”) which is awkward contextually. The BHS editors propose emending to חָשְׁבוּ (hashÿvu, “they were plotting”) which harmonizes well with the context. This emendation involves mere orthographic confusion between similar looking ח (khet) and ת (tav), and the resultant dittography of middle vav (ו) in MT. See also the preceding note on the word “schemes.”

[4:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “said [to].”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

[6:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

[6:13]  ⁶ tc The translation reads לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the MT reading לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”).

[6:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “would have a bad name.”

[8:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.