Nehemiah 4:3-18

4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

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! 4:5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended ¹  the builders! ² 

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

4:7 (4:1) ⁵  When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem ⁶  had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry. 4:8 All of them conspired together to move with armed forces ⁷  against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it. 4:9 So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them ⁸  both day and night. 4:10 Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers ⁹  has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

4:11 Our adversaries also boasted, ¹⁰  “Before they are aware or anticipate ¹¹  anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ¹²  about all the schemes ¹³  they were plotting ¹⁴  against us.

4:13 So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. ¹⁵  I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows. 4:14 When I had made an inspection, ¹⁶  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ¹⁷  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ¹⁸ 

4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ¹⁹  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work. 4:16 From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, ²⁰  shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people ²¹  of Judah 4:17 who were rebuilding the wall. ²²  Those who were carrying loads did so ²³  by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon. 4:18 The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ²⁴  remained with me.

[4:5]  ¹ tn The Hiphil stem of כָּעַס (ka’as) may mean: (1) “to provoke to anger”; (2) “to bitterly offend”; or (3) “to grieve” (BDB 495 s.v. Hiph.; HALOT 491 s.v. כעס hif). The Hebrew lexicons suggest that “bitterly offend” is the most appropriate nuance here.

[4:5]  ² tn Heb “before the builders.” The preposition נֶגֶד (neged, “before”) here connotes “in the sight of” or “in the view of” (BDB 617 s.v. 1.a; HALOT 666 s.v. 1.a).

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “up to its half.”

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “the people had a heart to work.”

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

[4:7]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:8]  ¹ tn Heb “to fight.”

[4:9]  ¹ tn Heb “against them.” The words “to protect” are added in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Some emend MT עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem, “against them”) to עָלֶיהָ (’aleha, “against it,” i.e., Jerusalem).

[4:10]  ¹ tn Heb “burden-bearers.”

[4:11]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[4:11]  ² tn Heb “see.”

[4:12]  ¹ tn Heb “ten times.”

[4:12]  ² 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]  ³ 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.”

[4:13]  ¹ tc The MT preserves the anomalous Kethib form צְחִחִיִּים (tsÿkhikhiyyim); the Qere reads צְחִיחִים (tsÿkhikhim) which is preferred (BDB 850 s.v. צָהִיחַ; HALOT 1018 s.v. *צָהִיחַ).

[4:14]  ¹ tn Heb “And I saw.”

[4:14]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “houses.”

[4:15]  ¹ tn Heb “it was known to us.”

[4:16]  ¹ tc The MT reads “and spears.” The conjunction should be deleted.

[4:16]  ² tn Heb “all the house.”

[4:17]  ¹ tn The first words of v. 17, “who were rebuilding the wall,” should be taken with the latter part of v. 16.

[4:17]  ² tn Heb “were carrying loads.” The LXX reads ἐν ὅπλοις (en hoplois, “with weapons”).

[4:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the one blowing the shophar.”