Nehemiah 9:36

9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ¹  its good things – we are slaves!

Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ²  O Lord, listen attentively ³  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁴  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁵  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁶  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 1:10

1:10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your mighty strength and by your powerful hand.

Nehemiah 7:57

7:57 The descendants of the servants of Solomon:

the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Sophereth, the descendants of Perida,

Nehemiah 7:60

7:60 All the temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon, 392.

Nehemiah 1:7-8

1:7 We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses. 1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁷ 

Nehemiah 2:10

2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official ⁸  heard all this, they were very displeased that someone had come to seek benefit for the Israelites.

Nehemiah 7:67

7:67 not counting their 7,337 male and female servants. They also had 245 male and female singers.

Nehemiah 9:14

9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through ⁹  Moses your servant.

Nehemiah 1:6

1:6 may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ¹⁰  against you – both I myself and my family ¹¹  have sinned.

Nehemiah 2:5

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ¹²  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 2:19-20

2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹³  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ¹⁴  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ¹⁵ 

Nehemiah 5:5

5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ¹⁶  and our children are just like their children, ¹⁷  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ¹⁸  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ¹⁹  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ²⁰ 

Nehemiah 9:10

9:10 You performed awesome signs ²¹  against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians ²²  had acted presumptuously ²³  against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day.

Nehemiah 10:29

10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders ²⁴  and enter into a curse and an oath ²⁵  to adhere to ²⁶  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey ²⁷  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, ²⁸  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

Nehemiah 11:3

11:3 These are the provincial leaders ²⁹  who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities,

[9:36]  ¹ tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:11]  ² tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “peoples.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “servant” (so KJV, ASV; NAB “slave”; NCV “officer.” This phrase also occurs in v. 19.

[9:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “the house of my father.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

[2:19]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ¹² tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ¹⁴ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”

[9:10]  ¹² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ¹³ tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”

[10:29]  ¹² tn Heb “the nobles.”

[10:29]  ¹³ tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”

[10:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[10:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[10:29]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[11:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the heads of the province.”