Nehemia 1:1

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ¹ These are the words of Nehemiah ²  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ³  I was in Susa ⁴  the citadel.

Nehemia 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ⁵  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemia 1:8

1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁶ 

Nehemia 2:18-20

2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ⁷  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ⁸  So they readied themselves ⁹  for this good project. 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹⁰  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. ¹¹  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ¹² 

Nehemia 5:6

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ¹³ 

Nehemia 5:9

5:9 Then I ¹⁴  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ¹⁵  Should you not conduct yourselves ¹⁶  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

Nehemia 5:12-13

5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, ¹⁷  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ¹⁸  swear to do what had been promised. ¹⁹  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ²⁰  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ²¹  this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised. ²² 

Nehemia 6:4-8

6:4 They contacted ²³  me four times in this way, and I responded the same way each time. ²⁴ 

6:5 The fifth time that Sanballat sent his assistant to me in this way, he had an open letter in his hand. 6:6 Written in it were the following words:

“Among the nations it is rumored ²⁵  (and Geshem ²⁶  has substantiated ²⁷  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ²⁸  you are going to become their king. 6:7 You have also established prophets to announce ²⁹  in Jerusalem ³⁰  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ³¹ 

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ³²  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ³³ 

Nehemia 6:19

6:19 They were telling me about his good deeds and then taking back to him the things I said. ³⁴  Tobiah, on the other hand, sent letters in order to scare ³⁵  me.

Nehemia 8:4

8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform ³⁶  constructed for this purpose. Standing near him on his right were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masseiah. On his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

Nehemia 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ³⁷  Ezra the priestly scribe, ³⁸  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³⁹  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

Nehemia 8:12-13

8:12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ⁴⁰  with others ⁴¹  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ⁴²  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

8:13 On the second day of the month the family leaders ⁴³  met with ⁴⁴  Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.

Nehemia 9:8

9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ⁴⁵  covenant with him to give his descendants ⁴⁶  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ⁴⁷  for you are righteous.

Nehemia 11:23-24

11:23 For they were under royal orders ⁴⁸  which determined their activity day by day. ⁴⁹ 

11:24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was an adviser to the king ⁵⁰  in every matter pertaining to the people.

Nehemia 12:23

12:23 The descendants of Levi were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles ⁵¹  as heads of families up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.

Nehemia 12:47

12:47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. ⁵²  They also set aside ⁵³  the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

Nehemia 13:17

13:17 So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?

[1:1]  ¹ sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. A.D. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.

[1:1]  ² sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

[1:1]  ³ tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Shushan.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “peoples.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

[2:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

[2:19]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

[2:20]  ¹² 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”).

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “words.”

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ²² tn Heb “according to this word.”

[6:4]  ²³ tn Heb “sent to.”

[6:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I answered them according to this word.”

[6:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “heard.”

[6:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.

[6:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “is saying.”

[6:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.

[6:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “call.”

[6:7]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

[6:8]  ³² tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

[6:8]  ³³ tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

[6:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “my words.”

[6:19]  ³⁵ tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[8:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “a tower of wood.”

[8:9]  ³⁷ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

[8:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[8:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to send portions.”

[8:12]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “to make great joy.”

[8:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[8:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “were gathered to”; NAB, NIV “gathered around”; NRSV “came together to.”

[9:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the” (so NAB).

[9:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

[9:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “your words.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the commandment of the king was over them.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[11:24]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “to the hand of the king.”

[12:23]  ⁵¹ tn Or “the Book of the Annals” (so NRSV); NLT “The Book of History.”

[12:47]  ⁵² tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[12:47]  ⁵³ tn Heb “were sanctifying.”