Nehemia 1:4

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

Nehemia 3:22

3:22 After him the priests worked, men of the nearby district.

Nehemia 4:12

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ²  about all the schemes ³  they were plotting ⁴  against us.

Nehemia 5:17

5:17 There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely, ⁵  in addition to those who came to us from the nations ⁶  all around us.

[1:4]  ¹ 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.

[4:12]  ² tn Heb “ten times.”

[4:12]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.”

[5:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “who were gathered around us at my table.”

[5:17]  ⁶ tn Or “from the Gentiles.” The same Hebrew word can refer to “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” Cf. the phrase in 6:16.