Nehemia 1:5

1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ¹  with those who love him and obey ²  his commandments,

Nehemia 1:11--2:1

1:11 Please, ³  O Lord, listen attentively ⁴  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁵  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁶  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁷  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah Is Permitted to Go to Jerusalem

2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, ⁸  I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously ⁹  I had not been depressed ¹⁰  in the king’s presence. ¹¹ 

Nehemia 2:8

2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, ¹²  so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall ¹³  and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, ¹⁴  for the good hand of my God was on me.

Nehemia 3:15

3:15 Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, head of the district of Mizpah, worked on the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put on its roof, and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars. In addition, he rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Siloam, ¹⁵  by the royal garden, as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.

Nehemia 5:14-15

5:14 From the day that I was appointed ¹⁶  governor ¹⁷  in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes – twelve years in all – neither I nor my relatives ¹⁸  ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁹  5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ²⁰  forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

Nehemia 6:7

6:7 You have also established prophets to announce ²¹  in Jerusalem ²²  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.” ²³ 

Nehemia 7:70

7:70 Some of the family leaders ²⁴  contributed to the work. The governor contributed to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, ²⁵  50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.

Nehemia 8:4

8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform ²⁶  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 8:7

8:7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites ²⁷  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.

Nehemia 9:5

9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”

“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. ²⁸  May your glorious name ²⁹  be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.

Nehemia 9:11

9:11 You split the sea before them, and they crossed through ³⁰  the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers ³¹  into the depths, like a stone into surging ³²  waters.

Nehemia 9:35

9:35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ³³  goodness that you had lavished ³⁴  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³⁵  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

Nehemia 10:34

10:34 “We – the priests, the Levites, and the people – have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families ³⁶  at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as is written in the law.

Nehemia 11:1

The Population of Jerusalem

11:1 So the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, ³⁷  while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to settle in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine ³⁸  remained in other cities.

Nehemia 11:22

11:22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants who were the singers responsible for the service of the temple of God.

Nehemia 11:25

11:25 As for the settlements with their fields, some of the people of Judah settled in Kiriath Arba and its neighboring villages, ³⁹  in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements,

Nehemia 12:24

12:24 And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by ⁴⁰  David the man of God.

Nehemia 12:27

The Wall of Jerusalem is Dedicated

12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, ⁴¹  they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived ⁴²  to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

Nehemia 12:31

12:31 I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed ⁴³  on the top of the wall southward toward the Dung Gate.

Nehemia 13:18

13:18 Isn’t this the way your ancestors ⁴⁴  acted, causing our God to bring on them and on this city all this misfortune? And now you are causing even more wrath on Israel, profaning the Sabbath like this!”

Nehemia 13:26

13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made ⁴⁵  him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.

[1:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁷ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:1]  ⁸ tc The translation reads with the LXX וְיַיִן לְפָנַי (vÿyayin lÿfanay, “and wine before me”) rather than יַיִן לְפָנָיו (yayin lÿfanayv, “wine before him”) of the MT. The initial vav (ו) on original וְיַיִן probably dropped out due to haplograpy or orthographic confusion with the two yods (י) which follow. The final vav on לְפָנָיו in the MT was probably added due to dittography with the vav on the immediately following word.

[2:1]  ⁹ tc The translation reads לְפָנֵים (lÿfanim, “formerly”) rather than לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “to his face”) of the MT. The MT seems to suggest that Nehemiah was not sad before the king, which is contrary to what follows.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn This expression is either to be inferred from the context, or perhaps one should read לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “before him”; cf. the MT) in addition to לְפָנִים (lÿfanim, “formerly”). See preceding note on the word “previously.”

[2:8]  ¹² tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

[2:8]  ¹³ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word translated “Siloam” is הַשֶּׁלַח (hashelakh, “water-channel”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, CEV “Shelah”). It apparently refers to the Pool of Siloam whose water supply came from the Gihon Spring via Hezekiah’s Tunnel built in 701 B.C. (cf. Isa 8:6). See BDB 1019 s.v. שִׁלֹחַ; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 372. On the etymology of the word, which is a disputed matter, see HALOT 1517 s.v. III שֶׁלַח.

[5:14]  ¹⁶ tc The BHS editors suggest reading צֻוֵּאתִי (tsuvve’ti, “and I was appointed”) rather than the reading of the MT, אֹתִי צִוָּה (tsivvah ’oti, “he appointed me”).

[5:14]  ¹⁷ tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS פֶּחָה (pekhah, “governor”) rather than פֶּחָם (pekham, “their governor”) of the MT. One would expect the form with pronominal suffix to have a tav (ת) before the suffix.

[5:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the food of the governor.” Cf. v. 18.

[5:15]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”

[6:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “call.”

[6:7]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ²³ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

[7:70]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[7:70]  ²⁵ tn Heb “darics” (also in vv. 71, 72).

[8:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a tower of wood.”

[8:7]  ²⁷ tc The MT reads “and the Levites.” The conjunction (“and”) should be deleted, following the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate. That the vav (ו) of the MT is the vav explicativum (“even the Levites”) is unlikely here.

[9:5]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.

[9:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the name of your glory.”

[9:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the midst of.”

[9:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “those who pursued them.”

[9:11]  ³² tn Heb “mighty.”

[9:35]  ³³ tn Heb “great.”

[9:35]  ³⁴ tn Heb “given them.”

[9:35]  ³⁵ tn Heb “given.”

[10:34]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”

[11:1]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “nine of the hands.” The word “hand” is used here in the sense or a part or portion.

[11:25]  ³⁹ tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.

[12:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in [accord with] the commandment of.”

[12:27]  ⁴¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:27]  ⁴² tn Heb “from all their places.” The words “they lived” are implied.

[12:31]  ⁴³ tc The translation reads וְהָאַחַת הֹלֶכֶת (vÿha’akhat holekhet, “and one was proceeding”) rather than the MT reading וְתַהֲלֻכֹת (vÿtahalukhot, “and processions”).

[13:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[13:26]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “gave.”