Nehemiah 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.

Nehemiah 1:5

1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ⁵  with those who love him and obey ⁶  his commandments,

Nehemiah 2:14

2:14 I passed on to the Gate of the Well and the King’s Pool, where there was not enough room for my animal to pass with me.

Nehemiah 5:10

5:10 Even I and my relatives ⁷  and my associates ⁸  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ⁹ 

Nehemiah 5:16

5:16 I gave myself to the work on this wall, without even purchasing ¹⁰  a field. All my associates were gathered there for the work.

Nehemiah 6:8

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ¹¹  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ¹² 

Nehemiah 6:12

6:12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat. ¹³ 

Nehemiah 7:1

7:1 When the wall had been rebuilt and I had positioned the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,

Nehemiah 12:40

12:40 Then the two choirs that gave thanks took their stations ¹⁴  in the temple of God. I did also, along with half the officials with me,

Nehemiah 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?

Nehemiah 13:31

13:31 I also provided for ¹⁵  the wood offering at the appointed times and also for the first fruits.

Please remember me for good, O my God.

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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.

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

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

⁴ tn Heb “Shushan.”

⁵ 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).

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁸ tn Heb “lads.”

⁹ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

¹⁰ tn Heb “we did not purchase.”

¹¹ tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

¹² tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

¹³ tn Heb “and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “stood.”

¹⁵ tn The words “I also provided for” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.