Nehemiah 1:11

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

Now 5  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off 6  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

1 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).

2 tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

3 tn Heb “fear.”

4 tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

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

6 tn Heb “give.”