Nehemiah 1:2

1:2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives, along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors lies desolate and its gates destroyed by fire?”

Nehemiah 2:5

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 4:16

4:16 From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people of Judah

Nehemiah 6:9

6:9 All of them were wanting to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! 10 

Nehemiah 7:2

7:2 I then put in charge over Jerusalem 11  my brother Hanani and Hananiah 12  the chief of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many do.

Nehemiah 13:28

13:28 Now one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I banished him from my sight.


tn Heb “brothers.”

tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

tc The MT reads “and spears.” The conjunction should be deleted.

tn Heb “all the house.”

tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

10 tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).

11 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

12 tn Some have suggested that “Hananiah” is another name for Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, so that only one individual is mentioned here. However, the third person plural in v. 3 indicates two people are in view.