4:19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding 12 and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.
5:9 Then I 16 said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! 17 Should you not conduct yourselves 18 in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?
12:38 The second choir was proceeding 23 in the opposite direction. I followed them, along with half the people, on top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,
13:10 I also discovered that the grain offerings for the Levites had not been provided, and that as a result the Levites and the singers who performed this work had all gone off to their fields.
13:14 Please remember me for this, O my God, and do not wipe out the kindness that I have done for the temple of my God and for its services!
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.
1 tn Heb “brothers.”
2 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.
5 tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”
6 tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”
7 tn Or “Well of the Serpents”; or “Well of the Jackals” (cf. ASV, NIV, NLT).
8 tn Or “Rubbish Gate” (so TEV); NASB “Refuse Gate”; NCV “Trash Gate”; CEV “Garbage Gate.”
9 tc For the MT reading שֹׂבֵר (sover, “inspecting”) the LXX erroneously has שֹׁבֵר (shover, “breaking”). However, further destruction of Jerusalem’s walls was obviously not a part of Nehemiah’s purpose.
10 tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.
11 tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).
12 tn Heb “much.”
13 tn Heb “said [to].”
14 tn Heb “strip off our garments.”
15 tc Heb “a man, his weapon, the waters.” The MT, if in fact it is correct, is elliptical and difficult. Some scholars emend the MT reading הַמָּיִם (hammayim, “the waters”) to בִּמִנוֹ (bimino, “in his right hand”; cf. NAB, NRSV) or מִינוּ(י)הֵ (heminu, “they held on the right side”).
16 tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
17 tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.
18 tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”
19 tn Heb “my words.”
20 tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
21 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
22 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.
23 tc The translation reads הוֹלֶכֶת (holekhet, “was proceeding”) rather than the MT הַהוֹלֶכֶת (haholekhet, “the one proceeding”). The MT probably reflects dittography – accidental writing of ה (hey) twice instead of once.