2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, 4 I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously 5 I had not been depressed 6 in the king’s presence. 7
5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, 15 and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials 16 swear to do what had been promised. 17 5:13 I also shook out my garment, 18 and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out 19 this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised. 20
8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, 21 Ezra the priestly scribe, 22 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, 23 “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love.
1 tn Heb “turn to me.”
2 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
3 tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”
4 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.
5 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.
6 tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.
7 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.”
8 tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”
9 tn Heb “nobles.”
10 tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew
11 tn Heb “his brothers.”
12 tn Heb “I gave.”
13 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
14 tn Heb “your brothers.”
15 tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “according to this word.”
18 tn Heb “my bosom.”
19 tn Heb “cause to stand.”
20 tn Heb “according to this word.”
21 tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.
22 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
23 tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
24 tc Probably one should read with the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate וָאֲצַוֶּה (va’atsavveh, “and I commanded”) rather than the rare denominative verb וָאוֹצְרָה (va’otsÿrah, “and I appointed over the storeroom”) of the MT.
25 tn Heb “be over”
26 tn Heb “on their hand.”
27 tn Heb “brothers.”