8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, 5 Ezra the priestly scribe, 6 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, 7 “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. 8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. 8 Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
9:32 “So now, our God – the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity 9 – do not regard as inconsequential 10 all the hardship that has befallen us – our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people – from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!
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 tn Heb “the animal.”
5 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.
6 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
7 tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
8 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
9 tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys. The second noun retains its full nominal sense, while the first functions adjectivally: “the covenant and loyalty” = covenant fidelity.
10 tn Heb “do not let it seem small in your sight.”