8:16 So the people went out and brought these things 18 back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple 19 of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.
9:32 “So now, our God – the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity 20 – do not regard as inconsequential 21 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!
10:28 “Now the rest of the people – the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples 22 because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand –
10:34 “We – the priests, the Levites, and the people – have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families 23 at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as is written in the law.
12:44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from 24 the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah 25 took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. 26
13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions.
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 “And I saw.”
5 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
6 tn Heb “houses.”
7 tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”
8 tn Heb “like their children, our children.”
9 tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).
10 tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.
11 sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).
12 tn Heb “my bosom.”
13 tn Heb “cause to stand.”
14 tn Heb “according to this word.”
15 tn Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”
16 tn Heb “the book of genealogy.”
17 tn Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “the house.”
20 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.
21 tn Heb “do not let it seem small in your sight.”
22 tn Heb “from the peoples of the lands.” Cf. vv. 30, 31.
23 tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”
24 tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).
25 tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.
26 tn Heb “standing.”