Nehemiah 2:1

Nehemiah Is Permitted to Go to Jerusalem

2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, ¹  I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously ²  I had not been depressed ³  in the king’s presence. ⁴ 

Nehemiah 2:18

2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ⁵  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ⁶  So they readied themselves ⁷  for this good project.

Nehemiah 4:14

4:14 When I had made an inspection, ⁸  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ⁹  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ¹⁰ 

Nehemiah 5:8

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹¹  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ¹²  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Nehemiah 5:12-13

5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, ¹³  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 ¹⁴  swear to do what had been promised. ¹⁵  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ¹⁶  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸ 

Nehemiah 7:5

7:5 My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, ¹⁹  the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records ²⁰  of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record: ²¹ 

Nehemiah 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ²²  Ezra the priestly scribe, ²³  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ²⁴  “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.

Nehemiah 9:15

9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn ²⁵  to give them.

Nehemiah 9:17

9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. ²⁶  But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. ²⁷  You did not abandon them,

Nehemiah 13:5

13:5 He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping ²⁸  the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gate keepers, and the offering for the priests.

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off ²⁹  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

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¹ 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.

² 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.

³ tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.

⁴ 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.”

⁵ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

⁶ tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

⁷ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

⁸ tn Heb “And I saw.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹⁰ tn Heb “houses.”

¹¹ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

¹² tn Heb “your brothers.”

¹³ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn Heb “according to this word.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “my bosom.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “according to this word.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”

²⁰ tn Heb “the book of genealogy.”

²¹ tn Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² 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.

²³ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

²⁴ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

²⁵ tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”

²⁶ tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bÿmitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bÿmiryam, “in their rebellion”).

²⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.

²⁸ tn Heb “giving.”

²⁹ tn Heb “give.”