Nehemiah 2:17

2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.”

Nehemiah 2:20

2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ¹  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ² 

Nehemiah 4:15

4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ³  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Nehemiah 4:19

4:19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding ⁴  and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.

Nehemiah 4:23

4:23 We did not change clothes ⁵  – not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water. ⁶ 

Nehemiah 6:7

6:7 You have also established prophets to announce ⁷  in Jerusalem ⁸  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ⁹ 

Nehemiah 9:37-38

9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ¹⁰  and we are in great distress!

The People Pledge to be Faithful

9:38 (10:1) ¹¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ¹²  in written form; ¹³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ¹⁴  on the sealed document.”

Nehemiah 10:35

10:35 We also accept responsibility for ¹⁵  bringing the first fruits of our land and the first fruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the LORD.

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¹ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

² 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”).

³ tn Heb “it was known to us.”

⁴ tn Heb “much.”

⁵ tn Heb “strip off our garments.”

⁶ 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”).

⁷ tn Heb “call.”

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “according to their desire.”

¹¹ sn Beginning with 9:38, the verse numbers through 10:39 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:38 ET = 10:1 HT, 10:1 ET = 10:2 HT, 10:2 ET = 10:3 HT, etc., through 10:39 ET = 10:40 HT. Beginning with 11:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

¹² tn Heb “we are cutting.”

¹³ tn Heb “and writing.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “our leaders, our Levites, and our priests on the sealed document.” The Hebrew text is elliptical here; the words “have affixed their names” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. Cf. v. 2.

¹⁵ tn The words “we accept responsibility” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are inferred from v. 33 (so also in v. 37).