4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, 2 God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work. 4:16 From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, 3 shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people 4 of Judah
6:9 All of them were wanting 5 to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”
So now, strengthen my hands! 6
7:73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.
When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites 7 were settled in their cities, 8 8:1 all the people gathered together 9 in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked 10 Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel. 8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.) 8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon 11 before the men and women and those children who could understand. 12 All the people were eager to hear 13 the book of the law.
8:7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites 14 – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.
8:13 On the second day of the month the family leaders 18 met with 19 Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.
9:38 (10:1) 24 “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant 25 in written form; 26 our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names 27 on the sealed document.”
13:6 During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, 29 for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time 30 I had requested leave of the king,
13:10 I also discovered that the grain offerings for the Levites had not been provided, and that as a result the Levites and the singers who performed this work had all gone off to their fields.
1 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “it was known to us.”
3 tc The MT reads “and spears.” The conjunction should be deleted.
4 tn Heb “all the house.”
5 tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.
6 tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).
7 tn Heb “the sons of Israel.” So also in vv. 14, 17; 9:1.
8 tn The traditional understanding of the chapter and verse division here is probably incorrect. The final part of v. 73 is best understood as belonging with 8:1.
9 tn Heb “like one man.”
10 tn Heb “said [to].”
11 tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”
12 tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).
13 tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”
14 tc The MT reads “and the Levites.” The conjunction (“and”) should be deleted, following the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate. That the vav (ו) of the MT is the vav explicativum (“even the Levites”) is unlikely here.
15 tn Heb “to send portions.”
16 tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “to make great joy.”
18 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
19 tn Heb “were gathered to”; NAB, NIV “gathered around”; NRSV “came together to.”
20 tn Heb “And there was very great joy.”
21 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
22 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
24 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.
25 tn Heb “we are cutting.”
26 tn Heb “and writing.”
27 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.
28 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
29 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
30 tn Heb “to the end of days.”
31 tn Heb “your fathers.”