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 4:22

4:22 At that time I instructed ⁴  the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

Nehemiah 6:9

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 

Nehemiah 6:16

6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ⁷  this, they were greatly disheartened. ⁸  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Nehemiah 9:37

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, ⁹  and we are in great distress!

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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 “said [to].”

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 tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

⁸ tn Heb “they greatly fell [i.e., were cast down] in their own eyes.” Some scholars suggest emending the reading of the MT, וַיִּפְּלוּ (vayyipÿlu) to וַיִּפָּלֵא (vayyippale’, “it was very extraordinary in their eyes”).

⁹ tn Heb “according to their desire.”