Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ¹  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ²  by fire?”

Nehemiah 6:16

6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ³  this, they were greatly disheartened. ⁴  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

---

¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

² tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

³ tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

⁴ 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”).