Nehemiah 2:6

2:6 Then the king, with his consort ¹  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ²  I gave him a time.

Nehemiah 2:20--3:1

2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ³  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ⁴ 

The Names of the Builders

3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues ⁵  arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated ⁶  it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred ⁷  and ⁸  the Tower of Hananel.

Nehemiah 4:15

4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ⁹  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Nehemiah 4:22-23

4:22 At that time I instructed ¹⁰  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. 4:23 We did not change clothes ¹¹  – 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. ¹² 

Nehemiah 6:18-19

6:18 For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him, ¹³  because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jonathan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 6:19 They were telling me about his good deeds and then taking back to him the things I said. ¹⁴  Tobiah, on the other hand, sent letters in order to scare ¹⁵  me.

Nehemiah 7:6

7:6 These are the people ¹⁶  of the province who returned ¹⁷  from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. ¹⁸  They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city.

Nehemiah 11:17

11:17 Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the praise ¹⁹  leader who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his colleagues; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

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¹ tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

² tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

³ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

⁴ 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”).

⁵ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

⁶ tn Or “consecrated” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, ASV “sanctified”; NCV “gave it to the Lord’s service.”

⁷ tc The MT adds קִדְּשׁוּהוּ (qidshuhu, “they sanctified it”). This term is repeated from the first part of the verse, probably as an intentional scribal addition to harmonize this statement with the preceding parallel statement.

⁸ tc The translation reads וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “and unto”) rather than the MT reading עַד (ad, “unto”). The original vav (ו) was probably dropped accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word in the MT.

⁹ tn Heb “it was known to us.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “said [to].”

¹¹ tn Heb “strip off our garments.”

¹² 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”).

¹³ tn Heb “were lords of oath.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “my words.”

¹⁵ tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

¹⁶ tn Heb “the sons of”; KJV, ASV “the children of”; NAB “the inhabitants of.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “who were going up.”

¹⁸ tc One medieval Hebrew manuscript has “to Babylon.” Cf. Ezra 2:1.

¹⁹ tc The translation reads with the Lucianic Greek recension and Vulgate הַתְּהִלָה (hattÿhilah, “the praise”) rather than the MT reading הַתְּחִלָּה (hattÿkhillah, “the beginning”).