Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ¹  and the army of Samaria ²  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ³  Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

Nehemiah 6:4

6:4 They contacted ⁴  me four times in this way, and I responded the same way each time. ⁵ 

Nehemiah 9:28-29

9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ⁶  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, ⁷  will live. They boldly turned from you; ⁸  they rebelled ⁹  and did not obey.

Nehemiah 11:23

11:23 For they were under royal orders ¹⁰  which determined their activity day by day. ¹¹ 

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¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

² map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

³ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”

⁴ tn Heb “sent to.”

⁵ tn Heb “and I answered them according to this word.”

⁶ tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”

⁷ tn Heb “if a man keep.” See note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

⁸ tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”

⁹ tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the commandment of the king was over them.”

¹¹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”