Nehemiah 4:23

4:23 We did not change clothes ¹  – 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. ² 

Nehemiah 13:21

13:21 But I warned them and said, ³  “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” ⁴  From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “strip off our garments.”

² 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”).

³ tn The Hebrew text includes the words “to them,” but they have been excluded from the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “I will send a hand on you.”

⁵ sn This statement contains a great deal of restrained humor. The author clearly takes pleasure in the effectiveness of the measures that he had enacted.