Nehemiah 7:3

7:3 I¹ said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning,² until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them.³ Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”

Nehemiah 9:15

9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn⁴ to give them.

Nehemiah 9:35

9:35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible⁵ goodness that you had lavished⁶ on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set⁷ before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

¹tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere, a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

²tn Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ad), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).

³tn Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד, especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.

⁴tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”

⁵tn Heb “great.”

⁶tn Heb “given them.”

⁷tn Heb “given.”