Nehemiah 8:10
8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. 1 Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Nehemiah 9:5
9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!” “May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. 2 May your glorious name 3 be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.
Nehemiah 10:29
10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders 4 and enter into a curse and an oath 5 to adhere to 6 the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey 7 carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, 8 along with his ordinances and his statutes.
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
2 tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.
3 tn Heb “the name of your glory.”
4 tn Heb “the nobles.”
5 tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”
6 tn Heb “to walk in.”
7 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
8 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).