Discovery BoxNehemiah 1:11--2:1 
Context1:11 Please, 1 O Lord, listen attentively 2 to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect 3 to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me 4 in the presence of this man.”
Now 5 I was cupbearer for the king.
2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, 6 I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously 7 I had not been depressed 8 in the king’s presence. 9
Nehemiah 4:2
Context4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues 10 and the army of Samaria 11 he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? 12 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?”
1 tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).
2 tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”
3 tn Heb “fear.”
4 tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.
5 tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.
6 tc The translation reads with the LXX וְיַיִן לְפָנַי (vÿyayin lÿfanay, “and wine before me”) rather than יַיִן לְפָנָיו (yayin lÿfanayv, “wine before him”) of the MT. The initial vav (ו) on original וְיַיִן probably dropped out due to haplograpy or orthographic confusion with the two yods (י) which follow. The final vav on לְפָנָיו in the MT was probably added due to dittography with the vav on the immediately following word.
7 tc The translation reads לְפָנֵים (lÿfanim, “formerly”) rather than לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “to his face”) of the MT. The MT seems to suggest that Nehemiah was not sad before the king, which is contrary to what follows.
8 tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.
9 tn This expression is either to be inferred from the context, or perhaps one should read לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “before him”; cf. the MT) in addition to לְפָנִים (lÿfanim, “formerly”). See preceding note on the word “previously.”
10 tn Heb “brothers.”
11 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
12 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?”
