Discovery BoxNehemiah 1:11 
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.
Nehemiah 2:8
Context2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, 6 so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall 7 and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, 8 for the good hand of my God was on me.
Nehemiah 2:18
Context2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what 9 the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” 10 So they readied themselves 11 for this good project.
Nehemiah 5:8
Context5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews 12 who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, 13 so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.
Nehemiah 5:12
Context5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, 14 and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials 15 swear to do what had been promised. 16
Nehemiah 5:15
Context5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to 17 forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.
Nehemiah 5:18
Context5:18 Every day one ox, six select sheep, and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor, for the work was demanding on this people.
Nehemiah 7:3
Context7:3 I 18 said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, 19 until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. 20 Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”
Nehemiah 13:13
Context13:13 I gave instructions 21 that Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a certain Levite named Pedaiah be put in charge of 22 the storerooms, and that Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, be their assistant, 23 for they were regarded as trustworthy. It was then their responsibility to oversee the distribution to their colleagues. 24
Nehemiah 13:22
Context13:22 Then I directed the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love.
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 tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.
7 tc One medieval Hebrew
8 tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.
9 tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”
10 tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”
11 tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”
12 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
13 tn Heb “your brothers.”
14 tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “according to this word.”
17 tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”
18 tc 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”).
19 tn 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).
20 tn 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.
21 tc Probably one should read with the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate וָאֲצַוֶּה (va’atsavveh, “and I commanded”) rather than the rare denominative verb וָאוֹצְרָה (va’otsÿrah, “and I appointed over the storeroom”) of the MT.
22 tn Heb “be over”
23 tn Heb “on their hand.”
24 tn Heb “brothers.”
