Discovery BoxNehemiah 2:1 
Context2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, 1 I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously 2 I had not been depressed 3 in the king’s presence. 4
Nehemiah 5:5
Context5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, 5 and our children are just like their children, 6 still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. 7 Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, 8 since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” 9
Nehemiah 5:8
Context5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews 10 who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, 11 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, 12 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 13 swear to do what had been promised. 14
Nehemiah 8:9
Context8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, 15 Ezra the priestly scribe, 16 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, 17 “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
Nehemiah 13:5
Context13:5 He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping 18 the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gate keepers, and the offering for the priests.
1 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.
2 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.
3 tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.
4 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.”
5 tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”
6 tn Heb “like their children, our children.”
7 tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).
8 tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.
9 sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).
10 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
11 tn Heb “your brothers.”
12 tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 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.
14 tn Heb “according to this word.”
15 tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.
16 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
17 tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
18 tn Heb “giving.”
