Discovery BoxNehemiah 2:17-20 
Context2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.” 2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what 1 the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” 2 So they readied themselves 3 for this good project. 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, 4 they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 2:20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. 5 But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” 6
1 tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”
2 tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”
3 tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”
4 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.
6 tn Heb “portion or right or remembrance.” The expression is probably a hendiatris: The first two nouns retain their full nominal function, while the third noun functions adjectivally (“right or remembrance” = “ancient right”).
