Discovery BoxNehemiah 2:2 
Context2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.
Nehemiah 2:7
Context2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates 1 that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,
Nehemiah 6:2
Context6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me saying, “Come on! Let’s set up a time to meet together at Kephirim 2 in the plain of Ono.” Now they intended to do me harm.
Nehemiah 6:19
Context6:19 They were telling me about his good deeds and then taking back to him the things I said. 3 Tobiah, on the other hand, sent letters in order to scare 4 me.
1 tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.
2 tn It is not entirely clear whether the Hebrew word כְּפִירִים (kÿfirim) is a place-name not mentioned elsewhere in the OT (as indicated in the present translation; so also NAB, NASB) or whether it means “in [one of] the villages” (so, e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT; see BDB 499 s.v.; HALOT 493 s.v.). The LXX and Vulgate understand it in the latter sense. Some scholars connect this term with the identically spelled word כּפירים (“lions”) as a figurative description of princes or warriors (e.g., Pss 34:11; 35:17; 58:7; Jer 2:15; Ezek 32:2, 13; Nah 2:14; see HALOT 493 s.v.): “let us meet together with the leaders in the plain of Ono.”
3 tn Heb “my words.”
4 tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
