Discovery BoxNehemiah 4:2 
Context4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues 1 and the army of Samaria 2 he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? 3 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?”
Nehemiah 6:4
Context6:4 They contacted 4 me four times in this way, and I responded the same way each time. 5
Nehemiah 9:28-29
Context9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to 6 their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, 7 will live. They boldly turned from you; 8 they rebelled 9 and did not obey.
Nehemiah 11:23
Context11:23 For they were under royal orders 10 which determined their activity day by day. 11
1 tn Heb “brothers.”
2 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
3 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?”
4 tn Heb “sent to.”
5 tn Heb “and I answered them according to this word.”
6 tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”
7 tn Heb “if a man keep.” See note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
8 tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”
9 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”
10 tn Heb “the commandment of the king was over them.”
11 tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
