Discovery BoxNehemiah 5:8-9 
Context5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews 1 who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, 2 so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.
5:9 Then I 3 said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! 4 Should you not conduct yourselves 5 in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?
1 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
2 tn Heb “your brothers.”
3 tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
4 tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.
5 tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”
