Nehemia 2:14

2:14 I passed on to the Gate of the Well and the King’s Pool, where there was not enough room for my animal to pass with me.

Nehemia 3:1

The Names of the Builders

3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues ¹  arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated ²  it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred ³  and ⁴  the Tower of Hananel.

Nehemia 3:8

3:8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ⁵  the city wall of Jerusalem ⁶  as far as the Broad Wall.

Nehemia 3:13

3:13 Hanun and the residents of Zanoah worked on the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars, in addition to working on fifteen hundred feet ⁷  of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

Nehemia 4:3

4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

Nehemia 4:7

4:7 (4:1) ⁸  When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem ⁹  had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.

Nehemia 4:11

4:11 Our adversaries also boasted, ¹⁰  “Before they are aware or anticipate ¹¹  anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”

Nehemia 5:9

5:9 Then I ¹²  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ¹³  Should you not conduct yourselves ¹⁴  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

Nehemia 6:2

6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me saying, “Come on! Let’s set up a time to meet together at Kephirim ¹⁵  in the plain of Ono.” Now they intended to do me harm.

Nehemia 6:11

6:11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? ¹⁶  I will not go!”

Nehemia 6:16

6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ¹⁷  this, they were greatly disheartened. ¹⁸  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Nehemia 7:7

7:7 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.

The number of Israelite men ¹⁹  was as follows:

Nehemia 8:2

8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

Nehemia 8:12

8:12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ²⁰  with others ²¹  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ²²  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

Nehemia 9:3

9:3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins ²³  and worshiping the LORD their God.

Nehemia 9:23

9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

Nehemia 9:38

The People Pledge to be Faithful

9:38 (10:1) ²⁴  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²⁵  in written form; ²⁶  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ²⁷  on the sealed document.”

Nehemia 10:14

10:14 The leaders ²⁸  of the people were as follows:

Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

Nehemia 11:7

11:7 These are the descendants of Benjamin:

Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah,

Nehemia 12:1

The Priests and the Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem

12:1 These are the priests and Levites who returned ²⁹  with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Nehemia 12:22

12:22 As for the Levites, ³⁰  in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua the heads of families were recorded, as were the priests during the reign of Darius the Persian.

Nehemia 12:36

12:36 and his colleagues – Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani – with musical instruments of ³¹  David the man of God. (Ezra the scribe led them.) ³² 

Nehemia 13:1-2

Further Reforms by Nehemiah

13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing ³³  of the people. They found ³⁴  written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God, 13:2 for they had not met the Israelites with food ³⁵  and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.)

Nehemia 13:16

13:16 The people from Tyre ³⁶  who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah – and in Jerusalem, of all places! ³⁷ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:1]  ² tn Or “consecrated” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, ASV “sanctified”; NCV “gave it to the Lord’s service.”

[3:1]  ³ tc The MT adds קִדְּשׁוּהוּ (qidshuhu, “they sanctified it”). This term is repeated from the first part of the verse, probably as an intentional scribal addition to harmonize this statement with the preceding parallel statement.

[3:1]  ⁴ tc The translation reads וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “and unto”) rather than the MT reading עַד (ad, “unto”). The original vav (ו) was probably dropped accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word in the MT.

[3:8]  ⁵ tc Assuming that the MT reading וַיַּעַזְבוּ (vayya’azvu) is related to the root עָזַב I (“to abandon”) – which makes little sense contextually – some interpreters emend the MT to וַיַּעַזְרוּ (vayya’azru, “they aided”), as suggested by the editors of BHS. However, it is better to relate this term to the root II עָזַב meaning “to restore; to repair” (BDB 738 s.v. II עָזַב) or “to plaster” (HALOT 807 s.v. II עזב qal.1). This homonymic root is rare, appearing elsewhere only in Exod 23:5 and Job 9:27, where it means “to restore; to put in order” (HALOT 807-8 s.v. II עזב qal.2). The related Mishnaic Hebrew noun מעזיבה refers to a “plastered floor.” This Hebrew root is probably related to the cognate Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Sabean verbs that mean “to restore” and “to prepare; to lay” (see BDB 738 s.v.; HALOT 807 s.v.). Some scholars in the nineteenth century suggested that this term be nuanced “paved.” However, most modern English versions have “restored” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rebuilt” (so NCV, CEV).

[3:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the city wall of] Jerusalem.” The term “Jerusalem” probably functions as a metonymy of association for the city wall of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the phrase “the city wall of” has been supplied in the translation to clarify this figurative expression.

[3:8]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long, so this section of the wall would be about fifteen hundred feet (450 m).

[4:7]  ⁸ sn Chapter 4 begins here in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 4:1.

[4:7]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said.”

[4:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “see.”

[5:9]  ¹² 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”).

[5:9]  ¹³ 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.

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[6:2]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[6:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “go into the temple and live.”

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they greatly fell [i.e., were cast down] in their own eyes.” Some scholars suggest emending the reading of the MT, וַיִּפְּלוּ (vayyipÿlu) to וַיִּפָּלֵא (vayyippale’, “it was very extraordinary in their eyes”).

[7:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the men of the people of Israel.” Some English versions translate as “the people from Israel” (NCV) or “the Israelite people” (NRSV), but “men” should be retained because the following numbers presumably include only adult males.

[8:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to send portions.”

[8:12]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ²² tn Heb “to make great joy.”

[9:3]  ²³ tn Heb “confessing.” The words “their sins” are not present in the Hebrew text of v. 3, but are clearly implied here because they are explicitly stated in v. 2.

[9:38]  ²⁴ sn Beginning with 9:38, the verse numbers through 10:39 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:38 ET = 10:1 HT, 10:1 ET = 10:2 HT, 10:2 ET = 10:3 HT, etc., through 10:39 ET = 10:40 HT. Beginning with 11:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:38]  ²⁵ tn Heb “we are cutting.”

[9:38]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and writing.”

[9:38]  ²⁷ tn Heb “our leaders, our Levites, and our priests on the sealed document.” The Hebrew text is elliptical here; the words “have affixed their names” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. Cf. v. 2.

[10:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “heads”; ASV “chiefs.”

[12:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who went up.”

[12:22]  ³⁰ tn Some scholars delete these words, regarding them as a later scribal addition to the text.

[12:36]  ³¹ tn Or “prescribed by” (NIV, NLT); TEV “of the kind played by.” The precise relationship of these musical instruments to David is not clear.

[12:36]  ³² tn Heb “was before them.”

[13:1]  ³³ tn Heb “ears.”

[13:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.

[13:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “bread.” The Hebrew term is generic here, however, referring to more than bread alone.

[13:16]  ³⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[13:16]  ³⁷ tn The words “of all places” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation to indicate the emphasis on Jerusalem.