Nehemia 2:17-18

2:17 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.

Nehemia 2:4

2:4 The king responded, ⁴  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

Nehemia 6:1-19

Opposition to the Rebuilding Efforts Continues

6:1 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and no breach remained in it (even though up to that time I had not positioned doors in the gates), 6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me saying, “Come on! Let’s set up a time to meet together at Kephirim ⁵  in the plain of Ono.” Now they intended to do me harm.

6:3 So I sent messengers to them saying, “I am engaged in ⁶  an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?” 6:4 They contacted ⁷  me four times in this way, and I responded the same way each time. ⁸ 

6:5 The fifth time that Sanballat sent his assistant to me in this way, he had an open letter in his hand. 6:6 Written in it were the following words:

“Among the nations it is rumored ⁹  (and Geshem ¹⁰  has substantiated ¹¹  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ¹²  you are going to become their king. 6:7 You have also established prophets to announce ¹³  in Jerusalem ¹⁴  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ¹⁵ 

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ¹⁶  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ¹⁷ 

6:9 All of them were wanting ¹⁸  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! ¹⁹ 

6:10 Then I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. ²⁰  He said, “Let’s set up a time to meet in the house of God, within the temple. Let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. It will surely be at night that they will come to kill you.”

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? ²¹  I will not go!” 6:12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat. ²²  6:13 He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I ²³  would be discredited. ²⁴ 

6:14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in light of these actions of theirs – also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who were trying to scare me!

The Rebuilding of the Wall Is Finally Completed

6:15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in just fifty-two days. 6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ²⁵  this, they were greatly disheartened. ²⁶  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

6:17 In those days the aristocrats of Judah repeatedly sent letters to Tobiah, and responses from Tobiah were repeatedly coming to them. 6:18 For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him, ²⁷  because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jonathan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 6:19 They were telling me about his good deeds and then taking back to him the things I said. ²⁸  Tobiah, on the other hand, sent letters in order to scare ²⁹  me.

Nehemia 1:1-11

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ³⁰ These are the words of Nehemiah ³¹  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ³²  I was in Susa ³³  the citadel. 1:2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ³⁴  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ³⁵  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ³⁶ 

1:3 They said to me, “The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable ³⁷  adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!” ³⁸ 

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ³⁹  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ⁴⁰  with those who love him and obey ⁴¹  his commandments, 1:6 may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ⁴²  against you – both I myself and my family ⁴³  have sinned. 1:7 We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses. 1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁴⁴  1:9 But if you repent ⁴⁵  and obey ⁴⁶  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ⁴⁷  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’ 1:10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your mighty strength and by your powerful hand. 1:11 Please, ⁴⁸  O Lord, listen attentively ⁴⁹  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁵⁰  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁵¹  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁵²  I was cupbearer for the king.

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

[2:18]  ² tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “said to me.”

[6:2]  ⁵ 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.”

[6:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “[am] doing.”

[6:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “sent to.”

[6:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I answered them according to this word.”

[6:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “heard.”

[6:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.

[6:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “is saying.”

[6:6]  ¹² tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.

[6:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “call.”

[6:7]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

[6:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

[6:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

[6:9]  ¹⁸ tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

[6:9]  ¹⁹ tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).

[6:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “shut in.” The reason for his confinement is not stated. BDB 783 s.v. עָצַר suggests that it had to do with the fulfillment of a vow or was related to an issue of ceremonial uncleanness.

[6:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “go into the temple and live.”

[6:12]  ²² tn Heb “and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

[6:13]  ²³ tc The translation reads לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the MT reading לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”).

[6:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “would have a bad name.”

[6:16]  ²⁵ tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

[6:16]  ²⁶ 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”).

[6:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “were lords of oath.”

[6:19]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my words.”

[6:19]  ²⁹ tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:1]  ³⁰ sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. A.D. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.

[1:1]  ³¹ sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

[1:1]  ³² tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

[1:1]  ³³ tn Heb “Shushan.”

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:2]  ³⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “great.”

[1:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “have been burned with fire” (so also in Neh 2:17). The expression “burned with fire” is redundant in contemporary English; the translation uses “burned down” for stylistic reasons.

[1:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

[1:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).

[1:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.

[1:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”

[1:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the house of my father.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “peoples.”

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “turn to me.”

[1:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[1:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁸ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁵² tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.