Nehemia 7:3

7:3 I ¹  said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, ²  until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. ³  Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”

Nehemia 9:26

9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ⁴  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

Nehemia 11:1

The Population of Jerusalem

11:1 So the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, ⁵  while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to settle in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine ⁶  remained in other cities.

Nehemia 11:3

11:3 These are the provincial leaders ⁷  who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities,

Nehemia 12:24

12:24 And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by ⁸  David the man of God.

Nehemia 13:19

13:19 When the evening shadows ⁹  began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered ¹⁰  the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned ¹¹  some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

[7:3]  ¹ tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere, a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ad), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).

[7:3]  ³ tn Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד, especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”

[11:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “nine of the hands.” The word “hand” is used here in the sense or a part or portion.

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the province.”

[12:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “in [accord with] the commandment of.”

[13:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “the gates of Jerusalem grew dark.”

[13:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said” (so also in v. 22).

[13:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “caused to stand.”