Nehemia 8:3

8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon ¹  before the men and women and those children who could understand. ²  All the people were eager to hear ³  the book of the law.

Nehemia 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ⁴  Ezra the priestly scribe, ⁵  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ⁶  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

Nehemia 12:44

12:44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from ⁷  the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah ⁸  took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. ⁹ 

[8:3]  ¹ tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”

[8:3]  ² tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).

[8:3]  ³ tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”

[8:9]  ⁴ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[12:44]  ⁷ tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).

[12:44]  ⁸ tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.

[12:44]  ⁹ tn Heb “standing.”