The repetition of On that day relates this new episode with the dedication of the wall and the provisions for the Temple personnel in the previous sections (see Neh 12.44).

They read from the book of Moses: In Hebrew they read is literally “it was read.” This was probably a liturgical reading of Scripture that was part of the dedication ceremony. Good News Translation understands this to refer not to one book of Moses but more generally to the “Law of Moses,” that is, the Torah (see Ezra 6.18). This reading from the book of Moses was from Deut 23.3-6. The summary here follows quite closely the wording of the original text in Deuteronomy. There is some abbreviation of that text. Here the third person pronoun they is used for Israel in place of the second person pronoun “you.” Also, “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD … to the tenth generation” in Deuteronomy is expressed explicitly here to mean no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God.

In the hearing of the people is literally “in the ears of the people.” This means that the reading was “aloud” (Good News Translation, New International Version) so that the people could hear. This Hebrew idiom may also be understood in a more general sense to mean that the reading was public (so Bible en français courant). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible renders this expression as “in the presence of the people,” and Revised English Bible calls it a “public reading.” Translators should use an equivalent expression that is natural in their language.

In it was found written: This is a fairly literal rendering of the Hebrew grammatical form (see also Neh 7.5; 8.14). Good News Translation restructures this expression in contemporary English to express the meaning more clearly. It may also be stated as follows: “as they were reading for the people to hear, they came upon the place where it was written that…” or “they found the writing that said….”

No Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God: Ammonite and Moabite refer to neighboring peoples who opposed the entry of Israel into the land of Canaan (see the comments at Ezra 9.1).

The assembly of God refers to the people of Israel as a religious community (see Ezra 2.64). This expression is found only here in the Old Testament. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the expression “the assembly of the LORD” (that is, YHWH) occurs 10 times (see Num 16.3). Bible en français courant makes explicit that “the assembly” refers to “those who worshiped God.” The prohibition of foreigners to enter the assembly relates specifically to their exclusion from the religious activities of the Temple. It does not prohibit them from being physically present among the Jews in Jerusalem and it does not apply to other relationships between Jews and foreigners.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .