Then I said to them: Nehemiah announced his plans to the people mentioned in verse 16. There is no indication of when this was done in relation to his inspection tour or where he met with them to communicate his plans. Josephus (Jewish Antiquities XI.168-172) reports that Nehemiah addressed the people in the Temple court. He addressed them with the first person plural pronoun we, indicating his own personal identification with the condition of the people; that is, this is an inclusive we.
Trouble … disgrace: Nehemiah laid out the situation using the same two words that occurred in Neh 1.3, where Revised Standard Version has “trouble” and “shame.” First, he characterized their situation by repeating the strong word trouble, which has the connotation of evil. He says that Jerusalem lies in ruins, using the same word that was translated as “lies waste” in verse 3 above. He also says that its gates are burned (see Neh 1.3). Nehemiah considered this situation to be a disgrace, a word that means shame and reproach. It is a reminder of the punishment Israel received in the exile that humiliated her before the other nations.
Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem: Nehemiah calls upon his listeners to join him in the work of rebuilding. He uses two verbs: Come and let us build. This is a call to action in which Nehemiah invites the people to join him: “Let’s rebuild the city walls” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation omits Come since it is redundant in contemporary English. However, other languages may have an equivalent term, and this should be used by translators. The need to rebuild the walls and gates was for more than protection; it was symbolic of their status as a people. Without walls and gates to their city, they were helpless and defenseless as a community.
That we may no longer suffer disgrace: The result of the action that Nehemiah was calling for was intended to be the ending of their state of disgrace, their “humiliating situation” (Bible en français courant). Bible de Jérusalem translates “so that we will no longer be insulted.” Contemporary English Version restates the last sentence idiomatically: “We must rebuild the city wall so that we can again take pride in our city.” Contemporary English Version may be followed as a model of an informal style; otherwise a less casual model like Good News Translation should be followed.
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 .