Sanballat and Tobiah appeared as opponents to Nehemiah and the Jews in verse 10 above. Here Geshem the Arab is introduced as a third opponent. Geshem is a Hebrew variant spelling of Gashmu (see Neh 6.6). From sources outside the biblical writings, it is known that he was the king of Kedar, which was under nominal Persian control. Kedar was a region in the north of Arabia east of Transjordan (see Gen 25.13). Geshem had united the Arabian tribes into a vast confederation from the Syrian desert to the Nile delta in Egypt.

Heard of it: The Hebrew text does not specify what it refers to. In some languages it is possible to use an equally open-ended expression, such as “heard of that thing” or “heard that news.” Others will be more explicit like Good News Translation “what we were planning to do” and Contemporary English Version “heard about our plans.”

The opponents of Nehemiah derided us and despised us. Here derided and despised are used together to create a strong expression of scorn. Some versions do as Revised Standard Version does and retain two verbs in translation. Contemporary English Version combines the two Hebrew verbs into a single clause: “they started insulting us.” Translators are advised to use two expressions for a forceful statement rather than combining them.

The opponents asked two questions: What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? The first question was the conventional way of making an accusation. Good News Translation interprets this question as belittling or making fun of the work that the Jews were planning to do. Their second question was an accusation about the Jews’ real intention. The opponents’ charge that the Jews were rebelling against the king was to remind them that this claim had previously caused Artaxerxes to stop the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Ezra 4.12).

Many languages will use a question like the first one to challenge or accuse someone. They may then change the second question into a statement with a question, such as “You are rebelling against the king, aren’t you?” Or they may change it into a statement that ends with an emphatic particle, such as “You are rebelling against the king, eh!”

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 .