Nehemiah evidently had a complete plan in mind of what would be necessary to rebuild the city. He went on to indicate to the king what would be needed. He prefaced his additional requests with the formula of courtesy that he had used previously: If it pleases the king (see verse 5 above). He needed letters to the governors of the province Beyond the River. These would be letters of safe conduct, that is, routine documents giving permission to travel through the area. The documents would authorize provisions from the royal supplies for Nehemiah’s party and an armed escort for their protection (see verse 9 below).

Let letters be given me translates a third person plural passive verb form in Hebrew. Nehemiah requests that official documents should be given to him. Although Nehemiah does not state it explicitly, his request is that the king would give orders to his officials to prepare the required documents and deliver them to him. New International Version restates the request in more direct form: “may I have letters to the governors…?” while Bible en français courant says “cause letters to be provided to me for the governors….”

The Hebrew word for governors is plural, referring to the provincial officials who would be able either to hinder or facilitate Nehemiah’s journey (see Ezra 4.9). This is the word used for Persian authorities (see Ezra 5.3).

For the province Beyond the River, see Ezra 4.10. Translators may wish to use a footnote to identify this province as in Good News Translation.

They may let me pass through until I come to Judah: Even here Nehemiah only mentions the name of the territory to which he is going. He avoids mention of the name of the city Jerusalem, and translators should do the same.

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 .