For they all wanted to frighten us: The narration continues with Nehemiah’s explanation of the events that were taking place. They all refers to all the enemies in verse 1. Nehemiah considered it to be a conspiracy on the part of their enemies to frighten him, especially by threatening to report him to the king. To frighten is to cause someone to become afraid and this idea is repeated in the following verses (13, 14, 19). Some languages may use a causative verb form while others will use an expression such as “to throw fear into the body of someone.”
Thinking …: Using the form of direct quotation, Nehemiah reports the thoughts of their enemies. The expectation or hope of the enemies is that Their hands will drop from the work, that is, that the Jews will become discouraged by the threats and will stop the work. In some languages a similar expression may be used, for example, “their hands will weaken,” “their hands will become cold,” or “their bodies will cool down.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “They will desist from the work,” while New Jerusalem Bible has “They will become demoralised over the work.”
It will not be done: The primary result that the enemies hoped for was that the work of rebuilding Jerusalem would not be achieved. In some languages this will be expressed with a construction that expresses a condition; for example, “It will not reach a state of completion.”
But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands: “So now” was used in Sanballat’s message to introduce his dramatic call to Nehemiah to meet together for consultation in verse 7 above. Here the same Hebrew expression behind “So now” is used adversatively by Nehemiah to turn his plea to God, so Revised Standard Version renders it But now in this context. The words O God are not in the Hebrew text. God is a conjectural addition on the assumption that this is a prayer. Good News Translation makes this even more explicit by adding the words “I prayed” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible leaves it somewhat ambiguous: “And now, strengthen my hands!” It does not indicate who is being addressed. Good News Translation understands my hands to represent the entire person in the act of working. It eliminates the figure of speech and renders strengthen thou my hands in simple language: “make me strong” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Bible en français courant understands the reference to hands as a reference to the work and says “strengthen me in my task.”
There is a question about whether this is a prayer, since in his other prayers Nehemiah always addressed God directly (1.5, 11; 4.4; 5.19; 6.14; 13.14, 22, 29, 31). However, this reading is supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating. It is also possible to understand the Hebrew for the whole clause with the meaning, “But now it strengthens my hands.” The Septuagint and Vulgate translate “Now I strengthened my hands.” This would mean that the plot of the enemies actually served to make the position of Nehemiah stronger. This is a more faithful rendering of the Hebrew, it makes more sense in the context, and it should be followed by the translator. New Jerusalem Bible renders it “But my morale rose even higher,” and New English Bible translates “So I applied myself to it with greater energy.”
It is important to note how quotations are indicated in this verse. Revised Standard Version quotes the thoughts of Nehemiah’s enemies as he reports them and sets them off with quotation marks. Good News Translation, on the other hand, uses an indirect quotation to report their thoughts. However, Revised Standard Version does not use quotation marks to indicate the words of Nehemiah’s prayer to God, while Good News Translation does mark Nehemiah’s prayer with quotation marks to indicate that it is a direct quotation. For marking these quotations, translators should follow the conventions that have been adopted in writing their language.
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 .