Thou didst make known to them thy holy sabbath: Specific reference is made here to thy holy sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is an important theme in the rest of the book of Nehemiah (10.31; 13.15-22). Make known expresses a causative meaning in Hebrew that Good News Translation renders by the verb “taught.” Not only were the Israelites informed about the LORD’s holy sabbath, but they were also told of its significance. It was holy because it belonged to God (see Exo 20.8; Ezra 2.63). Bible en français courant makes this explicit: “the day that has been consecrated to you.” The Israelites were taught to keep it holy by setting it apart for God and making it a day of rest when no work should be done. Good News Translation expresses this clause well with “You taught them to keep your Sabbaths holy.” In some translations the word sabbath is borrowed and transliterated or adapted. Alternatively, it can be described as “the day of rest of the Israelites” or “… of the Jews.”

Commandments and statutes and a law: Good News Translation again combines and restructures the terms for laws in this verse. The three separate Hebrew terms (mitswah, choq, torah) used here for laws are represented by the single word “laws” in Good News Translation. The repetition of the Hebrew near synonyms gives an emphasis to the importance of God’s demands upon his people in the covenant relationship that is lost in the simplification of Good News Translation. The repetition of key terms is important to the poetic form of the prayer. However, the translator must express the meaning of the prayer in the words that are available and in the form that is appropriate in the receptor language.

By Moses thy servant: See 1.7-8. God gave his laws to Moses to give to the people of Israel. Moses was the instrument through whom God gave his laws to his people.

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 .