Thou didst multiply their descendants as the stars of heaven: God multiplied their descendants to prepare them with enough people to possess the land of Canaan. Descendants is literally “sons.”
Comparing the number of the descendants of the Israelites to the stars of heaven is a figure of speech called a hyperbole or an exaggeration. The stars represent a number that is so great that it cannot be counted (so Revised English Bible). When God made his covenant with Abram, God promised that Abram’s descendants would be as many as the stars and in this prayer the Jews confirm that God has fulfilled the promise (Gen 15.5; 22.17; Deut 1.10). Here heaven does not refer to God’s dwelling place but to the sky where the stars are seen to be. Translators may retain the comparison and also make the meaning clear; for example, “You gave them so many descendants that they cannot be counted just as the stars in the sky cannot be counted.” However, translators should be careful to translate in such a way that the connotations are positive and not negative. It should not be translated in such a way as to imply that they were so prolific that the great quantity of their offspring was a curse instead of a blessing.
Thou didst bring them into the land: This does not mean that God forced them or brought them as a person may bring someone against his or her will. Instead, God led his people or he enabled them to enter the land. Good News Translation restates the meaning in a more common English expression. Another way to express it is “you led them.”
Which thou hadst told their fathers to enter and to possess: This is a reference back in time to what God had said earlier (Deut 7.1-2) and what was fulfilled. The chronological sequence of events is that God first told them to enter and to possess the land, then he brought them into the land, and now they were being reminded of that history.
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 .