Behold, we are slaves … behold, we are slaves: Behold (hinneh in Hebrew) is a very emphatic way of drawing attention to what will follow (see Ezra 9.15). It occurs twice in this single verse drawing attention to the people’s lament, focusing on their complaint that they are slaves. In Latin this is expressed as ecce (literally meaning “Look!”), but in English Behold is an archaic interjection. Many languages have similar interjections that emphatically mark the discourse for what will follow, for example, Ndaa! (Deftere Allah). A shift is made from third person for the Israelites (“they/their/them”) in verse 35 to the independent first person plural pronoun we in this verse. This is the first person exclusive plural pronoun that includes those who are praying and the people they represent and excludes God who is being addressed in the prayer.

For slaves see the comments at Neh 5.5. Instead of serving God in their own land, the speakers here acknowledge twice that they are slaves to other people. This repeated statement emphasizes the irony and tragedy of their present situation. New Living Translation tries to capture this emphasis by rendering this verse as follows: “So now today we are slaves here in the land of plenty that you gave to our ancestors! We are slaves among all this abundance!”

In the land that thou gavest to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts: Their ancestors had been given the land … to enjoy, but they had been unfaithful. Now the descendants live in the land but are slaves and must even give its “yield” in taxes to foreign kings (verse 37 below). Not only had God given them good gifts, but even the land had given them its fruit and its good things. This statement is full of sad irony. To enjoy is literally “to eat,” and many languages will have a similar expression as in Hebrew.

The following is a close rendering of the Hebrew that can be a model for the translator:

• Look! Today we are slaves!
The land that you gave to our forefathers
to eat her fruit and her good things,
look, we are slaves in her today!”

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 .