Its rich yield goes to the kings: Rich yield is another way of referring to the “fruit” of the land mentioned in the previous verse. Here the “abundant harvest” (so New International Version) that the land produces does not go to their own kings but is paid to foreign kings in taxes.

Whom thou hast set over us: The people recognize that God has made other kings to rule over them, and in some languages it will be necessary to state this explicitly.

Because of our sins: The Jews still recognize their own sins. Because of our sins is not to be understood abstractly but concretely, as Good News Translation expresses it by saying “we sinned.” For sins see the comments at Neh 1.6.

They have power also over our bodies and over our cattle: This is another way of saying that the Jews are living in a state of slavery. The foreign rulers have authority both over them and over their livestock. The Hebrew term translated bodies is used for both living bodies and corpses. Here the meaning is that the foreign kings have power over them as living human beings. Cattle is the Revised Standard Version rendering of a Hebrew word that refers here to domestic animals. This may be rendered “homestead animals,” “the animals that they raised,” or “… that they looked after” (see Ezra 1.4 where Revised Standard Version has “beasts” for the same Hebrew word).

At their pleasure is an echo of as they would in verse 24 above (the same Hebrew expression), which highlights the irony between the situation of their ancestors and themselves. This reinforces the description of the domination of the foreigners who can do with them “as they please” (Good News Translation).

We are in great distress: Like their ancestors who cried out when in distress (see verse 27 above, where Revised Standard Version has “suffering” for the same Hebrew word), they are also seeking deliverance from their present suffering.

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, as well as many other versions, mark the end of the prayer here with closing quotation marks.

Hebrew verse numbering treats verse 38 of chapter 9 as verse 1 of chapter 10. Some commentators interpret this verse to be the conclusion to this section while others understand it to be a transition and introduction to the next section. The paragraph punctuation in MT indicates a break at the end of verse 37, so MT links verse 38 with what follows in chapter 10. For a discussion of this verse, see the following chapter.

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 .