The description of Abraham as faithful at the beginning of this verse is parallel with the description of God as righteous at the end of the verse.

Thou didst find his heart faithful before thee: The Hebrew rendered faithful means literally “being faithful.” This describes the state or the nature of Abraham’s heart before God. Abraham was someone who was trustworthy, someone who could be relied upon. Heart refers to the mind in Hebrew and here to the intention and determination of Abraham to be devoted to God (see Neh 2.2). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “Finding his heart true to You.” Nouvelle Bible Segond translates “You found his heart worthy of your confidence.” Other cultures express a person’s intention with different idioms referring to the liver, the entrails, or the inside of the person. Before thee is literally “in your face,” which is similar to expressions that will be used in many other languages.

Covenant: See the comments at Ezra 10.3.

To give to his descendants the land: The Hebrew text explicitly states that the land will be given to his descendants (supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating), but many versions interpret this to mean that it would be given first to Abraham and then to his posterity (so Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New English Bible). Since the focus in this prayer is on the descendants and the Hebrew does not say explicitly that the land will be given Abraham, translators are advised not to add in the translation that Abraham is promised to receive the land (see Revised English Bible).

The Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite: All the peoples mentioned here are included in the list of peoples given in Gen 15.19-21, where the making of the covenant is recorded. However, four peoples in that list are not named here. The Girgashite people are included in several Old Testament lists. They are listed as descendants of Canaan, but otherwise their identity is unknown (see Gen. 10.16; Josh 3.10). For identification of the rest of these peoples, see Ezra 9.1.

Thou hast fulfilled thy promise: In Hebrew this is literally “you have kept your words.” God kept his promise to give the land. A promise is similar to a covenant, but it usually involves a statement in words that is made by one person to another; that is, the first person assures a second person that he or she will do something. Having made a covenant with Abraham, God kept his word by giving land to Abraham’s descendants.

For thou art righteous: Righteous is a word that describes a loyal relationship as demonstrated by God’s keeping the promise made to Abraham. Because God is righteous or just (see Ezra 9.15), he will not go back on that promise. The promise was one of the terms of the covenant made by God with Abraham to give land to his descendants. This promise is the major focus of the remainder of the prayer.

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 .