Here it is specifically stated that the records of the Levite family heads until the time of Johanan the son of Eliashib were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles. In Hebrew this is literally “the book of the words [or, affairs] of the days.” It is the Temple archives or “annals” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), “the book in which important events were recorded” (Bible en français courant). This book is not the same as 1-2 Chronicles in the Old Testament canon. New Revised Standard Version calls it “the Book of the Annals,” while Revised English Bible says simply “the annals.” It may be described, for example, as “the book of daily events” or “the official record of events from day to day.” For further comments on this expression, see A Handbook on the Book of Esther since it occurs also in Est 2.23; 10.2.

Were written: See the comments in the previous verse on “were recorded” since both expressions translate the same Hebrew verb “to write.” There it is translated by Revised Standard Version as “were recorded” because the text there does not say where the names were recorded. Here Revised Standard Version translates it as “were written” because the names were written in a book.

Until the days of: As in the previous verse, this refers to “until the time of” rather than to specific days. Good News Translation and some other translations understand this statement to indicate a limited duration of time, that is, “only down to the days of” (Revised English Bible).

As explained in the comments on verse 22 above, Johanan should be retained here and not “Jonathan” as in Good News Translation.

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 .

Men of Tyre also, who lived in the city, brought in fish: Men of Tyre were people from Tyre, which was the capital of Phoenicia. They were foreign merchants from the north who were living in Jerusalem. They would not have been concerned about keeping the Sabbath. In the city, which is literally “in her,” could refer to either Jerusalem or Judah but probably refers to Jerusalem since it is mentioned in the previous verse. They brought fish from the Mediterranean Sea to sell to the people for food.

All kinds of wares: These are unidentified items for sale or “merchandise” (so Revised English Bible), that is, “all their for-sale things.”

To the people of Judah is literally “to the sons of Judah” (see Ezra 2.1).

In Jerusalem can be understood in several different ways. It may be taken as an addition, indicating that the products were being sold to the people of the province and to the people of the city also (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It may be taken as an appositional phrase, that is, the products were being sold to the people of the province, specifically to the people of the city (Osty-Trinquet). It may also be taken as an emphatic phrase, that is, the products were being sold to the people of the province, “even in Jerusalem” (so Revised English Bible; similarly New Living Translation). Or Judah and Jerusalem may be taken together to refer to the Jews living in Jerusalem (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh selects this last interpretation: “to the Judahites in Jerusalem.” Translators should follow this interpretation.

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 .

Then I said to them: Nehemiah announced his plans to the people mentioned in verse 16. There is no indication of when this was done in relation to his inspection tour or where he met with them to communicate his plans. Josephus (Jewish Antiquities XI.168-172) reports that Nehemiah addressed the people in the Temple court. He addressed them with the first person plural pronoun we, indicating his own personal identification with the condition of the people; that is, this is an inclusive we.

Trouble … disgrace: Nehemiah laid out the situation using the same two words that occurred in Neh 1.3, where Revised Standard Version has “trouble” and “shame.” First, he characterized their situation by repeating the strong word trouble, which has the connotation of evil. He says that Jerusalem lies in ruins, using the same word that was translated as “lies waste” in verse 3 above. He also says that its gates are burned (see Neh 1.3). Nehemiah considered this situation to be a disgrace, a word that means shame and reproach. It is a reminder of the punishment Israel received in the exile that humiliated her before the other nations.

Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem: Nehemiah calls upon his listeners to join him in the work of rebuilding. He uses two verbs: Come and let us build. This is a call to action in which Nehemiah invites the people to join him: “Let’s rebuild the city walls” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation omits Come since it is redundant in contemporary English. However, other languages may have an equivalent term, and this should be used by translators. The need to rebuild the walls and gates was for more than protection; it was symbolic of their status as a people. Without walls and gates to their city, they were helpless and defenseless as a community.

That we may no longer suffer disgrace: The result of the action that Nehemiah was calling for was intended to be the ending of their state of disgrace, their “humiliating situation” (Bible en français courant). Bible de Jérusalem translates “so that we will no longer be insulted.” Contemporary English Version restates the last sentence idiomatically: “We must rebuild the city wall so that we can again take pride in our city.” Contemporary English Version may be followed as a model of an informal style; otherwise a less casual model like Good News Translation should be followed.

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 .

The northeastern part of the city was the commercial area near the Temple. The goldsmiths and the merchants would have had a special interest in the repair of the wall in that area. The section of the wall from the upper chamber of the corner to the Sheep Gate was the northern section of the wall.

For Sheep Gate, see the comments at verse 1 above. The account began with the repair of the wall at the Sheep Gate, and now it has come back to this gate, showing that the Jews have completed the rebuilding of the entire wall around the city.

MT continues the third chapter of Nehemiah for another 6 verses to end at verse 38. Chapter 4 follows with 17 verses. Many versions follow the MT verse numbering and chapter break (Bible en français courant, Luther, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). A second tradition begun by the Septuagint Greek and Vulgate Latin translations ends chapter 3 here at verse 32 and includes the additional 6 verses as the beginning of chapter 4, which then has 23 verses. Like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, other versions follow this second tradition of verse numbering and chapter break (also New American Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The presentation in this Handbook begins chapter 4 immediately after 3.32, following the example of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

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 .

I and my brethren and my servants are lending them money and grain: Nehemiah included himself, his close kinsmen, and officials among those who were engaged in giving loans and should stop taking interest, but he did not mention that he had any involvement in taking property and forcing children into slavery to pay off debts. In Hebrew the syntax begins with the mention of Nehemiah himself in the first person and then the others in the third person. Translators should use the normal pattern of personal reference in their own language.

Lending in this context means to let someone else use one’s personal possession on the condition that they will return it with a payment of interest. Here Nehemiah and his relatives and officials were lending both money and grain. The text does not specify what kind of grain this was.

Let us leave off this interest probably refers to making loans against pledges. Similarly to Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible says “Let us cancel these pledges.” New English Bible renders it “Let us give up this taking of persons as pledges for debt.” For the whole verse New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “I, my brothers, and my servants also have claims of money and grain against them; let us now abandon those claims.” According to this translation, the creditors are renouncing their right to claim repayment, but they “are only deferring their rightful claims due to the crisis” (Gross).

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 .

The list here in verses 6-73a is basically a duplicate of that in Ezra 2.1-70. There are some slight differences in numbers in the list, but the total number of people is the same: 42,360. The order of some family names varies, and there are some omissions and additions. The purpose of the list at this point is to establish the relationship of the community to the past in order to ensure its authenticity in the present. When this has been assured, then Jerusalem can be reestablished as the political and religious center of the community. For notes on the names in the list, see Ezra 2.

Had carried into exile: Verse 6 is a repetition of Ezra 2.1 with the exception of this phrase that replaces “had carried captive to Babylonia.”

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 .

They stood up in their place and read …: The pronoun they grammatically refers to “those of Israelite descent” in the previous verse. They stood up for the reading of the Law as in Neh 8.5, 7. Alternatively, they may refer to the Levites as the subject of both verbs stood up and read, but this is not the meaning that is generally accepted. The Hebrew verb read can be understood as impersonal. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible in French states this in the indefinite form as “one read,” and Bible en français courant renders it “the reading was done” without specifying who did the reading. Some languages will express this with the indefinite third person plural pronoun “they.” This may also be stated “people read to them.” However, it would be expected that the Levites actually did the reading. In some languages this will be stated “they arose and stood and Levites read to them.”

In their place means they stood still or they stood in the same place without moving about (see Neh 8.7). There was no disorder or confusion among the people.

For a fourth of the day …: The Hebrew form for the word fourth is the ordinal of the number four. For a fourth of the day means “for one quarter of the day” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “For three hours” (Contemporary English Version). For three hours they read from the book of the law and for another fourth, that is, an additional three hours, they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

The LORD their God does not mean that the Jews possessed God or that he belonged to them. Instead, it refers to the God that they worshiped and served (see Ezra 5.5). For LORD see Ezra 1.1.

They made confession is stated in more current English in Good News Translation with “they confessed their sins.” New Living Translation renders it “they took turns confessing their sins,” but the text does not indicate whether the confession was collective or individual.

For worshiped, see the comments at Neh 8.6.

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 .

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 .