For the third time in this account, God did not forsake the Israelites (repeat of the phrase in verses 17 and 19 above), for he is gracious and merciful (also in verse 17).

Nevertheless: This verse begins with a strong adversative as in verse 26. Good News Translation understands a similar meaning (also Bible en français courant). Other translations omit a conjunction and begin abruptly with a new sentence (Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), but this is not advised.

In thy great mercies: See the comment at verse 19 above. Mercies is associated with the verb bear with in verse 30 (compare Psa 36.10; 109.12; Jer 31.3), showing that God’s love is patient and does not abandon them.

Thou didst not make an end of them: The punishment was so great that they feared it was the end. Many translations explicitly render the meaning of the Hebrew expression here as Good News Translation has done with the phrase “destroy them.” Some languages may state the sense even more bluntly; for example, “you did not exterminate them” (Bible en français courant, Nouvelle Bible Segond), or there may be a verb that means to kill them all.

Or forsake them: See Ezra 9.9 and verses 17 and 19 above. In the logic of the English language, one often goes from the lesser to the greater. Good News Translation has therefore reversed the Hebrew order to place the idea of abandoning the people before the idea of destroying them. The translator should express these ideas in the normal logical pattern of receptor thought.

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 .

And their brethren who did the work of the house …: Their brethren refers to the clan of Jedaiah. The total number of this clan was 822. They are described as doing the work of the house. This refers to the religious duties of the priests in the Temple. Jerusalem Bible says they “were responsible for the Temple liturgy” and New Jerusalem Bible says they “performed the Temple liturgy.” In this context it is understood that the house refers to the house of God (see Neh 10.39), as Good News Translation makes explicit with a helpful model.

And Adaiah the son of …: The listing then continues into the next verse with the priest Adaiah.

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 .

In preparation for the ceremony of dedication, the priests and the Levites first purified themselves. This would probably have involved fasting, abstaining from sexual intercourse, and making a sin offering (see Num 8.5-8). Then they purified the people. This required the washing of their clothes, bathing, and ritual sprinkling (see Exo 19.10, 14-15; Num 8.21). Even the gates and the wall were purified. Sprinkling with hyssop may have been done as in the ritual cleansing of private houses (see Lev 14.49-53). There is no other reference to the purification of gates and walls in the Old Testament, but purification may have been done in this instance because of the status of Jerusalem as “the holy city” (Neh 11.1, 18).

For purified see Ezra 6.20.

The chronological sequence of events should be made clear in the translation. The priests and Levites first performed the ritual on themselves and only then did they perform the ritual on the people and on the city wall and its gates.

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 .

But Nehemiah warned them to stop this practice by threatening to arrest them. He did not give the Gentiles an advantage by allowing them to trade on the Sabbath. The translation warned is a good rendering of the Hebrew in view of the threat that Nehemiah makes, and because this is a legal, official setting. New English Bible says “I cautioned them.” In contemporary English, New Living Translation translates “I spoke sharply to them.”

Why do you lodge before the wall?: Once again Nehemiah’s words are cited in the form of a rhetorical question as a direct quotation. Through the question he blames them, but this overtone is lost in Good News Translation.

If you do so again I will lay hands on you: He follows the question with a conditional sentence. He states a condition, and if they fulfil that condition, he states what the result will be. This is a simple condition that if a certain thing happens, there will be a specific consequence. Some translations express this idiomatically as a threat: “Do it again, and I shall use force on you” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible).

I will lay hands on you is literally “I will stretch out [my] hand against you.” This is a Hebrew figure of speech that expresses the idea of attacking someone to cause harm or injury or even to kill (see Est 2.21; 8.7). Here Nehemiah does not say exactly what his intentions are. Many translations therefore retain an expression that is close to the Hebrew, for example, “I will lay hands on you” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version) and “I will lay hands upon you” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Other translations avoid the figure of speech and say “I’ll use force on you” (Good News Translation), “I will take action against you” (New English Bible), or “I will arrest you” (New Living Translation, Bible en français courant). Translators should use an appropriate expression for a threat, such as “I will take action against you” or “I’ll do thus and so to you!”

From that time on they did not come on the sabbath: Nehemiah introduces the result of his threat with the temporal phrase From that time on. New Jerusalem Bible says “After this,” referring back to Nehemiah’s threat. For the whole sentence Contemporary Chinese Bible has “From then on, they did not return anymore on the sabbath day.”

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 .

And next to him the men of Jericho built: The builders are listed in the order of their position along the wall. The phrase next to him is literally “at his hand.” Different languages reflect different perspectives toward space and spatial relationships. Thus, some translators will say “And next after him the men of Jericho built,” others will say “and beside him beyond him the men of Jericho built,” and still others may say “and forward from him….”

The men of Jericho were next to him, referring back to Eliashib. Jericho was a town that was located northeast of Jerusalem near the Jordan River.

And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built: Zaccur was a common name that is also found in Ezra 8.14; Neh 10.12; 13.13. He was next to them. The singular and plural pronouns after next to in this chapter are not used consistently in relation to the person or persons or group of persons that they refer to. In the Hebrew text the pronoun here is “him,” but it clearly refers to the men of Jericho in the preceding sentence, as Revised Standard Version has rendered it.

Good News Translation restructures the sentences in this chapter for a more common English syntax and presents the account in the form of a report about the work of rebuilding the wall. The Hebrew, on the other hand, seems to place the focus upon the proximity and order of the workers in relation to each other. Translators should retain this focus if it can be done naturally in the receptor language.

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 .

Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight: These two clauses are parallel. Nehemiah uses two Hebrew expressions that mean to forgive and forget. Guilt is a key term in biblical theology (see Ezra 9.6). It refers to the fact that a person has done something wrong and therefore bears personal responsibility for the effects of that wrongdoing. To cover over someone’s guilt means that the person will not be subject to punishment. In other words, the evil or the sin done by the guilty person will be forgiven. To blot out someone’s sin means that the person’s sin will be forgotten and therefore it will not be punished. This part of the prayer echoes Jer 18.23 that the sins of their enemies should not be forgiven.

These expressions may be difficult to translate in some cultures. The first may be rendered as “Do not remove the words that are on their heads” or “Do not take away the guilt from on their heads.” The second may be stated “Do not brush out their sins from in front of you.” Good News Translation expresses the sense of forgiving and forgetting without retaining the figures of speech.

They have provoked thee to anger before the builders: This means they caused God to become angry. The enemies are presented as having angered God in the presence of the people who were working on the wall. The Hebrew verb rendered provoked … to anger may also have the meaning of “insult,” as in Hos 12.14 (where Revised Standard Version has “provocation”). Other versions interpret this to refer to the builders and the insults that were heaped upon them as Good News Translation has done (also Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). New American Standard Bible renders it “they have demoralized the builders.” The emphasis here is on the fact that the insults by Sanballat and Tobiah were being made in front of the builders. This is brought out in the New Revised Standard Version translation “they have hurled insults in the face of the builders” (similarly New International Version). Since the object of the insults is not specified in the Hebrew text, this latter translation is recommended.

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 former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens upon the people: The former governors could refer to 1) Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel who are mentioned in Ezra; 2) officials in Samaria; or 3) immediate predecessors of Nehemiah as governor. It is not known whether Nehemiah was the first governor of Judea itself or there were others who had this position before him. Translators should not indicate who these governors were. Whoever they were, they laid heavy burdens on the people (that is, the ordinary citizens) in the form of taxes including both silver and produce.

Heavy burdens is a picture of weight representing something that is difficult to do or to bear. This may be difficult duties or responsibilities or it may be difficult demands made by a person on someone else. Here the Hebrew says the earlier governors “weighed upon the people.” They did this by imposing heavy taxes. Many cultures use the picture of bearing heavy loads or carrying a great weight with a similar meaning to the Hebrew usage. This may also be expressed in terms of causing suffering by making difficult demands of the people.

Took from them food and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: Besides, which is literally “after,” is a strange construction in Hebrew. It is given a C rating in Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. It could mean the silver (see Ezra 1.4) was collected after taking their food and wine. The Vulgate, which is followed by Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New English Bible and Luther, has “for every day” (compare verse 18) and may represent what was originally in the Hebrew. This understanding is recommended to translators. According to the comments on Ezra 7.22, a shekel weighed 11.3 grams. At that rate forty shekels of silver would be a half a kilogram or one pound of silver per day. This may be rendered as “forty silver coins” (Good News Translation) or as “forty pieces of silver” (Bible en français courant). Alternatively, translators may borrow the word “shekel” or use a transliteration and then include an explanation in a footnote or in the glossary.

Even their servants lorded it over the people: The Hebrew verb for lorded it over means “to rule over,” “to dominate,” or “to oppress” (so Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Revised English Bible say “tyrannized over” and Nouvelle version Segond révisée says “reigned over as masters.” The servants were probably minor officials responsible to collect the taxes. New International Version calls them “assistants.”

But I did not do so: In Hebrew But I represents the connective conjunction in a contrasting sense (compare Ezra 3.12) and the independent first person singular pronoun. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible expresses this as “But I myself.” In some languages a contrastive construction may be used; for example, “But as for me, I did not act like that” or “But for my part….”

Because of the fear of God: Nehemiah affirms that his motivation for not acting like the previous governors was his respect (Contemporary English Version) or his reverence (New International Version) for God. This does not mean that he was afraid of God, but that he worshiped God and obeyed his commandments (see verse 9 above).

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 .