There were 468 sons of Perez, that is, descendants of Perez, in Jerusalem. They are identified as valiant men, which is literally “men of power,” a term usually used for soldiers (see Ezra 8.22; Neh 2.9; 4.2). They may have been the military guard in the city or men capable of performing military service. Bible en français courant and Chouraqui say “men of valor,” New International Version calls them “able men,” Contemporary English Version describes them as “the best men,” while Traduction œcuménique de la Bible refers to them as “men of arms.” The expression could also mean “men of wealth” or “men of substance” (so Revised English Bible). However, the interpretation of valor seems to be more appropriate to the context of Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and this should be adopted by the translator.

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 .

Eliashib’s grandson, the son of Joiada (also spelled Jehoiada), was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite (Neh 13.28). Jonathan might be another name for Johanan (see Neh 12.22), but he was probably not the Jehohanan mentioned in Ezra 10.6. Jonathan and Jaddua are not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. Josephus in Jewish Antiquities XI.306 refers to a Jaddua who was high priest in the time of Alexander the Great in about 333 B.C. This was one hundred years after the time of Artaxerxes I and the presumed time of Ezra and Nehemiah. There could have been more than one high priest with that name. Translators should translate the genealogy in verses 10-11 as it is presented in the text.

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 .

Remember me, O my God, concerning this: Nehemiah concludes most of the reforms that he has instituted with a brief prayer that his God will Remember him because of the good things that he has done (verses 14, 22, 31). This prayer that was first prayed in Neh 5.19 comes as a parenthesis in the narrative here and therefore may be made a separate paragraph as in Good News Translation (see the comments at Neh 5.19). Remember is to call to mind so as to act on that memory (see Neh 1.8). Here it is a personal appeal by Nehemiah to God to remember him in a good way concerning this. The second part of his prayer specifies what he wants God to remember.

For O my God, see the comments at Ezra 9.6. In some cultures the invocation should come at the beginning of the prayer as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh.

And wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God: Having first prayed positively that God will remember him for what he has done, Nehemiah prays in the negative asking God to wipe not out the good things he has done. The verbal picture of wipe not out visualizes that his actions had been written in a heavenly account book that could be erased (compare Dan 7.10; Mal 3.16). Revised English Bible understands this to refer to God’s memory, so it has “do not wipe out of your memory.” If possible, translators should retain the figurative language, which may be rendered “do not blot out” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “do not wipe away from your eyes.”

Good deeds is a translation of the Hebrew word chesed (“covenant love”) and refers to Nehemiah’s faithfulness to God’s covenant and his acts of care for the Temple (see Ezra 3.11). Jerusalem Bible calls this his “pious deed” and New Jerusalem Bible says “good deeds.” However, a number of translations render the Hebrew term as “faithfulness” (Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible); others translate it as “devotion” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible). Another possibility is “loyalty.”

His service: Revised Standard Version interprets the possessive pronoun his to refer to God, whereas Good News Translation interprets it to refer to the Temple, and either is possible. In either case, however, the service is related to the religious observances in the Temple (see Neh 12.45). Jerusalem Bible refers to “its liturgy,” while New Jerusalem Bible speaks of “its observances.”

In the Revised Standard Version rendering of this prayer we see a shift from speaking to God in the second person to referring to him in the third person while still praying to him. It frequently happens in Hebrew poetry and in prayers that the speaker shifts back and forth between second and third person when addressing God. Good News Translation restructures the prayer to address God only in the second person. It condenses the prayer to make it simpler, but it removes the contrast of the positive and negative and it loses the visual image (also Contemporary English Version). Translators should try to convey the full expression of Nehemiah’s prayer. Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible consider the tone of this prayer to be emphatic and they mark this by a final exclamation point.

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 officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing: The repetition of officials in this verse may indicate that the first part of the verse is the conclusion of the preceding verse and it may mean that none of them knew that Nehemiah had gone to inspect the walls. However, this is more generally considered to be a repetition of the intention of Nehemiah in 2.12 to keep his plans secret (see Contemporary English Version). If so, the chronology of events here must be made clear. Nehemiah has now returned inside the city but no officials know about the inspection tour that he has completed. They do not know what his destination was or what his activity was. Therefore, Good News Translation puts the verbs had gone and was doing in the pluperfect: “where I had gone or what I had been doing.”

I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest that were to do the work: Jews may be a separate group (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version) or a general heading with four subdivisions: priests, nobles, officials, and the rest (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The form of the Hebrew does not indicate that it is a general heading. The term Jews originally referred to the inhabitants of Judah, but after the exile this name took on a more ethnic and religious sense. Sanballat, for instance, was a worshiper of Yahweh who lived in Judah, but he does not include himself in the category of Jew (see Neh 4.1-2; 6.6). If Jews refers to a separate category of people here, it may refer specifically to those who returned from exile in Babylonia.

For priests see the comments at Ezra 1.5. The priests were important leaders with increasing involvement in political administration after the exile because of the dominant role of the Temple in the economy.

The combination of the nobles, the officials, and the rest is also found in Neh 4.14, 19. If these are not subcategories of Jews, they may all be types of leaders. The Hebrew term translated nobles refers to function rather than to nobility. It probably refers to local leaders (see 1 Kgs 21.8, where Good News Translation renders it “leading citizens”).

For officials see the comments at Ezra 9.2, where Revised Standard Version renders it “chief men.” The exact divisions and functions of the groups that are listed cannot be indicated with certainty. The first occurrence of this term in the verse may simply be a general word for leaders translated “local officials” in Good News Translation (see also Neh 4.14). In some cultures expressions like “heavy people” and “big people” may be used for these general categories of leaders.

The rest that were to do the work may refer to other leaders (Nouvelle version Segond révisée), to “the rest of the administration” (Williamson 1985), only to those who will do the work (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), or to all other Jews who were to be involved in the work along with those already mentioned (Good News Translation, New International Version, Contemporary English Version). The phrase, that were to do the work, does not necessarily refer only to the rest but may include everyone mentioned in the verse. Good News Translation makes this explicit by saying “anyone else who would be taking part in the work.” This is the first reference in the book to the work that Nehemiah intends to do (see verse 18 below). The repetition of this word throughout the remainder of the book and allusions to it make it one of the theme words in the book of Nehemiah (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” page 20).

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 .

For goldsmiths see verse 8 above.

The house of the temple servants and of the merchants may have been one house used by both these groups of people. It was perhaps used by the Temple servants when they were on duty in the Temple and by the merchants when visiting the Temple on business. The living quarters of the Temple servants were said to be at Ophel (verse 26 above).

Opposite the Muster Gate: Opposite refers to a place “in front of” the gate (Bible en français courant), “across from” it (Contemporary English Version), or “by” it (Good News Translation). The location of the Muster Gate is not known. It could be either a gate of the Temple or a city gate. It has been suggested that it was the Benjamin Gate at the northernmost point on the wall east of the city (see Jer 37.13; 38.7; Zech 14.10). Muster comes from a Hebrew word meaning “appointment, appointed place.” New International Version calls the gate “Inspection Gate” and Contemporary English Version calls it “Gathering Gate.” Other translations transliterate as Good News Translation and Bible en français courant have done (also Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Translators are advised to translate the name of this gate as they have done for the names of the other gates.

The upper chamber of the corner refers to the watchtower at the meeting point of the walls at the northeastern corner of the city. Good News Translation makes explicit that this room was located “on top of the northeast corner of the wall.”

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 thing you are doing is not good: Nehemiah rebuked those who had been taking the properties and children of others. He based his rebuke on the moral grounds that what they were doing was not good.

Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God…?: The Hebrew text follows the first statement with a rhetorical question intended to indicate how the Jewish leaders should act. Good News Translation states it emphatically, making it an affirmative declaration. They should walk in the fear of our God. This may mean that they should keep God’s commandments or that they should be concerned about how God would want them to act. To walk is Hebrew figurative language for expressing personal behavior (see Psa 1.1).

To prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies: Taunts is literally “sneers” or “ridicule.” Nehemiah did not want the Jews to be humiliated by failing to obey the covenant with God. He did not want them to be shamed before their opponents (see Ezra 9.7; Neh 1.3; 2.17).

The nations who are described as our enemies were those people who were foreign. They did not worship the God of Israel. Good News Translation makes it explicit that these were “the Gentiles.” See the comments at Ezra 6.21, where Revised Standard Version renders the Hebrew word for nations as “peoples.”

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 .

Nehemiah credits God with giving him the solution to the problem noted in verse 3 above: God put it into my mind, which is literally “God gave it to my heart” (see New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The Jews considered the heart to be the center of reasoning (see Ezra 7.10). Nehemiah says that God gave him the idea or God “inspired” him (so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) to carry out a census. He would have an official count made of the people to determine the number of people and to identify those of pure ancestry. Other languages may use an idiom similar to the one in Hebrew, such as “God gave the thought to me” or “God put it in my liver.”

See Neh 2.16 for a discussion of nobles and officials. People refers to the general population of Jews, the “ordinary citizens” (so New Living Translation). Note that Good News Translation reverses the order of nobles, officials, and people. It goes from the larger grouping to the smaller more specific groups. It mentions first “the people” and then “their leaders and officials.” Translators should use the order that is appropriate in the receptor culture.

To be enrolled by genealogy: The census would be taken by family. New International Version translates “for registration by families” and Revised English Bible has “to be enrolled family by family.” See Ezra 2.62.

The book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first refers to a list or a census that had been taken earlier (so Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Nehemiah started with the record of those who were the first to return from exile. Revised English Bible calls it a “register of the genealogies of those who had been the first to come back.” For came up, see the comments on “go up” at Ezra 1.3.

I found written in it: The words found written are a formula used in Nehemiah to introduce a quotation from another writing (also in Neh 8.14; 13.1). If a language uses neither a passive verb nor a verb that describes a state or situation, this may be rendered in an active construction by supplying an indefinite subject; for example, “I found that they had written these things in it.”

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 .