They found it written …: Found … written is a formula that Nehemiah uses to introduce a quotation or a statement from another writing (see Neh 7.5). Here he refers to the instructions in the law for the feast of the seventh month, which was known as the Festival of Booths (see Ezra 3.4). Commanded by Moses points to the actual command in Lev 23.42. The various instructions for the observance of this festival are found in Lev 23.39-43, namely, to observe it during the seventh month, to live in booths, and to bring branches. Instructions to read the Law to the people every seven years during the Festival of Booths are found in Deut 31.10-13.

Translators may need to restructure this verse in order to express the sequence of events clearly. First the instructions were given by God, then they were written down by Moses, and then the Jewish leaders came to Ezra and the instructions in the Law were read by Ezra to them. The command of God may be stated in indirect speech as in Revised Standard Version or in non-quotation form as in Good News Translation. It is important to convey the sense of command that is expressed in what they read.

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 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 .