Sanballat the Horonite: Sanballat is a Babylonian name meaning “Sin [the moon god] has given life.” It is not known for sure what is meant by the Horonite. The most accepted explanation is that he was a native of one of the small villages of Beth Horon northwest of Jerusalem. From a fifth century B.C. papyrus found in 1906 in Elephantine in Egypt, it is known that he was governor of Samaria. He had two sons with the suffix “yah” in their names, showing that he considered himself a worshiper of Yahweh. According to Neh 13.28, his daughter married a grandson of the high priest Eliashib.

Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite: Tobiah means “Yahweh is good.” It is not clear what his title the servant means. It is generally used as a title for an official and probably indicates that he had an official position in the Persian government (so Good News Translation). Some commentators suggest that Ammonite could mean either that he was a high official for the region of the Ammonites or that he was of Ammonite heritage. The form of the word in Hebrew is not the usual one to refer to Ammonites. It may be that both Horonite and Ammonite are derogatory titles since neither man is given the title governor in the text. Also Ammonite is put in contrast with children of Israel rather than the usual “children of Judah.” This emphasizes the fact that the Ammonites were excluded from the assembly of God’s people (Deut 23.3-6; Neh 13.1). Tobiah was related to the priest Eliashib (see Neh 13.4).

The local officials in the province Beyond the River were displeased greatly when Nehemiah arrived and gave them the letters from the king. They did not want anyone to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. This is because their status and economic power were threatened by the authority that had been granted to Nehemiah by the king. Earlier in the reign of Artaxerxes, the people of Judah had been stopped from rebuilding the city (Ezra 4.17-23). Now Artaxerxes had changed his position and given permission to rebuild the city. It displeased them greatly is literally “great distress distressed them.” In Hebrew the subject and verb come from the same root for emphasis. Good News Translation translates idiomatically with “they were highly indignant,” while Contemporary English Version renders it in more common English with “they became very angry.” New English Bible says “they were much vexed.” Other languages will use their own idioms; for example, “their hearts became very black,” “their livers rose up in anger,” or “they frowned in great anger.”

To seek the welfare of the children of Israel is literally “to seek the good of the sons of Israel.” Having heard about the sad state of affairs for the Jews in Jerusalem, Nehemiah had come to try to bring about what would be good for them (compare Est 10.3). He would work to provide security and prosperity for them. Contemporary English Version says “to help the people of Israel” (similarly Contemporary Chinese Bible, New Living Translation). If possible, it is preferable to be more precise in the translation by retaining the emphasis on “the good of the Israelites” or “the interests of the Israelites” (bcc). For children of Israel, see the comments on “sons of Israel” at Ezra 3.1.

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 .