translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NEH

label: NET translator note

text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Some have suggested that “Hananiah” is another name for Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, so that only one individual is mentioned here. However, the third person plural in v. 3 indicates two people are in view.


label: NET textual note

text: The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere , a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר ( va ’ omar , “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר ( vayyo ’ mer , “and he said”).


text: Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ ad ), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).


text: Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד , especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.


text: Heb “wide of two hands.”


text: Heb “the people were few in its midst.”


text: Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”


text: Heb “the book of genealogy.”


text: Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “the sons of”; KJV, ASV “the children of”; NAB “the inhabitants of.”


text: Heb “who were going up.”


text: One medieval Hebrew manuscript has “to Babylon.” Cf. Ezra 2:1 .


text: Heb “the men of the people of Israel.” Some English versions translate as “the people from Israel” (NCV) or “the Israelite people” (NRSV), but “men” should be retained because the following numbers presumably include only adult males.


text: Heb “the sons of.”


text: Heb “to the sons of.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: The translation reads בְּנֵי ( bÿne , “the sons of”) rather than the MT reading בֵית אַנְשֵׁי (’ anshey vet , “men of the house of”). Cf. Ezra 2:24 .


text: For location see Map4-G4 ; Map5-C1 ; Map6-E3 ; Map7-D1 ; Map8-G3 .


text: Heb “to the house of.”


text: Heb “relate.”


text: Heb “the house of their fathers.”


text: Heb “their seed.”


text: Heb “they were desecrated.”


text: The Hebrew term תִּרְשָׁתָא ( tirshata ’; KJV “Tirshatha”) is the official title of a Persian governor in Judea. In meaning it may be similar to “excellency” (cf. NAB). See further BDB 1077 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon , 395; HALOT 1798 s.v.


text: Heb “stood.”


text: Most Hebrew MSS omit 7:68 ET, which reads “They had 736 horses, 245 mules,” and thus have one less verse in chap. , ending the chapter at 7:72 . This verse is included in the LXX and most English versions. Cf. Ezra 2:66 .


text: Heb “the heads of the fathers.”


text: Heb “darics” (also in vv. 71, 72 ).


text: Heb “the sons of Israel.” So also in vv. 14, 17; 9:1 .


text: The traditional understanding of the chapter and verse division here is probably incorrect. The final part of v. 73 is best understood as belonging with 8:1 .