Nehemiah 4
World English Bible
4 But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”
4 “Hear, our God; for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
6 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry; 8 and they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion among us. 9 But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night because of them. 10 Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubble; so that we are not able to build the wall.” 11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see, until we come in among them and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”
12 When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 Therefore I set guards in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places. I set the people by family groups with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 From that time forth, half of my servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built the wall, and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands did the work, and with the other held his weapon. 18 Among the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me. 19 I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared. 22 Likewise at the same time I said to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.” 23 So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.
Nehemiah 4
New English Translation
Opposition to the Work Continues
4 (3:33)[a] Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his colleagues[b] and the army of Samaria he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves?[c] Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”
3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Return their reproach on their own head. Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile! 5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from your sight, for they have bitterly offended[d] the builders.[e]
6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height.[f] The people were enthusiastic in their work.[g]
7 (4:1)[h] When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to move with armed forces[i] against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it. 9 So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them[j] both day and night. 10 Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers[k] has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”
11 Our adversaries also boasted,[l] “Before they are aware or anticipate[m] anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”
12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly[n] about all the schemes[o] they were plotting[p] against us.
13 So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places.[q] I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I had made an inspection,[r] I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord,[s] and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!”[t]
15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters,[u] God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work. 16 From that day forward, half my men were doing the work and half were taking up spears,[v] shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people[w] of Judah 17 who were rebuilding the wall.[x] Those who were carrying loads did so[y] by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon. 18 The builders, to a man, had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter[z] remained with me.
19 I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding[aa] and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there with us. Our God will fight for us!”
21 So we worked on,[ab] with half[ac] holding spears, from dawn till dusk.[ad] 22 At that time I instructed[ae] the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.” 23 We did not change clothes[af]—not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.[ag]
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 4:1 sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:23 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:33 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:34 HT, 4:3 ET = 3:35 HT, 4:4 ET = 3:36 HT, 4:5 ET = 3:37 HT, 4:6 ET = 3:38 HT, 4:7 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 4:23 ET = 4:17 HT. Thus in the Hebrew Bible chap. 3 of the Book of Nehemiah has 38 verses, while chap. 4 has only 17 verses.
- Nehemiah 4:2 tn Heb “brothers.”
- Nehemiah 4:2 tc The present translation follows the MT, but the Hebrew text is difficult. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (leʾlohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra—Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers—if left to their own limited resources—could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (ʿazav, “to leave”) plus ל (lamed, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”
- Nehemiah 4:5 tn The Hiphil stem of כָּעַס (kaʿas) may mean: (1) “to provoke to anger”; (2) “to bitterly offend”; or (3) “to grieve” (BDB 495 s.v. Hiph.; HALOT 491 s.v. כעס hif). The Hebrew lexicons suggest that “bitterly offend” is the most appropriate nuance here.
- Nehemiah 4:5 tn Heb “before the builders.” The preposition נֶגֶד (neged, “before”) here connotes “in the sight of” or “in the view of” (BDB 617 s.v. 1.a; HALOT 666 s.v. 1.a).
- Nehemiah 4:6 tn Heb “up to its half.”
- Nehemiah 4:6 tn Heb “the people had a heart to work.”
- Nehemiah 4:7 sn Chapter 4 begins here in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 4:1.
- Nehemiah 4:8 tn Heb “to fight.”
- Nehemiah 4:9 tn Heb “against them.” The words “to protect” are added in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Some emend MT עֲלֵיהֶם (ʿalehem, “against them”) to עָלֶיהָ (ʿaleha, “against it,” i.e., Jerusalem).
- Nehemiah 4:10 tn Heb “burden-bearers.”
- Nehemiah 4:11 tn Heb “said.”
- Nehemiah 4:11 tn Heb “see.”
- Nehemiah 4:12 tn Heb “ten times.”
- Nehemiah 4:12 tc The MT reads the anomalous מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת (mikkol hammeqomot, “from every place”) but the BHS editors propose כָּל־הַמְּזִמּוֹת (kol hammezimmot, “about every scheme”). The initial mem (מ) found in the MT may have been added accidentally due to dittography with the final mem (ם) on the immediately preceding word, and the MT qof (ק) may have arisen due to orthographic confusion with the similar looking zayin (ז). The emendation restores sense to the line in the MT, which makes little sense and features an abrupt change of referents: “Wherever you turn, they will be upon us!” The threat was not against the villagers living nearby but against those repairing the wall, as the following context indicates. See also the following note on the word “plotting.”
- Nehemiah 4:12 tc The MT reads תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “you turn”) which is awkward contextually. The BHS editors propose emending to חָשְׁבוּ (hashevu, “they were plotting”) which harmonizes well with the context. This emendation involves mere orthographic confusion between similar looking ח (khet) and ת (tav), and the resultant dittography of middle ו (vav) in MT. See also the preceding note on the word “schemes.”
- Nehemiah 4:13 tc The MT preserves the anomalous Kethib form צְחִחִיִּים (tsekhikhiyyim); the Qere reads צְחִיחִים (tsekhikhim) which is preferred (BDB 850 s.v. צָהִיחַ; HALOT 1018 s.v. *צָהִיחַ).tn The meaning of the Hebrew term צְחִיחִים (tsekhikhim) here is uncertain. Elsewhere (Ezek 24:7, 8; 26:4, 14) it refers to a shining or glaring surface of a rock (BDB 850 s.v. צָהִיחַ; HALOT 1018 s.v. *צָהִיחַ), but here it refers to an exposed or vulnerable portion of the wall: “open positions of the wall” (HALOT 1018 s.v. 2).
- Nehemiah 4:14 tn Heb “And I saw.”
- Nehemiah 4:14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Nehemiah 4:14 tn Heb “houses.”
- Nehemiah 4:15 tn Heb “it was known to us.”
- Nehemiah 4:16 tc The MT reads “and spears.” The conjunction should be deleted.
- Nehemiah 4:16 tn Heb “all the house.”
- Nehemiah 4:17 tn The first words of v. 17, “who were rebuilding the wall,” should be taken with the latter part of v. 16.
- Nehemiah 4:17 tn Heb “were carrying loads.” The LXX reads ἐν ὅπλοις (en hoplois, “with weapons”).
- Nehemiah 4:18 tn Heb “the one blowing the shofar.”
- Nehemiah 4:19 tn Heb “much.”
- Nehemiah 4:21 tn Heb “and we were doing the work.”
- Nehemiah 4:21 tn Heb “half of them.”
- Nehemiah 4:21 tn Heb “from the coming up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars.”
- Nehemiah 4:22 tn Heb “said [to].”
- Nehemiah 4:23 tn Heb “strip off our garments.”
- Nehemiah 4:23 tc Heb “a man, his weapon, the waters.” The MT, if in fact it is correct, is elliptical and difficult. Some scholars emend the MT reading הַמָּיִם (hammayim, “the waters”) to בִּמִנוֹ (bimino, “in his right hand”; cf. NAB, NRSV) or מִינוּ(י)הֵ (heminu, “they held on the right side”).
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