Nehemiah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
5:1 VA TEHI TSA'AKAT HA AM U NESHEYHEM GEDOLAH EL ACHEYHEM HA YEHUDIM
וַתְּהִי צַעֲקַת הָעָם וּנְשֵׁיהֶם גְּדוֹלָה אֶלאֲחֵיהֶם הַיְּהוּדִים
KJ King James translation): And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
BN (BibleNet translation): Then there arose a great outcry among the people and their wives against their kinsmen the Yehudim.
Don't you just love "the people and their wives"! What does that tell us about the patriarchalisation of society?
5:2 VE YESH ASHER OMRIM BANEYNU U VENOTEYNU ANACHNU RABIM VE NIK'CHAH DAGAN VE NO'CHLAH VE NICHEYEH
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים בָּנֵינוּ וּבְנֹתֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ רַבִּים וְנִקְחָה דָגָן וְנֹאכְלָה וְנִחְיֶה
BN: For there are some among saying: "We, our sons and our daughters, are many; let us get corn for them, that we may eat and live."
VE YESH ASHER OMRIM: This is in the present tense, but the previous verse was in the past tense.
5:3 VE ISH ASHER OMRIM SEDOTEYNU U CHERAMEYNU U VATEYNU ANACHNU ORVIM VE NIK'CHAH DAGAN BA RA'AV
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים שְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ וּבָתֵּינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ עֹרְבִים וְנִקְחָה דָגָן בָּרָעָב
BN: And some saying: "We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses; let us get corn, because of the dearth.
VE ISH: Is singular, but OMRIM is plural.
ASHER OMRIM: Again in the present tense; maybe Nechem-Yah kept a diary, where this would have been present tense, and whoever scribed his memoirs for him didn't think to make the changes.
ARAV: Complex word. EREV is evening (Leviticus 11:25), and ARAV is Arabia. OREV is a raven, though it might be a crow (Deuteronomy 14:14), and ARAVIM, only ever used in the plural, is a copse of willow trees (Isaiah 44:4, Psalm 137:2), most likely the Salix Babylonica, especially in the second link. An AROV is a type of gadfly (Exodus 8:17, Psalm 78:45), and the ARAVAH is the dryest, most infertile region of Kena'an - not that far south of Yeru-Shala'im either, so it may well be these fields that the people are referring to. And yes, there is ERAVON, which means "a pledge" (Genesis 38:17-20), and it is used in the mortgage sense of "security", as in "collateral", in Proverbs 17:18. Which one here? If only the fields and vineyards were mentioned, I would insist that this was about the drought, the parched earth, the unirrigated vines, but there are houses as well, and the Yehudim were not living in mud-huts. So it clearly does mean "mortgage" (verse 8 will confirm it, unequivocally). At this stage, taking the text verse by verse, we still need to ask: to whom would they have been in mortgage, unless other Yehudim, though Nechem-Yah as Governor (PECHAM in verse 14) would surely have had the authority to require the suspension of repayments due to the state of emergency (and why were Yehudim charging interest to other Yehudim anyway - see Exodus 22:24, or Leviticus 25:36-37; unless these laws had not yet been instituted!) or non-Yehudim, who were the ones laying the siege, and therefore why should anyone care about meeting their financial obligations to them?
RA'AV generally suggests a drought or famine rather than a mere dearth, though ata time of siege it could be both or either. But what they are saying echoes the story of Yoseph in Egypt, the seven years of famine which he used to nationalise all land and property under the ownership of the Pharaoh and the priesthood (Genesis 47:13 ff). There is a strong sense throughout Ezra and Nechem-Yah that the way the Biblical stories will be told will be tailored to provide propaganda for the contemporary conditions in Yehudah: so Av-Ram will arrive from Ur, like these returnees from the Babylonian captivity, while Av-Raham will arrive from Padan Aram, the home of the Shomronim who need to be absorbed; so the conditions of the Mosaic "Hebrews" in Egypt, and their travails as they cross the wilderness, will reflect economic and political realities of the time of this writing.
5:4 VE YESH ASHER OMRIM LAVIYNU CHESEPH LE MIDAT HA MELECH SEDOTEYNU U CHERAMEYNU
וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר אֹמְרִים לָוִינוּ כֶסֶף לְמִדַּת הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ
BN: And there are also those who are saying, "We have borrowed money for the king's tithes, against our fields and our vineyards...
MIDAT: Tribute is technically correct, but we understand that these were tithes, or taxes. More significant is the second Yoseph connection; it was precisely through the use of the mortgage that Yoseph enserfed the entire people and nationalised the entire land [Genesis 47, as above).
5:5 VE ATAH KI VESAR ACHEYNU BESARENU KI VENEYHEM BANEYNU VE HINEH ANACHNU CHOVSHIM ET BANEYNU VE ET BENOTEYNU LA AVADIM VE YESH MI BENOTEYNU NICHBASHOT VE EYN LE EL YADENU U SEDOTEYNU U CHERAMEYNU LA ACHERIM
וְעַתָּה כִּבְשַׂר אַחֵינוּ בְּשָׂרֵנוּ כִּבְנֵיהֶם בָּנֵינוּ וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ כֹבְשִׁים אֶת בָּנֵינוּ וְאֶת בְּנֹתֵינוּ לַעֲבָדִים וְיֵשׁ מִבְּנֹתֵינוּ נִכְבָּשׁוֹת וְאֵין לְאֵל יָדֵנוּ וּשְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּכְרָמֵינוּ לַאֲחֵרִים
BN: "Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our kinsmen, our children as their children; and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already; neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards."
Is it conceivable that we have found, in these verses, the answer to some of the fundamental questions asked in our reading of the Torah? The laws of usury, above, certainly lead to that question. And the nature of AVADIM - was it bondsmen, slaves, or something entirely religious: worshippers? How did they leave Mitsrayim with so much wealth if they were slaves? Was Yoseph a "Hebrew" - he, after all, was the one who nationalised all land and property, putting the Pharaoh in the god-role and the priesthood in charge of the economy, which then became the "bondage" of the Habiru?
Or phrase it differently: was the Habiru "slavery" in fact, like the Book of Daniel, an allegorical fiction, created now to parallel the circumstances of the Yehudim, both in Bavel and in the Yishuv, and from which Nechem-Yah, and Ezra, can build a base of propaganda for the establishment of their theocracy? For those who wondered why I have included the texts of Ezra and Nechem-Yah in TheBibleNet, this is a significant part of the explanation. It was in their time that the Torah was written down, in the form in which we have it. To understand the Bible, we have to understand both the context in which it was written down, and the agendas of those who undertook the task.
And on a rather more banal note, why is there no Yud in BESARENU or YADENU, when there is one in ACHEYNU, VENEYHEM, BENAEYNU, BENOTEYNU, SEDOTEYNU and CHERAMEYNU. Am I missing some obscurity of grammar?
5:6 VA YICHAR LI ME'OD KA ASHER SHAM'ATI ET ZA'AKATAM VE ET HA DEVARIM HA ELEH
וַיִּחַר לִי מְאֹד כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת זַעֲקָתָם וְאֵת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה
BN: And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
SHAM'ATI: I commented earlier when this was not used. Is the explanation in the Vav Consecutive? It should be. See VA OMRAH in the next verse, which should otherwise be VA AMARTI.
5:7 VA YIMALECH LIBI ALAY VA ARIYVAH ET HA CHORIM VE ET HA SEGANIM VA OMRAH LAHEM MAS'A ISH VE ACHIV ATEM NOS'IM VA ETEN ALEYHEM KEHILAH GEDOLAH
וַיִּמָּלֵךְ לִבִּי עָלַי וָאָרִיבָה אֶת הַחֹרִים וְאֶת הַסְּגָנִים וָאֹמְרָה לָהֶם מַשָּׁא אִישׁ בְּאָחִיו אַתֶּם נשאים (נֹשִׁים) וָאֶתֵּן עֲלֵיהֶם קְהִלָּה גְדוֹלָה
BN: Then I reflected deeply on the matter, and disputed it with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them: "You lend at interest, every one of you to your own kinsmen." And I called an open town hall meeting to debate the matter.
VA YIMALECH LIBI ALAY: I have to say I like the KJ translation above; but only because it makes me smile at its silliness. Benjamin Netanyahu held similar meetings when he was Prime Minister: "today I met with the Ministers of Defense, Culture and Justice, and we agreed..." holding all of those positions himself!
Less silly, going back to my "allegorical fiction" thought, this matter of money-lending, which will so upset Jesus later on, and which, as quoted above, either was already or now became a key element of Mosaic law; and again I wonder how much of this Mosaic law was ascribed to Egypt but actually a consequence of Babylon, and of the contemporary conditions in Yehudah itself.
And if the Mosaic law was already in place, then he is fully justified in challenging them for breaching it.
NOS'IM or NOSIM? See verse 10.
5:8 VA OMRAH LAHEM ANACHNU KANIYNU ET ACHEYNU HA YEHUDIM HA NIMKARIM LA GOYIM KEDEY VANU VE GAM ATEM TIMKERU ET ACHEYCHEM VE NIMKERU LANU VA YICHARIYSHU VE LO MATS'U DAVAR
וָאֹמְרָה לָהֶם אֲנַחְנוּ קָנִינוּ אֶת אַחֵינוּ הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְכָּרִים לַגּוֹיִם כְּדֵי בָנוּ וְגַם אַתֶּם תִּמְכְּרוּ אֶת אֲחֵיכֶם וְנִמְכְּרוּ לָנוּ וַיַּחֲרִישׁוּ וְלֹא מָצְאוּ דָּבָר
BN: And I said to them: "To the best of our ability we have redeemed our kinsmen the Yehudim, who had been sold into vassaldom among the nations. And now do you want to sell your kinsmen on again? Or is it your intention that they should sell themselves to us?" This silenced them, not a word could they find to respond.
GOYIM should definitely not be translated as "heathen" - typical Christian inferiorisation of all non-Christian people!
samech break
5:9 VA YOMER (OMAR) LO TOV HA DAVAR ASHER ATEM OSIM HA LO BE YIR'AT ELOHEYNU TELCHU ME CHERPAT HA GOYIM OYEVEYNU
ויאמר (וָאֹמַר) לֹא טוֹב הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁראַתֶּם עֹשִׂים הֲלוֹא בְּיִרְאַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ תֵּלֵכוּ מֵחֶרְפַּת הַגּוֹיִם אוֹיְבֵינוּ
BN: Then I said, "This thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in fear of our gods, to avoid the slanderous reproaches of the nations who are our enemies?..
VA OMAR: Why not VA OMRAH, as previously? The latter is the Vav Consecutive, the former a misuse of the past tense. Mind you, the original, VA YOMER, is also an incorrect use of the Vav Consecutive, because it works by using the form of the future tense. Today we would say VA ANI AMARTI. Cf VA YOMRU, which is entirely correct, at the start of verse 12.
LO TOV HA DAVAR ASHER ATEM OSIM: isn't that precisely what Yitro said to Mosheh - Exodus 18:17 if you would like to verify it for yourself? And no coincidence either, in the light of my previous comments: Yitro's advice to Mosheh will effectively be what Ezra is about to do here, with Nechem-Yah's full support: you need a proper set of laws, written down, readable to the people, accessible to the appointed judges so that you have benchmarks and measures and precepts and values in place, and then you can get these ex-slaves organised to make a decent society. Exodus 19 and 20 will achieve that for the "Hebrews"; Ezra's reading of the Torah will take place in Nehemiah 8.
But it is also highly colloquial, and sounds like a foreigner pidgining (probably it was when Yitro said it too!).
5:10 VE GAM ANI ACHAI U NE'ARAI NOSIM BAHEM KESEPH VE DAGAN NA'AVAH NA ET HA MAS'A HA ZEH
וְגַם אֲנִי אַחַי וּנְעָרַי נֹשִׁים בָּהֶם כֶּסֶף וְדָגָן נַעַזְבָה נָּא אֶת הַמַּשָּׁא הַזֶּה
BN: "I too am lending them money and giving them corn. So are my kinsmen, and my children. Please, let us give up this exaction...
GAM ANI: The use of the present tense for NOSIM seems to infer that he isn't just lending money and giving corn, but, like them, charging for it, rather than doing it as an act of charity.
NE'ARAI: I have insisted up until now (see my notes to 4:10) that NE'ARIM must mean "children", and not "servants"; this verse forces me to question the matter, partly because we have never had any indication that Nechem-Yah was married, let alone had children, let alone had children with him in Yeru-Shala'im, partly because I have read ahead to verses 15 and 16, and in both of those it really cannot mean children.
NOSIM: Which appears to resolve the scholarly conflict over verse 7. The additional Aleph may just be the Aramaic spelling.
MAS'A: Exaction is a pretty strong choice of term, but accurate; "usury" is just as strong, but may not be quite as accurate;either way it conflicts with the Judaic idelaism of Tsedakah, which is both "charity" and "justice" and "righteousness".
Is this the same MAS'A that we use today for "negotiations" - MAS'A U MATAN? It says something very uncomfortable about contemporary capitalism if it is.
5:11 HASHIYVU NA LAHEM KE HAYOM SEDOTEYHEM KARMEYHEM ZEYTEYHEM U VATEYHEM U ME'AT HA KESEPH VE HA DAGAN HA TIYROSH VE HA YITS'HAR ASHER ATEM NOSIM BAHEM
הָשִׁיבוּ נָא לָהֶם כְּהַיּוֹם שְׂדֹתֵיהֶם כַּרְמֵיהֶם זֵיתֵיהֶם וּבָתֵּיהֶם וּמְאַת הַכֶּסֶף וְהַדָּגָן הַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם נֹשִׁים בָּהֶם
BN: "I implore you, as of today, restore to them their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, even the interest that you've charged, and the corn, the wine, and the oil that you have exacted from them."
This is not simply a condemnation of his contemporaries, it is a condemnation of ancestor Yoseph, exactly the same conditions, down to the last blade of corn - and more and more I become convinced that this, this is why those stories found their way into the Torah in the way they did.
ME'AT HA KESEPH: A me'ah is indeed "a hundredth", but I think we can assume that he means it in the sense of "per centage". And how have they exacted it? Per head? Per family? How do you say kleptocracy in Yehudit? קלפטוקרטיה I presume.
5:12 VA YOMRU NASHIV U ME HEM LO NEVAKESH KEN NA'ASEH KA ASHER ATAH OMER VE EKR'A ET HA KOHANIM VA ASHBIY'EM LA’ASOT KA DAVAR HA ZEH
וַיֹּאמְרוּ נָשִׁיב וּמֵהֶם לֹא נְבַקֵּשׁ כֵּן נַעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר אַתָּה אוֹמֵר וָאֶקְרָא אֶת הַכֹּהֲנִים וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵם לַעֲשׂוֹת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה
BN: Then they said, "We will restore them, and we will require nothing of them. So will we do, even as you say." Then I called the priests, and made them swear an oath, that they would do according to this promise.
ASHER ATAH OMER: Note that they are doing it because Nechem-Yah is telling them to, not because YHVH is telling them to, not because Mosaic law tells them to, not "because it is right".
5:13 GAM CHATSNI NA'ARTI VA OMRAH KACHAH YENA'ER HA ELOHIM ET KOL HA ISH ASHER LO YAKIM ET HA DAVAR HA ZEH MI BEITO U MIY'GI'O VE CHACHA YIHEYEH NA'UR VA REK VA YOMRU CHOL HA KAHAL AMEN VA YEHALELU ET YHVH VA YA'AS HA AM KA DAVAR HA ZEH
גַּם חָצְנִי נָעַרְתִּ וָאֹמְרָה כָּכָה יְנַעֵר הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת כָּל הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָקִים אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה מִבֵּיתוֹ וּמִיגִיעוֹ וְכָכָה יִהְיֶה נָעוּר וָרֵק וַיֹּאמְרוּ כָל הַקָּהָל אָמֵן וַיְהַלְלוּ אֶת יְהוָה וַיַּעַשׂ הָעָם כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה
BN: Then I rearranged my bernous, flicking away whatever was settled there, and said, "So may Elohim shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, who does not keep this promise; even thus let him be shaken out, and emptied." And all the congregation said: "Amen", and praised YHVH. And the people did according to this promise.
KJ: Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
KJ: But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
KJ: Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.
KJ: Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.
KJ: Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.
KJ: Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
CHATSNI: But from which part of the bernous. KJ translates it as "lap!", but Isaiah 49:22, the only other occasion in the Tanach when we encounter this root, uses the word for women breast-feeding.
NA'ARTI: This is not in fact the same root that gave us NO'AR earlier (see my notes to 4:10), though it is comprised of the same letters. Jeremiah 51:38 uses it for the roaring of a lion, but that doesn't match the tone, or fit the context, here. Isaiah 33:9 and 15 use it for "to shake", while Psalm 109:23 has it passively, for "being shaken out", and Judges 16:20 uses it metaphorically, "shaking oneself out of bonds".
CHATSNI NA'ARTI: An idiom - but what exactly does it mean, and where does it come from? And how come it isn't an idiom any longer? My sense is of a man in a bernous, who has been seated throughout this discussion, informally eating pita and chumus while having the conversation, which has taken place amicably, though every participant probably knew in advance what the agenda was, and what the outcome was going to be. Now it is done, and in a theatrical gesture Nechem-Yah gets up, rearranges his bernous, and flicks the pita crumbs onto the ground.
ELOHIM: Not YHVH. Nechem-Yah never refers to YHVH unless there is a liturgical context whose text compels it. But he notes that the Kohanim do say YHVH in their response.
VA YOMRU CHOL HA KAHAL AMEN: Which does not make this a liturgical act, even though it is done before the Kohanim; simply, he is invoking the gods, and underlying their duty of obligation.
5:14 GAM MI YOM ASHER TSIVAH OTI LIHEYOT PECHAM BE ERETS YEHUDAH MI SHENAT ESRIM VE AD SHENAT SHELOSHIM U SHETAYIM LE ARTACHSHAST HA MELECH SHANIM SHTEYM-ESREH ANI VE ACHAI LECHEM HA PECHAH LO ACHALTI
גַּם מִיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אוֹתִי לִהְיוֹת פֶּחָם בְּאֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה, מִשְּׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים וְעַד שְׁנַת שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא הַמֶּלֶךְ, שָׁנִים שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה אֲנִי וְאַחַי, לֶחֶם הַפֶּחָה לֹא אָכַלְתִּי.
BN: And what is more, from the time that I was appointed to be their Governor in the land of Yehudah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of Artachshast the king, that is, twelve years, I and my kinsmen have not eaten the Governor's bread.
GAM: Two verses in a row that begin with this word, which really means "also", and can mean "even" (as it does in verse 15) though it cannot mean either of those in either of these verses! And in fact it seems to mean something completely different on each occasion - so that it reads, you know, more like a verbal idiosyncracy, don't it? And then (VE GAM!) a fourth different usage in verse 16, though "likewise" is not far from "also".
PECHAM... PECHAH: No question that he is the Governor of Yehudah at this time; except that he then states that "I and my kinsmen have not eaten the Governor's bread". How do these two statements reconcile, especially in verse 18, where he wines and dines a hundred and fifty Yehudim and others, precisely at the Governor's table - is he spending his own money, rather than taking tithes and taxes: is that what he means? And no baksheesh either? That s what he will tell us in the very next verse. However, given that he was a mere cup-bearer, where would he have got such money, unless it was the king's money, or the money collected for the Temple, or earnings from "usury" and "exactions". We need to see his tax returns. We need to rethink his status back in Susa.
SHENAT ESRIM: Confirming (see Nehemiah 1:1 ff, which gives the date but not this specific piece of information) that Artaxerxes not only gave him letters of support and a military escort etc, but also formally appointed him as Governor of Yehudah.
ACHALTI: yes, I'm being pedantic again - this should read ACHALNU - 1st person plural. "I and my kinsmen".
5:15 VE HA PACHOT HA RI'SHONIM ASHER LEPHANAI HICHBIYDU AL HA AM VA YIKCHU ME HEM BE LECHEM VA YAYIN ACHAR KESEPH SHEKALIM ARBA'IM GAM NA'AREYHEM SHALTU AL HA AM VA ANI LO ASIYTI CHEN MIPNEY YIR'AT ELOHIM
וְהַפַּחוֹת הָרִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר לְפָנַי הִכְבִּידוּ עַל הָעָם וַיִּקְחוּ מֵהֶם בְּלֶחֶם וָיַיִן אַחַר כֶּסֶף שְׁקָלִים אַרְבָּעִים גַּם נַעֲרֵיהֶם שָׁלְטוּ עַל הָעָם וַאֲנִי לֹא עָשִׂיתִי כֵן מִפְּנֵי יִרְאַת אֱלֹהִים
BN: But the previous Governors, the ones who were in this role before me, they laid burdens upon the people, and took from them bread and wine, and as much as forty shekels of silver. Why, even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not, because of the fear of Elohim.
HA PACHOT HA RI'SHONIM ASHER LEPHANAI: Zeru-Bavel had that role at the start of the return, but presumably all the ones that followed were non-Yehudim who were appointed by the king - an assumption I make only because none of them get mentioned by name in Ezra or Nechem-Yah, and surely they would have been if they had been Yehudim?
HICHBIYDU AL HA AM: The KJ translation reads as though it were expected that all the Governor's costs would be affrayed by the people, rather than the king providing a salary and a budget. The root is KAVED, which means "heavy", and is in the Hiphil form here, "to make something a burden". KJ may well be correct, but I am unable to find any archaeological evidence to support that claim, either in text or in artefact. My reading is rather more feudal, and rather more corrupt.
ELOHIM: again, not YHVH.
5:16 VE GAM BIMLE'CHET HA CHOMAH HA ZOT HECHEZAKTI VE SADEH LO KANIYNU VE CHOL NE'ARAI KEVUTSIM SHAM AL HA MELA'CHAH
וְגַם בִּמְלֶאכֶת הַחוֹמָה הַזֹּאת הֶחֱזַקְתִּי וְשָׂדֶה לֹא קָנִינוּ וְכָל נְעָרַי קְבוּצִים שָׁם, עַל-הַמְּלָאכָה.
BN: And likewise in the work on this wall, I did my share of the stengthening work, and we did not purchase any land; and all my servants were gathered there to the work.
KANIYNU: Is that a royal we, or another error, or is he including his servants, by which I presume he means his "office staff" rather than his cook and gardener (though he probably had household slaves as well).
5:17 VE HA YEHUDIM VE HA SEGANIM ME'AH VA CHAMISHIM ISH VE HA BA'IM ELEYNU MIN HA GOYIM ASHER SEVIYVOTEYNU AL SHULCHANI
וְהַיְּהוּדִים וְהַסְּגָנִים מֵאָה וַחֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ וְהַבָּאִים אֵלֵינוּ מִן הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתֵינוּ עַל שֻׁלְחָנִי
BN: And the Jews and the Seganim who sat at my table numbered a hundred and fifty men, including those who joined us from among the nations round about us.
The Yehudit syntax here is very awkward, indeed muddled; I have tried to convey the sense as well as the meaning.
SEGANIM: We have seen it used to mean "Deputies", in the context of the clergy, and to mean "Defenders" in the context of the wall; I have the sense that it has become a generic term, in the way that Chalutsim ("pioneers") did in the early days of modern Israel, and therefore merits retaining as a term in its own right, rather than attempting a translation - at least, on this occasion.
In which case his cook at the very least cannot have been out there working on the wall, and most of his household slaves would have been preoccupied as well! The gardener is quite a different matter.
5:18 VA ASHER HAYAH NA'ASEH LE YOM ECHAD SHOR ECHAD TSON SHESH BERUROT VE TSIPARIM NA'ASU LI U VEYN ASERET YAMIM BE CHOL YAYIN LE HARBEH VE IM ZEH LECHEM HA PECHAH LO VIKASHTI KI CHAVDAH HA AVODAH AL HA AM HA ZEH
וַאֲשֶׁר הָיָה נַעֲשֶׂה לְיוֹם אֶחָד שׁוֹר אֶחָד צֹאן שֵׁשׁ בְּרֻרוֹת וְצִפֳּרִים נַעֲשׂוּ לִי וּבֵין עֲשֶׂרֶת יָמִים בְּכָל יַיִן לְהַרְבֵּה וְעִםזֶה לֶחֶם הַפֶּחָה לֹא בִקַּשְׁתִּי כִּי כָבְדָה הָעֲבֹדָה עַלהָעָם הַזֶּה
BN: Now that which was prepared on any given day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowl were prepared for me. And once every ten days the store of every type of wine was replenished. Yet for none of this did I demand the bread of the Governor, because the workload was enough of a burden on this people.
TSIPARIM: One of those variations that we come to expect as language changes over time. Tsiporim in the Torah, Tsipurim today.
LECHEM HA PECHAH: see again my note to verse 14. I think this verse is clearer: the expression is a rather tawdry euphemism for taxes and tithes and baksheesh, the normal means by which governors would make themselves rich, and show their bounty.
AVODAH: Fascinating that KJ translates AVODAH here as an equivalent of Egyptian bondage, when the work in question was the rebuilding of the walls of Yeru-Shala'im, very much a labour of love, and being undertaken by men who were as free as it was possible to be in that epoch.
5:19 ZACHRAH LI ELOHAI LE TOVAH KOL ASHER ASIYTI AL HA AM HA ZEH
זָכְרָה לִּי אֱלֹהַי לְטוֹבָה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי עַל הָעָם הַזֶּה
BN: Remember me, O my gods, for good, for all the good things that I have done for this people.
Does he end every chapter with a prayer? No. But a pattern is established. Note that this one is explicitly to the pantheon. See Nehemiah 1:8, 6:14, 13:14, 13:22, 13:29 and 13:31. Seven times in all - which of course is YHVH's sacred number, not that of the Elohim.
pey break
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