Nehemiah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
6:1 VA YEHI
CHA ASHER NISHM'A LE SANVALAT VE TOVI-YAH U LE GESHEM HA ARVI U LE YETER
OYEVEYNU KI VANIYTI ET HA CHOMAH VE LO NOTAR BAH PARETS GAM AD HA ET HA HI
DELATOT LO HE'EMADETI VE SHE'ARIM
וַיְהִי כַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁמַע לְסַנְבַלַּט וְטוֹבִיָּה וּלְגֶשֶׁם הָעַרְבִי וּלְיֶתֶר אֹיְבֵינוּ כִּי בָנִיתִי אֶת הַחוֹמָה וְלֹא נוֹתַר בָּהּ פָּרֶץ גַּם עַד הָעֵת הַהִיא דְּלָתוֹת לֹא הֶעֱמַדְתִּי בַשְּׁעָרִים
KJ (King James translation): Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
BN (BibleNet translation): Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanvalat and Tovi-Yah, and to Geshem the Arvite, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, but also that, at that time, I had not yet set up the doors in the gates...
BN (BibleNet translation): Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanvalat and Tovi-Yah, and to Geshem the Arvite, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, but also that, at that time, I had not yet set up the doors in the gates...
NISHM'A LE:
Not an idiom I can recall anywhere else - the use of the passive as a transitive
verb.
VANIYTI: Note the use of the 1st person. Ego Rising!
GAM: Yet another variation on the meaning of this word - see my note to 5:14.
This is the significant moment, the last opportunity to stop the building; once the
doors are on the gates, it will take a siege, and the evidence of history (Nechem-Yah's endless playing with the word CHAZAK which recalls Chizki-Yah's successful defense of the city against Sennacherib) is
that besieging Yeru-Shala'im is very difficult - Titus will need four months, though really it took four years, to achieve it, finally managing it in 70 CE.
6:2 VA
YISHLACH SANVALAT VE GESHEM ELAI LEMOR LECHAH VE NIVA'ADAH YACHDAV BA KEPHIYRIM
BE VIK'AT ONO VE HEMAH CHOSHVIM LA'ASOT LI RA'AH
וַיִּשְׁלַח סַנְבַלַּט וְגֶשֶׁם אֵלַי לֵאמֹר לְכָה וְנִוָּעֲדָה יַחְדָּו בַּכְּפִירִים בְּבִקְעַת אוֹנוֹ וְהֵמָּה חֹשְׁבִים לַעֲשׂוֹת לִי רָעָה
KJ: That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
BN: ... that Sanvalat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono". But they were thinking of doing me mischief.
BN: ... that Sanvalat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono". But they were thinking of doing me mischief.
ONO: see the link
RA'AH: Used here to mean "wickedness" or "evil", but the word used in KJ is "mischief" and we could just as well use "grief". I mention this only because, earlier, RA'AH was used to mean "grief", and it appeared to be a misuse; though it was only one of several different usages. See Nehemiah 1:3, 2:10 and 17. 13:7 will use it differently again.
6:3 VA
ESHLECHAH ALEYHEM MALA'CHIM LEMOR MELA'CHAH GEDOLAH ANI OSEH VE LO UCHAL LAREDET
LAMAH TISHBAT HA MELA'CHAH KA ASHER ARPEHA VE YARADETI ALEYCHEM
וָאֶשְׁלְחָה עֲלֵיהֶם מַלְאָכִים לֵאמֹר מְלָאכָה גְדוֹלָה אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה וְלֹא אוּכַל לָרֶדֶת לָמָּה תִשְׁבַּת הַמְּלָאכָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אַרְפֶּהָ וְיָרַדְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם
KJ: And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
BN: And I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am engaged in important work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?"
BN: And I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am engaged in important work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?"
MELA'CHIM
LEMOR MELA'CHAH: There is a verbal play in the Yehudit which is impossible to
reflect in English, except by commentary. Unpointed MELA'CHIM and MELA'CHAH
appear to be identical (yes, but are they in fact from the same root?) but have completely different meanings.
6:4 VA
YISHLECHU ELAI KA DAVAR HA ZEH ARBA PE'AMIM VA ASHIV OTAM KA DAVAR HA ZEH
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ אֵלַי כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה אַרְבַּע פְּעָמִים וָאָשִׁיב אוֹתָם כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה
KJ: Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
BN: And they sent this same message to me four times; and I answered them in the same manner.
BN: And they sent this same message to me four times; and I answered them in the same manner.
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6:5 VA
YISHLACH ELAI SANVALAT KA DAVAR HA ZEH PA'AM CHAMIYSHIT ET NA'ARO VE IGERET
PETUCHAH BE YADO
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֵלַי סַנְבַלַּט כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה פַּעַם חֲמִישִׁית אֶת נַעֲרוֹ וְאִגֶּרֶת פְּתוּחָה בְּיָדוֹ
KJ: Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;
BN: Then Sanvalat sent his servant to me with the same message for a fifth time, but this time in an open letter...
BN: Then Sanvalat sent his servant to me with the same message for a fifth time, but this time in an open letter...
6:6 KATUV
BAH BA GOYIM NISHM'A VE GASHMU OMER ATAH VE HA YEHUDIM CHOSHVIM LIMROD AL KEN
ATAH VONEH HA CHOMAH VE ATAH HOVEH LAHEM LE MELECH KA DEVARIM HA ELEH
כָּתוּב בָּהּ בַּגּוֹיִם נִשְׁמָע וְגַשְׁמוּ אֹמֵר אַתָּה וְהַיְּהוּדִים חֹשְׁבִים לִמְרוֹד עַל כֵּן אַתָּה בוֹנֶה הַחוֹמָה וְאַתָּה הֹוֶה לָהֶם לְמֶלֶךְ כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה
KJ: Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
BN: ... in which it was written: "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Yehudim are planning a rebellion, and this is why you are building the wall; and that you would be their king - so it is said...
BN: ... in which it was written: "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Yehudim are planning a rebellion, and this is why you are building the wall; and that you would be their king - so it is said...
GASHNU: The Aramaic form of his name, and probably the way he said and wrote it, with GESHEM as the Yehudit "translation", and probably a deliberately ironic translation at that - GESHEM means "rain", and one can easily imagine the off-microphone remarks among the leadership, "Sanbalat and his rainman have sent another letter..."
LIMROD: Same root as Nimrod? Probably not, or not directly, though the Babylonian connection is real enough; Merodach was the name of a Babylonian idol, somewhat akin to the pre-Jerusalemite Moloch, equated with the fiery planet Mars, assoiated with wars of every kind, including the civil, and propitated with human victims. We can safely assume that Sanvalat didn't choose this verb by accident. We can also safely assume that Merodach was a variant form of Marduk (see Jeremiah 50:2), which helps us see how the name Mordechai found its way into the Purim story.
6:7 VE GAM NEVIY'IM HE'EMADETA LIKR'O ALEYCHA VIYRU-SHALA'IM LEMOR MELECH BIYHUDAH VE ATAH YISHAM'A LA MELECH KA DEVARIM HA ELEH VE ATAH LECHAH VE NIVA'ATSAH YACHDAV
וְגַם נְבִיאִים הֶעֱמַדְתָּ לִקְרֹא עָלֶיךָ בִירוּשָׁלִַם לֵאמֹר מֶלֶךְ בִּיהוּדָה וְעַתָּה יִשָּׁמַע לַמֶּלֶךְ כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְעַתָּה לְכָה וְנִוָּעֲצָה יַחְדָּו
KJ: And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
BN: ... and you have also appointed Prophets to proclaim you in Yeru-Shala'im, saying: There is a king in Yehudah; and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us work this out together."
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NEVIY'IM HE'EMADETA: Sanvalat is absolutely right on this; but Prophets have been central to Yehudi culture for centuries, so it all depends on how one chooses to interpret these things.
LIKR'O ALEYCHA: This accusation would certainly have applied in Zeru-Bavel's time, when both Chagai and Zechar-Yah spoke of Zeru-Bavel in Messianic terms; cf Chagai 2:20 ff and Zechariah 6:12 ff. It is far from certain that the same applied to Nechem-Yah, either that he sought such a role, or that the Prophet of his day, was proclaiming it. Indeed, the nearest we get to a reference to anything Messianic in Mal'achi is in 1:14, where he describes himself in something like the John the Baptist role, but it is the idealism of the Moshi'a, not the aspiration of the Mashiyach, that he is here to presage: a world in which human beings behave as the gods would want, which is Moshi'a, and not the re-establishment of the Davidic kingship, which is Mashiyach.
6:8 VA
ESHLECHAH ELAV LEMOR LO NIHEYEH KA DEVARIM HA ELEH ASHER ATAH OMER KI MI LIBCHA
ATAH VODA'AM
וָאֶשְׁלְחָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר לֹא נִהְיָה כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה אוֹמֵר כִּי מִלִּבְּךָ אַתָּה בוֹדָאם
KJ: Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
BN: Then I sent to him, saying, "There are no such things being done as you are saying, but you contrive them in your own mind"...
BN: Then I sent to him, saying, "There are no such things being done as you are saying, but you contrive them in your own mind"...
LIBCHA: The heart serving for the mind, as we have seen so often throughout these Biblical texts; the subjective rather than the objective as a description of human thought-processes. Previously we have had LEVAVECHA, never this, though it is actually more
logical grammatically. Was there originally a LEV and a LEVAV, and this is why
the difference? And we would say BE LIBI, not BE LEVAVI.
ATAH
VODA'AM: "Fake news". And we thought that was an invention of Emperor Trump!
I have transliterated it as VODA'AM, but only with reservations. Is there a chirik above the Aleph? Should there be, if there isn't? In which case it would be VODA'OM. Or is it VOD'AM. The difficulty of suffixing the 3rd person plural onto an Aleph ending - this may be resolveable by more detailed etymological research into the VOD'A part, but I suspect that the root, BADAH (בָּדָא), with its third-letter Aleph, is Aramaic, or else a Yehudit word that Nechem-Yah simply didn't known how to conjugate. The root can be found on one other occasion in the Tanach, at 1 Kings 12:33, and there too is clearly a "contrivance of his own mind".
I have transliterated it as VODA'AM, but only with reservations. Is there a chirik above the Aleph? Should there be, if there isn't? In which case it would be VODA'OM. Or is it VOD'AM. The difficulty of suffixing the 3rd person plural onto an Aleph ending - this may be resolveable by more detailed etymological research into the VOD'A part, but I suspect that the root, BADAH (בָּדָא), with its third-letter Aleph, is Aramaic, or else a Yehudit word that Nechem-Yah simply didn't known how to conjugate. The root can be found on one other occasion in the Tanach, at 1 Kings 12:33, and there too is clearly a "contrivance of his own mind".
6:9 KI
KULAM MEYAR'IM OTANU LEMOR YIRPU YEDEYHEM MIN HA MELA'CHAH VE LO TE'ASEH VE
ATAH CHAZEK ET YADAI
כִּי כֻלָּם מְיָרְאִים אוֹתָנוּ לֵאמֹר יִרְפּוּ יְדֵיהֶם מִן הַמְּלָאכָה וְלֹא תֵעָשֶׂה וְעַתָּה חַזֵּק אֶת יָדָי
KJ: For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.
BN: Because they were all trying to frighten us , saying, "This will make their hands feeble when they try to do the work, so that it won't get done." But now, strengthen my hands.
BN: Because they were all trying to frighten us , saying, "This will make their hands feeble when they try to do the work, so that it won't get done." But now, strengthen my hands.
VE ATAH: Nechem-Yah doesn't actually name the deity, but it is clearly the deity who he is invoking, and guess what verb he is using yet again!
KJ: And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
BN: And I said: "Should a man like me run away? And who is there, that, being in my position, would go into the Temple, and live there? I will not go in."
6:12 VA AKIYRAH VE HINEH LO ELOHIM SHELACHO KI HA NEVU'AH DIBER ALAI VE TOVI-YAH VE SANVALAT SECHARO
With Ezr'a, we were conscious throughout of him being a religious fanatic; with Nechem-Yah, until this moment, we have seen an ardent and devoted follower of Elohim, but also a secular leader who understands the methods and pragmatisms of both military and diplomatic politics. This verse modifies our sense of him slightly.
SHECHAN-YAH BEN ARACH: A SHEM'A-YAH VEN SHECHAN-YAH was mentioned in 3:29, as the keeper of the east gate. Another Shechan-Yah is named in 12:1 among those who returned from Babylon with Zeru-Bavel; clearly this is not him. The Beney Arach are included in the similar list in chapter 7 (verse 10). Ezra 8:3 and 5 likewise name them, and for the same reason. Another Shechan-Yah, this one ben Yechiy-El, an Elamite, is mentioned in Ezra 10:2; this isn't him either.
MESHULAM BEN BERECH-YAH:
6:10 VA ANI
VA'TI BEIT SHEM'A-YAH VEN DELA-YAH BEN MEHEYTAV-EL VE HU ATSUR VA YOMER NIVA'ED
EL BEIT HA ELOHIM EL TOCH HA HEYCHAL VE NISGERAH DALTOT HA HEYCHAL KI BA'IM
LEHARGECHA VE LAILAH BA'IM LEHARGECHA
וַאֲנִי בָאתִי בֵּית שְׁמַעְיָה בֶן דְּלָיָה בֶּן מְהֵיטַבְאֵל וְהוּא עָצוּר וַיֹּאמֶר נִוָּעֵד אֶל בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל תּוֹךְ הַהֵיכָל וְנִסְגְּרָה דַּלְתוֹת הַהֵיכָלכִּי בָּאִים לְהָרְגֶךָ וְלַיְלָה בָּאִים לְהָרְגֶךָ
KJ: Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
BN: Then I went to the house of Shema-Yah ben Dela-Yah ben Meheytav-El, who had locked himself in. And he said, "Let us meet together in the house of Elohim, within the Temple, and let us shut the doors of the Temple. For they are coming to kill you. This very night they are coming to kill you."
BN: Then I went to the house of Shema-Yah ben Dela-Yah ben Meheytav-El, who had locked himself in. And he said, "Let us meet together in the house of Elohim, within the Temple, and let us shut the doors of the Temple. For they are coming to kill you. This very night they are coming to kill you."
It is
unclear how shutting themselves in the Temple will help. Yeru-Shala'im was not an
official refuge-city, and the refuge-laws applied to people
who killed by accident, not to those scared of being assassinated - and anyway, why would Sanvalat pay heed to Yehudan asylum laws? At most,
clutching the horns of the altar might arouse a superstitious side to their
assailants, who are not Yehudim, not followers of YHVH, and therefore just as
likely to not care whether they kill a man in the street or in a place they don't
consider holy.
For a full picture of the refuge laws, and the laws pertaining to the Cities of Refuge, go to Exodus 20:12–14, Numbers 35:9–28; Deuteronomy 4:41–43: Deuteronomy 19:1–13; Joshua 20; and
1 Chronicles 6 (which doesn't actually add anything new, except to label all cities of refuge as Levitical cities).
6:11 VA
OMRAH HA ISH KAMONI YIVRACH U MI CHAMONI ASHER YAVO EL HA HEYCHAL VA CHAI LO
AVO'
וָאֹמְרָה הַאִישׁ כָּמוֹנִי יִבְרָח וּמִי כָמוֹנִי אֲשֶׁר יָבֹא אֶל הַהֵיכָל וָחָי לֹא אָבוֹא
KJ: And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
BN: And I said: "Should a man like me run away? And who is there, that, being in my position, would go into the Temple, and live there? I will not go in."
People
reveal their personalities in all manner of different ways. Yes, he is brave,
even heroic, too,resonding to the bullies by refusing to yield; but an extraordinary level of arrogance and self-importance
comes across here too. Maybe you have to, to trump the bullies.
6:12 VA AKIYRAH VE HINEH LO ELOHIM SHELACHO KI HA NEVU'AH DIBER ALAI VE TOVI-YAH VE SANVALAT SECHARO
וָאַכִּירָה וְהִנֵּה לֹא אֱלֹהִים שְׁלָחוֹ כִּי הַנְּבוּאָה דִּבֶּר עָלַי וְטוֹבִיָּה וְסַנְבַלַּט שְׂכָרוֹ
KJ: And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
BN: And then the penny dropped, that no, Elohim had not sent him to pronounce a prophecy to warn me, but rather because Tovi-Yah and Sanvalat had recruited him.
BN: And then the penny dropped, that no, Elohim had not sent him to pronounce a prophecy to warn me, but rather because Tovi-Yah and Sanvalat had recruited him.
My
suspicion in verse 10, the same as his here.
6:13
LEMA'AN SACHUR HU LEMA'AN IYR'A VE E'ESEH KEN VE CHATA'TI VE HAYAH LAHEM LE SHEM
RA LEMA'AN YECHARPHUNI
לְמַעַן שָׂכוּר הוּא לְמַעַן אִירָא וְאֶעֱשֶׂה כֵּן וְחָטָאתִי וְהָיָה לָהֶם לְשֵׁם רָע לְמַעַן יְחָרְפוּנִי
KJ: Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
BN: Quite deliberately he had been recruited, to get me scared, and act out of fear, by committing a sin, so that they would have substance to slander me with, and mock me.
BN: Quite deliberately he had been recruited, to get me scared, and act out of fear, by committing a sin, so that they would have substance to slander me with, and mock me.
pey break
6:14
ZACHRAH ELOHAI LE TOVI-YAH U LE SANVALAT KE MA'ASAV ELEH VE GAM LE NO'AD-YAH HA
NEVIY'AH U LE YETER HA NEVIY'IM ASHER HAYU MEYAR'IM OTI
זָכְרָה אֱלֹהַי לְטוֹבִיָּה וּלְסַנְבַלַּט כְּמַעֲשָׂיו אֵלֶּה וְגַם לְנוֹעַדְיָה הַנְּבִיאָה וּלְיֶתֶר הַנְּבִיאִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ מְיָרְאִים אוֹתִי
KJ: My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
BN: Remember, O gods, Tovi-Yah and Sanvalat, according to these their works, and also the prophetess No'ad-Yah, and the rest of the prophets, who would have me put in fear.
BN: Remember, O gods, Tovi-Yah and Sanvalat, according to these their works, and also the prophetess No'ad-Yah, and the rest of the prophets, who would have me put in fear.
He hasn't
mentioned any of these previously, but the inference is clear, that there was
some kind of active campaign against him, op ed pieces in the broadsheets,
negative horoscopes, false prophecies of gloom and doom, paid pundits doing the
dirty, no doubt tabloid journalists sniffing around the sewage for a souvenir -
plus ça change!
ZACHRAH: This is the second of the seven occasions on which he utters a prayer to the deity, specifically beginning with the word "Zachrah - remember" (see my note to Nehemiah 5:19). Can it be pure coincidence that he chooses this word, out of all the many that he might have chosen? Or is "stengthening" his language with another carefully placed allusion. Because it is odd that, responding to this "false prophesy", he makes mention of a female Prophetess, No'ad-Yah, but scrupulously avoids mentioning the two major Prophets of recent times, one of whom just happens to be named Zechar-Yah (Zechariah).
ZACHRAH: This is the second of the seven occasions on which he utters a prayer to the deity, specifically beginning with the word "Zachrah - remember" (see my note to Nehemiah 5:19). Can it be pure coincidence that he chooses this word, out of all the many that he might have chosen? Or is "stengthening" his language with another carefully placed allusion. Because it is odd that, responding to this "false prophesy", he makes mention of a female Prophetess, No'ad-Yah, but scrupulously avoids mentioning the two major Prophets of recent times, one of whom just happens to be named Zechar-Yah (Zechariah).
NO'AD-YAH: No'ad-Yah appeared as a man's name in Ezra 8:33. Note that there were still female as well as male prophets at this time; No'ad-Yah is described as a Neviy'ah, not a Ba'alat Ov, so a positive not a negative descriptor, regardless of the negative detail of her prophesies.
6:15 VA
TISHLAM HA CHOMAH BE ESRIM VA CHAMISHAH LE ELUL LA CHAMISHIM U SHENAYIM YOM
וַתִּשְׁלַם הַחוֹמָה בְּעֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה לֶאֱלוּל לַחֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם יוֹם
KJ: So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
BN: So the wall was finished, on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
BN: So the wall was finished, on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
VA TISHLAM:
Not the verb that is most frequently used for bringing things to a conclusion.
Today we would expect LESAYEM (לסיים)
for "to finish", or possibly LIGMOR (לגמור). Indeed, there isn't really a verb
LESHALEM, except in the entirely different meaning of "to pay". Having said
which, there is LEHASHLIM (להשלים),
very rarely used, but meaning, as it does here , "to complete", and most likely
it is from the invented usage in this verse that Ben Yehudah added it to his
modern lexicon. But no verb, no root, could be more apposite in the context,
because the root is SHALEM, which not only yields the name of the city,
Yeru-Shala'im, but now, finished, the walls that protect it. It is almost
certainly a neologism here - and what a splendid one: "to Jerusalem the wall"! A third key name to go with Chizki-Yahu and Zechar-Yah in Nechem-Yah's politically astute pronounements.
ELUL: Which means they started on the 3rd of Av, just nine days before the fast in memory of the destruction of the First Temple, and worked through the two hottest months in the calendar.
pey break
6:16 VA
YEHI KA ASHER SHAM'U KOL OYEVEYNU VA YIR'U KOL HA GOYIM ASHER SEVIYVOTENU VA
YIPLU ME'OD BE EYNEYHEM VA YED'U KI ME ET ELOHEYNU NE'ESTAH HA MELA'CHAH HA
ZOT
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמְעוּ כָּל אוֹיְבֵינוּ וַיִּרְאוּ כָּל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתֵינוּ וַיִּפְּלוּ מְאֹד בְּעֵינֵיהֶם וַיֵּדְעוּ כִּי מֵאֵת אֱלֹהֵינוּ נֶעֶשְׂתָה הַמְּלָאכָה הַזֹּאת
KJ: And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
BN: And it fell out that, when all our enemies heard the news, all the nations in the region came to fear us, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they saw that this work was the work of our gods.
BN: And it fell out that, when all our enemies heard the news, all the nations in the region came to fear us, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they saw that this work was the work of our gods.
With Ezr'a, we were conscious throughout of him being a religious fanatic; with Nechem-Yah, until this moment, we have seen an ardent and devoted follower of Elohim, but also a secular leader who understands the methods and pragmatisms of both military and diplomatic politics. This verse modifies our sense of him slightly.
NE'ESTAH: The passive form of LA'ASOT, to do or make.
6:17 GAM BA
YAMIM HA HEM MARBIM CHOREY YEHUDAH IGROTEYHEM HOLCHOT AL TOVI-YAH VA ASHER LE
TOVI-YAH BA'OT ALEYHEM
גַּם בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם מַרְבִּים חֹרֵי יְהוּדָה אִגְּרֹתֵיהֶם הוֹלְכוֹת עַל-טוֹבִיָּה וַאֲשֶׁר לְטוֹבִיָּה בָּאוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם
KJ: Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.
BN: And what is more, in those days the nobles of Yehudah sent many letters to Tovi-Yah, and letters from Tovi-Yah came to them.
BN: And what is more, in those days the nobles of Yehudah sent many letters to Tovi-Yah, and letters from Tovi-Yah came to them.
IGROTEYHEM: See my note at Nehemiah 2:7, though I failed to point out there that Nechem-Yah appears to call it an IGERET, but Ezra 4:8 calls it an IGRAH, which may provide further evidence for the source of the word, and its rceent introduction into Yehudit - perhaps one was using the Farsi and the other the Aamaic, and Yehudit had not yet osmosed the matter.
6:18 KI
RABIM BIYHUDAH BA'ALEY SHEVU'AH LO KI CHATAN HU LISHCHAN-YAH VEN ARACH
VIY'HOCHANAN BENO LAKACH ET BAT MESHULAM BEN BERECH-YAH
כִּי רַבִּים בִּיהוּדָה בַּעֲלֵי שְׁבוּעָה לוֹ כִּי חָתָן הוּא לִשְׁכַנְיָה בֶן אָרַח וִיהוֹחָנָן בְּנוֹ לָקַח אֶת בַּת מְשֻׁלָּם בֶּן בֶּרֶכְיָה
KJ: For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
BN: For there were many in Yehudah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechan-Yah ben Arach, and his son Yehochanan had married the daughter of Meshulam ben Berech-Yah.
BN: For there were many in Yehudah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechan-Yah ben Arach, and his son Yehochanan had married the daughter of Meshulam ben Berech-Yah.
6:19 GAM TOVOTAV
HAYU OMRIM LEPHANAY U DEVARAY HAYU MOTSIY'IM LO IGROT SHALACH TOVI-YAH LEYAR'ENI
גַּם טוֹבֹתָיו הָיוּ אֹמְרִים לְפָנַי וּדְבָרַי הָיוּ מוֹצִיאִים לוֹ אִגְּרוֹת שָׁלַח טוֹבִיָּה לְיָרְאֵנִי
KJ: Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
BN: Also they spoke to me of his good deeds, and reported my words to him. Then Tovi-Yah sent letters to try to scare me.
Funny that he never mentioned any of this earlier in the tale! It changes our understanding of the local politics entirely; but too late, because that tale has been told, and we have read it with our hero as the good guy and Tovi-Yah the bad guy, because that's how he has been presented.BN: Also they spoke to me of his good deeds, and reported my words to him. Then Tovi-Yah sent letters to try to scare me.
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