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interlinearVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
Neh C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13
OET (OET-LV) And_children_their half [was]_speaking ʼAshdōdite and_not_they [were]_knowing to_speak Yəhūdī/(Judean) and_as_language of_people and_people.
Note 1 topic: writing-background
וּבְנֵיהֶ֗ם
and,children,their
In this context, the conjunction And indicates that this sentence will provide further information about the situation the book is describing here. You could use a phrase such as and as for to show that this is further background information.
וּבְנֵיהֶ֗ם חֲצִי֙ מְדַבֵּ֣ר אַשְׁדּוֹדִ֔ית וְאֵינָ֥ם מַכִּירִ֖ים לְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהוּדִ֑ית
and,children,their half spoke language_of_ʼAshdōd and,not,they know to,speak language_of_Yəhūdāh/(Judah)
This could mean one of two things. It seems most likely that the expression means that: (1) these children spoke a mixed language, using Ashdodite expressions half the time and Hebrew expressions the other half of the time, so that none of them knew how to speak Hebrew fluently. The expression could also mean that (2) half of the children who were born to Hebrew fathers and foreign mothers spoke a foreign language. However, if half spoke Ashdodite, and none spoke Hebrew, this leaves open the question of what language the other half of the children spoke. Alternate translation: (1) “their children spoke a mixed dialect, using Philistine expressions half the time, so that none of them could speak Hebrew fluently” or (2) “half of their children spoke the language of the Philistines, and none of their children knew how to speak Hebrew”
Note 2 topic: translate-fraction
חֲצִי֙
half
Half means one part out of two equal parts.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
וְאֵינָ֥ם מַכִּירִ֖ים לְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהוּדִ֑ית וְכִלְשׁ֖וֹן עַ֥ם וָעָֽם
and,not,they know to,speak language_of_Yəhūdāh/(Judah) and,as,language people and,people
Here Nehemiah leaves out some of the words that a sentence would ordinarily need in order to be complete. This sentence seems to mean “none of them could speak Hebrew fluently, but instead they mixed it with the language of whatever people group their mothers belonged to.” You could say that explicitly if it would be helpful to your readers.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
וְכִלְשׁ֖וֹן
and,as,language
Here, tongue means the language spoken by a person or a group of people. Alternate translation: “language”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
עַ֥ם וָעָֽם
people and,people
This is an idiom that means “of each people group”
13:15-31 Nehemiah instituted two additional reforms to restore proper Sabbath observance (13:15-22) and proper marriage practices (13:23-31). These two sections have similar structures: Nehemiah discovered a problem, corrected the problem, and asked God for his blessing.
OET (OET-LV) And_children_their half [was]_speaking ʼAshdōdite and_not_they [were]_knowing to_speak Yəhūdī/(Judean) and_as_language of_people and_people.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.