OET interlinear NEH 1:11

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclamations

אָנָּ֣א

o

As in 1:5, Nehemiah uses this word to call on God with strong feeling. Alternate translation: “O”

אֲדֹנָ֗⁠י תְּהִ֣י נָ֣א אָזְנְ⁠ךָֽ־קַ֠שֶּׁבֶת אֶל־תְּפִלַּ֨ת עַבְדְּ⁠ךָ֜

my=master be now ear,your attentive to/towards prayer servant,your

Nehemiah calls himself a servant and he calls God his Lord because this is how a person in his culture would address a superior in order to show humility and respect. See how you translated this in 1:6.

Note 2 topic: translate-names

אֲדֹנָ֗⁠י

my=master

This term in Hebrew can be understood as either a noun with a pronoun suffix (“my Lord”) or as a simple title (“Lord”).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

תְּהִ֣י נָ֣א אָזְנְ⁠ךָֽ־קַ֠שֶּׁבֶת

be now ear,your attentive

As in 1:6, this phrase refers to the action of listening. Alternate translation: “please pay careful attention.”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

תְּפִלַּ֨ת עַבְדְּ⁠ךָ֜

prayer servant,your

Alternate translation: “to my prayer”

תְּפִלַּ֣ת עֲבָדֶ֗י⁠ךָ

prayer your=servants

Here, servants refers to the rest of the Israelite people who were also praying for Yahweh to act on behalf of his people and on behalf of Jerusalem. Alternate translation: “and to the prayers of my fellow Israelites”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

הַֽ⁠חֲפֵצִים֙ לְ⁠יִרְאָ֣ה אֶת־שְׁמֶ֔⁠ךָ

the,delight to,revere DOM your(ms)=name

Here, name represents Yahweh himself. Alternate translation: “who are glad to honor you” or “who are eager to uphold your reputation”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

הַֽ⁠חֲפֵצִים֙

the,delight

To delight in doing something means to be glad to do it and to want to do it.

לְ⁠יִרְאָ֣ה

to,revere

As in 1:5, fear means to show respect and reverence.

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

וְ⁠הַצְלִֽיחָ⁠ה־נָּ֤א לְ⁠עַבְדְּ⁠ךָ֙ הַ⁠יּ֔וֹם וּ⁠תְנֵ֣⁠הוּ לְ⁠רַחֲמִ֔ים

and,give_~_success, please to,servant,your the=day and,grant,him with,compassion

Once again Nehemiah calls himself a servant to show respect to a superior. He then refers to himself in the third person (“give him”) to express humility before God. Alternate translation: “make me successful today and let the king be merciful to me”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

וְ⁠הַצְלִֽיחָ⁠ה־נָּ֤א לְ⁠עַבְדְּ⁠ךָ֙ הַ⁠יּ֔וֹם וּ⁠תְנֵ֣⁠הוּ לְ⁠רַחֲמִ֔ים

and,give_~_success, please to,servant,your the=day and,grant,him with,compassion

These two statements mean similar things. Nehemiah says the same thing twice, in slightly different ways, to emphasize how important it is for him to have God’s help. You do not need to repeat both phrases in your translation if that would be confusing for your readers. Alternate translation: “grant that the king will have mercy on me”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

הַ⁠יּ֔וֹם

the=day

This does not necessarily mean on this same day. Rather, Nehemiah is praying that God will give him the opportunity to speak with the king soon about helping the Jews in Jerusalem. Alternate translation: “soon”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

וּ⁠תְנֵ֣⁠הוּ לְ⁠רַחֲמִ֔ים

and,grant,him with,compassion

Here, him refers to Nehemiah, who refers to himself in the third person to express his humility before God.

Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לִ⁠פְנֵ֖י הָ⁠אִ֣ישׁ הַ⁠זֶּ֑ה

to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the=man the=this

Here, face is a figurative way of referring to the action of seeing, and seeing is a figurative way of describing knowledge, perception, notice, attention, or judgment. In this context, Nehemiah is asking God to cause the king to make a favorable decision in response to a request he plans to make. Alternate translation: “Please grant that the king will agree to the request that I am going to make.”

Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

הָ⁠אִ֣ישׁ הַ⁠זֶּ֑ה

the=man the=this

As we will discover in the next chapter, this man refers to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: “the king”

Note 13 topic: writing-background

וַ⁠אֲנִ֛י הָיִ֥יתִי מַשְׁקֶ֖ה לַ⁠מֶּֽלֶךְ

and,I was cupbearer to_the,king

This is background information about Nehemiah’s role in the king’s court. Your language may have a special way to mark background information. As a “cupbearer,” it was Nehemiah’s duty to serve the wine at the king’s table, but he was much more than a waiter or butler. When the king gave him this assignment, this showed that he trusted Nehemiah completely to protect him from being poisoned. Nehemiah’s work also allowed him to see the king frequently and get to know him. So this was an important office. Alternate translation: “At that time, I was an important official who served the wine at the king’s table.”