OET interlinear NEH 2:10

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יִּשְׁמַ֞ע סַנְבַלַּ֣ט הַ⁠חֹרֹנִ֗י וְ⁠טֽוֹבִיָּה֙ הָ⁠עֶ֣בֶד הָֽ⁠עַמֹּנִ֔י

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

Sanballat was the governor of Samaria, the area right next to Judah. So he was one of the people Nehemiah would have shown a letter from the king authorizing his trip. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: [This was how Sanballat the Horonite and his deputy Tobiah the Ammonite learned]

Note 2 topic: translate-names

סַנְבַלַּ֣ט הַ⁠חֹרֹנִ֗י

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

Sanballat is the name of a man, and Horonite is the name of his people group.

Note 3 topic: translate-names

וְ⁠טֽוֹבִיָּה֙ & הָֽ⁠עַמֹּנִ֔י

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

Tobiah is the name of a man, and Ammonite is the name of his people group. Tobiah’s name occurs over a dozen times in the book of Nehemiah. It will be helpful to your readers if you translate it consistently each time.

וְ⁠טֽוֹבִיָּה֙ הָ⁠עֶ֣בֶד

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

From the role that Tobiah plays in the book, this phrase seems to indicate that he was the official who served directly under Sanballat. Alternate translation: [Tobiah, his deputy]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יֵּ֥רַע לָ⁠הֶ֖ם רָעָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֥א אָדָ֔ם לְ⁠בַקֵּ֥שׁ טוֹבָ֖ה לִ⁠בְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

The implication is that Sanballat and Tobiah did not want to see Judah become strong again because that would be a threat to the power and influence of Samaria. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this explicitly.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

וַ⁠יֵּ֥רַע לָ⁠הֶ֖ם רָעָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

Here evil means “bad,” so this expression is the opposite of “if it is good to you” in 2:5 and 2:7. Alternate translation: [They thought it was a bad thing, a very bad thing]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

וַ⁠יֵּ֥רַע לָ⁠הֶ֖ם רָעָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

These two short phrases mean almost the same thing. Nehemiah uses them together for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine them. Alternate translation: [they became very upset] or [they did not like it at all]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֥א אָדָ֔ם לְ⁠בַקֵּ֥שׁ טוֹבָ֖ה לִ⁠בְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

(Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

To seek good for means “to help.” Alternate translation: [that someone had come to help the people of Israel]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

לִ⁠בְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

for,the_people_of (Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_listened Şanⱱallaţ the,Horonite and,Tobiah the,servant the,Ammonite and,it_was_displeasing to/for=them displeased greatly which/who he/it_came humankind to,seek welfare for,the_people_of Yisrael )

As in 1:6, sons means “descendants.” Alternate translation: [the people of Israel]