OET interlinear NEH 4:8

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לְ⁠הִלָּחֵ֣ם בִּ⁠ירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם

(Some words not found in UHB: and,looked and,stood_up and,said to/towards the,nobles and=near/to the,officials and=near/to rest_of the,people not afraid from=their=face/front DOM my=master the,great and,the,awesome remember and,fight on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in brothers_of,your_all's sons_of,your_all's and,daughters_of,your_all's wives_of,your_all's and,homes_of,your_all's )

Here, Jerusalem refers to the people who live there. These enemies were not coming to fight against the walls and buildings. Nehemiah is describing the people of Jerusalem by reference to something associated with them, the city where they live. Alternate translation: “to fight against the people of Jerusalem”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

וְ⁠לַ⁠עֲשׂ֥וֹת ל֖⁠וֹ תּוֹעָֽה

(Some words not found in UHB: and,looked and,stood_up and,said to/towards the,nobles and=near/to the,officials and=near/to rest_of the,people not afraid from=their=face/front DOM my=master the,great and,the,awesome remember and,fight on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in brothers_of,your_all's sons_of,your_all's and,daughters_of,your_all's wives_of,your_all's and,homes_of,your_all's )

The abstract noun confusion refers to the way these enemies hoped that their attack would make the people of Jerusalem not know what to do. The people might disagree among themselves about whether they should keep working on the wall or whether they should discontinue the work to appease the attackers. They might also disagree about how to defend themselves. you could translate the idea behind the term “confusion” with adjectives such as “confused” and “divided.” Alternate translation: “They wanted to make the people inside the city confused and divided.”