OET interlinear NEH 5:8

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

אֲנַ֣חְנוּ קָ֠נִינוּ

we bought_back

We likely means Nehemiah and his relatives, as in 4:23. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: “My relatives and I have bought back”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / events

קָ֠נִינוּ אֶת־אַחֵ֨י⁠נוּ הַ⁠יְּהוּדִ֜ים הַ⁠נִּמְכָּרִ֤ים לַ⁠גּוֹיִם֙

bought_back DOM brothers,our the,Jewish the,sold to_the,nations

To present the events in chronological order, if that would be helpful to your readers, you could put the information that some Jews had to sell themselves into slavery before the information that Nehemiah and his relatives bought their freedom. Alternate translation: “Whenever our Jewish relatives have had to sell themselves into slavery to people from other nations … we have been buying them back”

כְּ⁠דֵ֣י בָ֔⁠נוּ

as_far_as,able in/on/at/with,we

Alternate translation: “to the best of our ability”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

אַחֵ֨י⁠נוּ הַ⁠יְּהוּדִ֜ים

brothers,our the,Jewish

These two short phrases mean similar things. They are used together to emphasize that buying them back was an honorable and expected action. You do not need to repeat both phrases in your translation if that would be confusing for your readers. Alternate translation: “our Jewish relatives”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אַחֵ֨י⁠נוּ

brothers,our

Here, brother likely refers to fellow Jews. Alternate translation: “our fellow Jews”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

הַ⁠יְּהוּדִ֜ים הַ⁠נִּמְכָּרִ֤ים

the,Jewish the,sold

You can say this with an active form, and you can say who did the action. Alternate translation: “our fellow Jews have had to sell themselves”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וְ⁠גַם־אַתֶּ֛ם תִּמְכְּר֥וּ אֶת־אֲחֵי⁠כֶ֖ם וְ⁠נִמְכְּרוּ־לָ֑⁠נוּ

and=also you_all sell DOM brothers,your_all's and,sold to/for=us

This means that they are selling their family members, both men and women, as slaves to their fellow Jews. The full meaning of this statement can be made clear. Alternate translation: “Now you are selling your own people to be slaves of your fellow Jews, so that they might later sell them back to us”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

הַ⁠נִּמְכָּרִ֤ים לַ⁠גּוֹיִם֙

the,sold to_the,nations

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “who people had sold as slaves to the nations”

וְ⁠גַם־אַתֶּ֛ם

and=also you_all

This is an emphatic expression. Nehemiah uses it to show how serious the offense is. If it would be helpful in your language, you could indicate this emphasis in some way in your translation. Alternate translation: “you are actually”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

תִּמְכְּר֥וּ אֶת־אֲחֵי⁠כֶ֖ם

sell DOM brothers,your_all's

This means that the creditors were selling the debtors into slavery to recover the money they owed. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: “you are actually selling your fellow Jews into slavery to get back the money they owe you”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אֲחֵי⁠כֶ֖ם

brothers,your_all's

Here, brother likely refers to fellow Jews. Alternate translation: “your fellow Jews”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

וְ⁠נִמְכְּרוּ־לָ֑⁠נוּ

and,sold to/for=us

You can say this with an active form, and you can say who did the action. Alternate translation: “They are some of the very people we have been buying back!”

Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַֽ⁠יַּחֲרִ֔ישׁוּ וְ⁠לֹ֥א מָצְא֖וּ דָּבָֽר

and,silent and=not find word

The implication is that the accused said nothing because they knew that Nehemiah’s charges were true. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say that explicitly. Alternate translation: “They knew that these charges were true, so they were silent. They could not answer a single word.”

Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

וַֽ⁠יַּחֲרִ֔ישׁוּ וְ⁠לֹ֥א מָצְא֖וּ דָּבָֽר

and,silent and=not find word

These two phrases mean similar things. Nehemiah uses the repetition to emphasize how completely guilty the accused people were. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine these phrases. Alternate translation: “there was absolutely nothing they could say in response.”