OET interlinear NEH 8:1

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

כָל־הָ⁠עָם֙

all the,people

The word all is a generalization that indicates that everyone who was able and available came to Jerusalem for this occasion. By “the people,” Nehemiah means the groups he described in the previous verse who had come back to live in Judah and Jerusalem. Alternate translation: “The people of Judah”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יֵּאָסְפ֤וּ & כְּ⁠אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָ֔ד

and,gathered & as,man one(ms)

Verses 8 and 9 explain that the people had gathered for a festival, and 8:2 states that this was the first day of the seventh month, which means that the people had gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Trumpets. In the Law of Moses, Yahweh had commanded the people to observe this celebration on this date. If it would be helpful to your readers to know why the people came together on this day, you could say that specifically. Alternate translation: “gathered in Jerusalem in a huge crowd for a special celebration known as the Festival of Trumpets.”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

כְּ⁠אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָ֔ד

as,man one(ms)

As one man is an idiom that means “as if they were a single person,” that is, all in once place at the same time. Alternate translation: “gathered in a huge crowd”

Note 4 topic: translate-unknown

אֶל־הָ֣⁠רְח֔וֹב

to/towards the,square

This means a “plaza” or “square” in the city where there were no buildings and so where public events like this could be held. Alternate translation: “in the square”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לִ⁠פְנֵ֣י שַֽׁעַר־הַ⁠מָּ֑יִם

to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before gate_of the=waters

Here, face means the front of an object. Alternate translation: “in front of the Water Gate”

Note 6 topic: translate-names

שַֽׁעַר־הַ⁠מָּ֑יִם

gate_of the=waters

This is the name of one of the gates of Jerusalem. See how you translated it in 3:26. Alternate translation: “the Water Gate”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ לְ⁠עֶזְרָ֣א הַ⁠סֹּפֵ֔ר לְ⁠הָבִ֗יא אֶת־סֵ֨פֶר֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת מֹשֶׁ֔ה

and=they_said to,Ezra the,scribe to=bring DOM writing law_of Mosheh

They means the crowd, though they likely made this request to Ezra through their leaders. The implication is that they wanted him not just to bring the book forward, but to read to them from it out loud (as 8:3 indicates he did). This was because they wanted to learn what was in it. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: “The crowd had asked Ezra the scribe to read to them from a scroll that contained the Law of Moses because they wanted to know what it commanded.”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ לְ⁠עֶזְרָ֣א

and=they_said to,Ezra

Since the rest of the chapter describes arrangements that the leaders must have made in advance, the crowd, once it gathered, did not start shouting spontaneously for Ezra to come forward and read. Rather, they had made this request in advance. Alternate translation: “And the crowd had asked Ezra”

Note 9 topic: writing-participants

לְ⁠עֶזְרָ֣א הַ⁠סֹּפֵ֔ר

to,Ezra the,scribe

This introduces Ezra as a new character in the story. The expression “the scribe” identifies him as a teacher who had carefully studied the Law of Moses. Since he is a new participant, if it would be helpful to your readers, you could call him something like “a man named Ezra, who was a teacher of the Law of Moses”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

לְ⁠עֶזְרָ֣א הַ⁠סֹּפֵ֔ר

to,Ezra the,scribe

The biblical book of Ezra indicates that this man returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon 13 years before Nehemiah did. He led many reforms in the community. But in this book, Nehemiah does not say whether Ezra had remained in the city all that time, or whether he had gone back to Babylon and had recently returned to Jerusalem again. Even if your language, in telling a story, ordinarily accounts for how a person came to be on the scene, it might be best not to try to address that question here in your translation. Even though Nehemiah seems to expect that his readers will know where Ezra had been, Nehemiah does not say specifically where he was, and so the answer is unknown.

Note 11 topic: translate-unknown

אֶת־סֵ֨פֶר֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת מֹשֶׁ֔ה

DOM writing law_of Mosheh

This book was most likely a scroll, and it most likely contained what is now known as the Torah or the “five books of Moses.” Alternate translation: “a scroll that contained the law of Moses”

אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

which/who given YHWH DOM Yisrael

Alternate translation: “These were the commandments that Yahweh had told Israel to follow”