Nehemiah 1:1 — compare Bible translations

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

1:1 OSHB variant note: כסלו: (x-qere) ’כִּסְלֵיו֙’: lemma=3691 n=0.1.0 morph=HNp id=16LN3 כִּסְלֵיו֙

UHB דִּבְרֵ֥י נְחֶמְיָ֖ה בֶּן־חֲכַלְיָ֑ה וַ⁠יְהִ֤י בְ⁠חֹֽדֶשׁ־כִּסְלֵיו֙ [fn] שְׁנַ֣ת עֶשְׂרִ֔ים וַ⁠אֲנִ֥י הָיִ֖יתִי בְּ⁠שׁוּשַׁ֥ן הַ⁠בִּירָֽה׃ ‡
(diⱱrēy nəḩemyāh ben-ḩₐkalyāh va⁠yəhiy ⱱə⁠ḩodesh-kişlēyv shənat ˊesrim va⁠ʼₐniy hāyitī bə⁠shūshan ha⁠bīrāh.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX (EZR 11:1) ΛΟΓΟΙ Νεεμία υἱοῦ Χελκία. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν μηνὶ Χασελεῦ ἔτους εἰκοστοῦ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἤμηνν ἐν Σουσὰν ἀβιρά·
(LOGOI Neʼemia huiou Ⱪelkia. Kai egeneto en maʸni Ⱪaseleu etous eikostou, kai egō aʸmaʸnn en Sousan abira;)

BrTr The words of Neemias the son of Chelcia. And it came to pass in the month Chaseleu, of the twentieth year, that I was in Susan the palace.

ULT The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah:
¶ And it happened in the month of Kislev, in year 20, that I myself was in Susa the citadel.

UST I am Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah. I am writing this account.
¶ My story begins in the month of Kislev during the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes over the Persian Empire. I was in the capital city of Susa.

BSB [These are] the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
§ In the month of Chislev,[fn] in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,

1:1 Chislev is the ninth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of November and December.

OEB No OEB NEH 1:1 book available

WEBBE The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
¶ Now in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,

NET These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
¶ It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, I was in Susa the citadel.

LSV Words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it comes to pass, in the month of Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I have been in Shushan the palace,

FBV This is the account of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah. In the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was in the fortress at Susa.

T4T I am Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah. I am writing this account of what I did when I returned to Jerusalem. After King Artaxerxes had been ruling the Persian Empire for almost 20 years, near the end of that year, I was in Susa, the capital of Persia.

LEB The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
¶ It happened in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, that I myself was in the citadel in Susa,

BBE The history of Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah. Now it came about, in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, when I was in Shushan, the king's town,

Moff The story of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah.
¶ It was in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, when I was at the citadel of Susa,

JPS THE WORDS of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the castle,

ASV The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
¶ Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

DRA The words of Nehemias the son of Helchias. And it came to pass in the month of Casleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the castle of Susa,

YLT Words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it cometh to pass, in the month of Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I have been in Shushan the palace,

Drby The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the fortress,

RV The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
(The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,)

SLT The words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it will be in the month Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I was in Shushan the fortress;

Wbstr The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

KJB-1769 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
(The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,)

KJB-1611 ¶ The words of Nehemiah the sonne of Hachaliah. And it came to passe in the moneth Chisleu, in the twentieth yeere, as I was in Shushan the palace;
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps The wordes of Nehemiah the sonne of Hachalia. In the moneth Chisleu, in the twentie yere, as I was in the castell at Susan,
(The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachalia. In the month Chisleu, in the twenty year, as I was in the castle at Susa,)

Gnva The words of Nehemiah the sonne of Hachaliah. In ye moneth Chisleu, in the twentieth yeere, as I was in the palace of Shushan,
(The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. In ye/you_all month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the palace of Susa,)

Cvdl These are the actes of Nehemias the sonne of Hachalia. It fortuned in ye moneth Chisleu in ye twetieth yeare, that I was in the castell at Susan:
(These are the acts of Nehemias the son of Hachalia. It fortuned in ye/you_all month Chisleu in ye/you_all twentieth year, that I was in the castle at Susa:)

Wycl The wordis of Neemye, the sone of Helchie. And it was doon in the monethe Casleu, in the twentithe yeer, and Y was in the castel Susis;
(The words of Neemye, the son of Hilkiah. And it was done in the month Casleu, in the twentieth year, and I was in the castle Susis;)

Luth Dies sind die Geschichten Nehemias, des Sohns Hachaljas. Es geschah im Monden Chisleu des zwanzigsten Jahrs, daß ich war zu Susan auf dem Schloß,
(This/These are the stories Nehemias, the son Hacaliah’s. It happened in_the moons/months Chisleu the twentieth years, that I what/which to/for Susan on/in/to to_him castle,)

ClVg Verba Nehemiæ filii Helchiæ. Et factum est in mense Casleu, anno vigesimo, et ego eram in Susis castro.[fn]
(Words Nehemiah children Helchiæ. And done it_is in/into/on a_month Chislev, in_the_year twentieth, and I I_was in/into/on Up the_castle.)

1.1 Verba Nehemiæ filii. BED. in Esdram, tom. 2. Nehemias interpretatur consolator Domini, etc., usque ad quasi diruta ab hostibus Hierosolymorum mœnia restaurant. Verba Nehemiæ. ID., ibid. Hucusque verba Esdræ, etc., usque ad qui non blandimentis temporalibus enervari, sed adversitatibus exerceri, et ad requiem sempiternam gaudent præparari. In mense Casleu. ID., ibid. Mensis Casleu ipse est quem nos Decembrem vocamus, apud Hebræos nonus, apud nos ultimus. Cujus nomen quod spes ejus interpretatur, bene congruit votis ejus, qui ad ruinas sanctæ civitatis intendebat erigendas. Primum enim bonæ actionis fundamentum est, spem habere de auxilio Domini ad perficiendum quod cupimus. In hoc mense natus est Dominus, cujus nomine longe ante figurabatur, quod in eo mense verus Nehemias diu desideratus ad ædificationem Ecclesiæ esset venturus. Eram in Susis. ID., ibid. Susis metropolis est Persarum, sed tanta firmitate, ut castrum esse videatur, et interpretatur equitatio vel revertens, quæ fidelibus convenienter aptatur, eis maxime, qui de captivitate Jerusalem curam gerunt, id est, de salute eorum, qui aliquando per insidias diaboli de Ecclesia rapti pœnitentes denuo per gratiam Dei sunt redacti. Tales enim sunt in revertente castro, id est, in robore mentis revocatæ ab infimis ad desiderium patriæ cœlestis, et in equitatu sanctorum cordium, quæ scilicet portant sessorem Deum. Qui remanserunt. ID., ibid. Patet litteræ sensus, etc., usque ad indignos arcere debuerant, avaritiæ, luxuriæ cæterorumque vitiorum incendio perire.

1.1 Words Nehemiah children. BED. in/into/on Ezra, tom. 2. Nehemias interprets comfort Master, etc., until to as_if demolished away enemies Of_Yerusalem disorders restaurant. Words Nehemiah. ID., there. So_far words Ezra, etc., until to who/which not/no blandishments temporal to_be_weakened, but adversities to_be_exercised, and to rest/repose eternal they_rejoice to_be_prepared. In a_month Chislev. ID., there. Month Chislev exactly_that/himself it_is which us December we_call, at Hebrews ninth, at us most_last. Whose name that hope(n) his/her interprets, well fits with_wishes his/her, who/which to ruins holy of_the_city was_attending to_be_erected. First because good action foundation it_is, hope(n) to_have from/about help(v) Master to to_be_completed that we_desire. In this a_month born it_is Master, whose by_name far_away before was_being_figured, that in/into/on by_him a_month true Nehemias long_time desired to building Assemblies/Churches was coming. I_was in/into/on Up. ID., there. Up chief_city it_is Of_Persians, but such_a_great_deal firmness, as camp to_be it_seems, and interprets horsemanship or returning, which to_the_faithful appropriately/consistently is_adapted, to_them especially/most, who/which from/about captivity Yerusalem care wear, that it_is, from/about salute their, who/which sometimes through ambush devils from/about Assembly/Church snatched penitents again through grace of_God are reduced. Tales because are in/into/on returning the_castle, that it_is, in/into/on with_strength of_the_mind recalled away lowest to desire/wish homeland heavenly, and in/into/on cavalry holy_place heart, which namely they_carry sitter God. Who they_remained. ID., there. It’s_clear letters sense, etc., until to unworthy to_ward_off they_should_have, of_greed, of_luxury and_rest of_vices burning to_perish.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-names

נְחֶמְיָ֖ה בֶּן־חֲכַלְיָ֑ה

Nəḩem\sup_yāh (Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

Nehemiah is the name of a man, and Hacaliah is the name of his father.

Note 2 topic: writing-newevent

וַ⁠יְהִ֤י

and=he/it_was

This is a common way of beginning a historical story. Use a natural way of beginning a story about something that actually happened. Alternate translation: [My story begins]

Note 3 topic: translate-hebrewmonths

בְ⁠חֹֽדֶשׁ־כִּסְלֵיו֙

in,the_month_of (Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

Kislev is the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

שְׁנַ֣ת עֶשְׂרִ֔ים

(Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

This is referring to the number of years that Artaxerxes had been reigning as king. You can include this information if you want to make this clear. Most scholars consider this to be the year 445 BC. Alternate translation: [in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, King of Persia]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

בְּ⁠שׁוּשַׁ֥ן הַ⁠בִּירָֽה

(Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

A citadel is a fortified castle or palace, usually inside a city. In this case, the city in which this palace was located was also called Susa, because the city was associated with the palace. Since this was where the kings of Persia lived, it was the capital city of their empire. Alternate translation: [the capital city of Susa]

Note 6 topic: translate-names

בְּ⁠שׁוּשַׁ֥ן

(Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

This was the name of a royal city of the Persian kings.

Note 7 topic: translate-unknown

הַ⁠בִּירָֽה

(Some words not found in UHB: words_of Nəḩem^yāh son_of Ḩₐkal^yāh and=he/it_was in,the_month_of Kişlēv/(Chislev) year_of twentieth and,I was in,Susa the,citadel )

This means a “castle” or “palace” or “stronghold,” usually inside a city, where a king would live.

BMM BibleMapper.com Maps:

Poster Map of Jerusalem during the Time of Nehemiah, circa 445 B.C.

Author’s Note: This map draws heavily upon the careful work of Dr. Leen Ritmeyer (www.ritmeyer.com) regarding the probable location of gates, walls, and other features, though I have deviated at points from his data, based on my own research and conclusions.

A wealth of archaeological evidence supports the existence and location of many of the structures shown on this map, and great care has been taken to correlate them as faithfully as possible with the data provided in the book of Nehemiah and other biblical texts. Nevertheless, the specific identification of virtually all of these items is open to great debate. For this reason, no attempt has been made on this map to indicate any degree of uncertainty for the identifications that have been included, since the vast majority of these would be marked as uncertain anyway.

The shaded relief has been overlaid with the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem (1865), by Charles Wilson.

The book of Nehemiah is one of the last books of the Old Testament written, and it recounts the efforts of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem long after they had been destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; see “Nebuchadnezzar’s Final Campaign against Judah” map). Nehemiah had been a trusted official in the Persian royal court who acquired a special commission to return to his ancestral land of Judea for the rebuilding effort (Nehemiah 1-2; see “Jews Return from Exile” map). After arriving in Jerusalem, he quickly surveyed the condition of the walls and then organized the people of Judea into work teams (Nehemiah 2-3). These teams each worked on a designated portion of the walls, and the entire project was completed in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15). The builders came from Jerusalem and from towns throughout the greater province of Judea, and most of these towns are included in the map of “Judea under Persian Rule”.

It is far beyond the scope of this article to present all the textual and archaeological evidence that forms the basis for the identifications made on this map, but two specific portions of this map seem to warrant explanation:

One Gate of Ephraim or Two?

The Gate of Ephraim is mentioned in Nehemiah 8:16 and 12:39, and it is noted as lying along the path of the walls that Nehemiah rebuilt. This has indirectly led to some confusion, however, regarding the location of another gate called the Gate of Ephraim in 2 Kings 14:13 and 2 Chronicles 25:23, which both note that King Jehoash of Israel broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, a distance of 400 cubits. This confusion stems from equating the Gate of Ephraim mentioned in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles with the Gate of Ephraim mentioned in Nehemiah. Assuming the biblical text to be reliable, this assumption would require that the Corner Gate, which is mentioned also in 2 Chronicles 26:9; Jeremiah 31:38; and Zechariah 14:10, would have been located somewhere along the wall about 600 feet (183 meters) from the Gate of Ephraim. Placing it directly west of the Gate of Ephraim of Nehemiah would place it very close to the Middle Gate, perhaps suggesting that the Middle Gate was in fact the Corner Gate. But Jeremiah’s mention of both the Middle Gate (39:3) and the Corner Gate (Jeremiah 31:38) in the same book makes this equation unlikely. Placing the Corner Gate directly north of the Gate of Ephraim near the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount seems plausible at first glance, but this location is very hard to reconcile with both Jeremiah 31:38 and Zechariah 14:10. Jeremiah 31:38 traces a line from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate, but this would make little sense if the Corner Gate were located in very close proximity to the Tower of Hananel. Similarly, Zechariah 14:10 appears to be using the Corner Gate as a marker for the far western extreme of Jerusalem, but a location at the northwest corner of the Temple Mount hardly seems like the intended location.

A more likely solution can be found by regarding the Gate of Ephraim of 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 25 as different than the Gate of Ephraim of Nehemiah, though perhaps the Gate of Ephraim had been renamed after the exile to hearken back to the old Gate of Ephraim, which had been destroyed. If this is true, the earlier Gate of Ephraim may actually have been the same as the Middle Gate of Jeremiah 39:3 (Jeremiah never mentions the Gate of Ephraim), or perhaps it was a gate near where the Middle Gate was built later. This location, then, would place the Corner Gate at the far western corner of the larger wall around greater Jerusalem, as shown on this map. The distance between these two gates is about 600 feet (183 meters), and the appropriately named Corner Gate would be a fitting candidate to mark the far western extreme of the city.

It should also be noted that this solution, however, requires that the first Gate of Ephraim existed prior to Hezekiah’s building activity. This stands in contrast to the common assertion that the wall encompassing greater Jerusalem (which Josephus calls the First Wall) was built by Hezekiah in response to the dramatic increase in residents that relocated to Jerusalem due to the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. But the only mention in the Bible of Hezekiah building a new wall is 2 Chronicles 32:5, which notes that he built a wall “outside” the wall that was broken down (2 Chronicles 32:5). This is most likely referencing a wall in the Kidron Valley that has since been found by archaeology, and perhaps a second wall around the Temple Mount. So it would seem that elsewhere Hezekiah merely repaired or replaced portions of a wall that already existed but was in disrepair. This synchronizes well with Isaiah 22:11, where Isaiah rebukes a leader (perhaps Hezekiah) for breaking down houses “to fortify the wall” (not build a new one).

Wall Enclosing the King’s Pool

Another common assumption that is difficult to correlate with Nehemiah is the placement of the King’s Pool and the Lower Pool outside the main wall of the City of David. (The King’s Pool was likely the same as the Old Pool mentioned in Isaiah 22:11. The Lower Pool appears to be alternately called elsewhere the [Pool of] Shiloah/Siloam [Isaiah 8:6] and the Pool of Shelah [Nehemiah 3:15], which is fed by the Dragon’s Spring [Nehemiah 2:13].) Two different passages in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:13; 12:31) clearly trace a path along a wall from the Valley Gate (likely midway up the western wall of the City of David) directly to the Dung Gate, with no mention of any other gates or distinct changes in direction. Likewise, both Nehemiah 3:15 and 12:37 note that the Fountain Gate (likely located immediately northeast of the King’s Pool on this map) was reached after passing by the Dung Gate. This author has become convinced that this requires that the Dung Gate lay along a portion of the wall that must have extended directly from the area of the Valley Gate. Further details are given in Nehemiah 3:13, which notes that Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired 1000 cubits (1500 feet; 457 meters) of the wall from the Valley Gate to the Dung Gate. If the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate were indeed located at the two places shown on this map, and a wall between them followed the path shown here, the distance between them along the wall would have measured about 1548 feet (472 meters), or 1032 cubits–extremely close to the 1000-cubit distance given in Nehemiah 3:13. The existence of this wall is also supported by Isaiah 22:11-12, which notes that a reservoir for the waters of the Old Pool (likely the same as the King’s Pool on this map) had been built “between the two walls.” This could be understood to refer to Josephus’s First Wall and the wall immediately north of the King’s Pool, but this author suspects instead that it is referring to the wall that must have already existed immediately south of the Lower Pool and the King’s Pool on this map.

Parallel NEH 1:1

Poster Map of Jerusalem during the Time of Nehemiah, circa 445 B.C.