NEH 2:10 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

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 12:10) Καὶ ἤκουσε Σαναβαλλὰτ ὁ Ἀρωνὶ, καὶ Τωβία ὁ δοῦλος Ἀμμωνὶ, καὶ πονηρὸν αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο, ὅτι ἥκει ὁ ἄνθρωπος ζητῆσαι ἀγαθὸν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ.
(Kai aʸkouse Sanaballat ho Arōni, kai Tōbia ho doulos Ammōni, kai ponaʸron autois egeneto, hoti haʸkei ho anthrōpos zaʸtaʸsai agathon tois huiois Israaʸl.)

BrTr And Sanaballat the Aronite heard it, and Tobia the servant, the Ammonite, and it was grievous to them that a man was come to seek good for the children of Israel.

ULT And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, heard. And it was evil to them, a great evil, that someone had come to seek good for the sons of Israel.

UST One of the people I showed my letters to was Sanballat the Horonite. He was the governor of Samaria, the area right next to Judah. He and his deputy, Tobiah the Ammonite, became very upset when they learned that someone had come to help the people of Israel. They did not want to see Judah become strong again, because that would be a threat to Samaria.

BSB & MSB But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well -being of the Israelites.

OEB No OEB NEH 2:10 book available

WEBBE & WMBB When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

NET When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard all this, they were very displeased that someone had come to seek benefit for the Israelites.

LSV and Sanballat the Horonite hears, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them—a great evil—that a man has come to seek good for the sons of Israel.

FBV But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were upset. For them this was a total disaster—that someone had arrived to help out the Israelites.

T4T But when two government officials, Sanballat from a village near Horon and Tobiah from the Ammon people-group, heard that I had arrived, they were very angry that someone had come to help the Israeli people.

LEB But when Sanballat the Horonite and the Ammonite servant Tobiah heard this, _⌊they were greatly displeased_⌋[fn] that a person had come to seek the welfare of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.[fn]

2:10 Literally “it was a great disaster for them”

2:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”

BBE And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, hearing of it, were greatly troubled because a man had come to the help of the children of Israel.

Moff But when Sanballat the Horonite and the Ammonite slave Tobiah heard this, they were deeply hurt that a man had come to promote the welfare of the children of Israel.

JPS And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

ASV And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

DRA And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.

YLT and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them — a great evil — that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.

Drby And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

RV And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

SLT And Sanballat the Horonite will hear, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it will be evil to them a great evil that a man came to seek good for the sons of Israel.

Wbstr When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it , it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

KJB-1769 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

KJB-1611 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the seruant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieued them exceedingly, that there was come a man, to seeke the welfare of the children of Israel.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Sanaballat also the Horonite, and Tobia a seruaunt the Ammonite hearde of it, & it greeued them sore, that there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.
(Sanaballat also the Horonite, and Tobia a servant the Ammonite heard of it, and it grieved them sore, that there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.)

Gnva But Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah a seruant an Ammonite heard it, and it grieued them sore, that there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.
(But Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah a servant an Ammonite heard it, and it grieved them sore, that there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.)

Cvdl But whan Saneballath the Horonite, & Tobias the seruaunt of the Ammonites herde yt, it greued them sore, yt there was come a man which soughte the welth of the children of Israel.
(But when Saneballath the Horonite, and Tobias the servant of the Ammonites herd/heard it, it grieved them sore, it there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.)

Wycl And Sanaballath Oronythes, and Tobie, the seruaunt Amanytes, herden, and thei weren soreuful bi greet turment, for a man was comun, that souyte prosperite of the sones of Israel.
(And Sanaballath Oronythes, and Tobie, the servant Amanytes, heard, and they were sorrowful by great torment, for a man was come, that sought prosperity of the sons of Israel.)

Luth Da aber das hörete Saneballat, der Horoniter, und Tobia, ein ammonitischer Knecht, verdroß es sie sehr, daß ein Mensch kommen wäre, der Gutes suchte für die Kinder Israel.
(So but the heard Sanballat, the/of_the Horonite(s), and Tobiah, a Ammonite servant/farmhand, annoyed it they/she/them very, that a person coming were, the/of_the goodness/good_(person) searched for/in_favour_of the children Israel.)

ClVg Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo qui quæreret prosperitatem filiorum Israël.[fn]
(And they_heard Sanballat Horonite, and Tobias servant Ammonite: and saddened are affliction big, that had_come man who/which to_seek/search_fort success of_children Israel.)

2.10 Et audierunt. Contristantur hæretici, etc., usque ad et eos, qui peccando erraverunt, pœnitendo redire cognoscunt.

2.10 And they_heard. They_are_saddened heretics, etc., until to and them, who/which by_sinning they_went_astray, repenting to_return they_know.

UTN 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

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

Note 3 topic: translate-names

וְ⁠טֽוֹבִיָּה֙ & הָֽ⁠עַמֹּנִ֔י

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

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

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

Here evil means “bad,” so this expression is the opposite of “if it is good to you” in [2:5](../02/05.md) and [2:7](../02/07.md). Alternate translation: [They thought it was a bad thing, a very bad thing]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

וַ⁠יֵּ֥רַע לָ⁠הֶ֖ם רָעָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה

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

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](../01/06.md), sons means “descendants.” Alternate translation: [the people of Israel]

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 2:10

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