Remember: The concept of remembering is a very common and important one in the Old Testament. It occurs several times in this book (4.14; 5.19; 6.14; 13.14, 22, 29, 31). The primary idea is recalling events that took place in the past, but this concept is often used with a present or future sense; that is, the past should be recalled so that action will be taken in the future. The action that is called for may be a reward or it may be punishment. Here Nehemiah pleads with God or urges God to “think about” or “reflect on” what he said to Moses in the past and to take action accordingly. The word naʾ is used in Hebrew with the imperative verb Remember to indicate urgency. Good News Translation has translated this as “now,” while Bible en français courant renders it “yet.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “I beg you.” In modern English usage, Contemporary English Version translates “Please.” See the comment on verse 6 above.
Word is the object of the verb Remember. Nehemiah asks God to recall the word that he commanded to Moses. However, although the Hebrew word for word is singular in form, it does not refer to a single word (compare Ezra 1.1). Instead, it refers to the covenant agreement that God made with his people from which Nehemiah quotes an essential part. In some languages the object of the verb will be the “thing” that God told to Moses, and in others it will be necessary to use a plural form, for example, “words.”
Which thou didst command thy servant Moses: Note the repetition from the preceding verse. Although command is an appropriate translation of the Hebrew verb here when applied to commandments and decrees in the previous verse, a literal translation perhaps should not be used in this context. For example, for the first part of this verse, New International Version translates “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses,” while Contemporary English Version says “Please remember the promise you made to Moses.” Nehemiah cites the blessings that will result from keeping the covenant between God and Israel and the curses that will result from not keeping it.
Saying: This translates the Hebrew infinitive construction that introduces the quotation that Nehemiah will repeat. Most English versions omit a direct rendering of this expression because it is unnecessary. It follows the verb of speaking that has already been translated as command (Good News Translation “told”). The whole introduction to the quotation may be rendered “Remember nevertheless the word that Moses addressed to us on your behalf” (Bible en français courant).
If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples: The pronouns you (first occurrence) and I are emphatic in Hebrew, giving a solemn tone to this statement. Good News Translation makes explicit that God was speaking to the Israelites and not to Moses alone by rendering you as “you people of Israel.” A covenant agreement is based on a condition. If something takes place, there will be a direct consequence of that event or act. The condition here is unfaithfulness. The Hebrew word for unfaithful here is a verb whose basic meaning is “to act treacherously, to be faithless” (see Ezra 9.2, where Revised Standard Version has “faithlessness”; 10.2, where it has “broken faith”; and 10.10, where it has “trespassed”), and it is used for breaking an oath or a covenant. Some languages may say “If you [plural] are not straight….” The result of this act will be that I will scatter you among the peoples. The action of scattering is to cause people to disperse in different directions so that they are no longer together. This is the same verb that is used when God caused humankind to scatter all over the world from the Tower of Babel (Gen 11.4, 8-9). Nehemiah recognized that the condition had been fulfilled. Indeed, the people of Israel had been scattered among the peoples because they had been unfaithful to the covenant relationship with God.
The Hebrew word ʿam in the singular means “people” or “nation” and is often used to refer to the people of Israel in contrast to other nations (see Ezra 1.3; 8.15). The plural form ʿammim as used here and rendered peoples refers to “other nations” (Good News Translation) or “foreign nations” (Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant).
Nehemiah summarizes Deut 30.1-4 in verses 8b-9 but his words are recorded as though he is directly quoting what God said to the people of Israel when he established the covenant with them. The text uses a direct quotation within a direct quotation. In some languages it may appear to be more natural style to restructure this second level quotation in the form of indirect quotation; for example, “You told him that if we were unfaithful…” (Contemporary English Version). However, doing this may have the effect of weakening the impact of the words because they are no longer direct as they are in the original text. Translators will need to use the appropriate form of quotation to make the levels of quotation and their meaning clear and strong.
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .