And I looked, and arose, and said …: Nehemiah then encouraged the people. The quick succession of three verbs here gives a sense of urgency. Looked has the sense of review or inspection (so New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible) although there is no object for the verb in the text. Nehemiah may have looked over everything (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or he may have inspected their positions as Bible en français courant translates. It has been suggested that the Hebrew word translated “worried” in Good News Translation and “anxiety” in New Jerusalem Bible has been omitted by a scribe, but there is no textual evidence for this. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an A rating for the Hebrew text without this addition. Arose is understood to mean that Nehemiah literally stood up to speak to the Jewish leaders and people.

For nobles and officials, see the comments at Neh 2.16.

Nehemiah’s direct words are quoted as he appealed to the emotions of the people in two ways to encourage them. Urging them not to fear their enemies, he called upon them to Remember the Lord and to fight for your brethren. There is “holy war” language in this section. God’s involvement in battle calls for faith and fearlessness, and the blast of the trumpet in verse 20 is a signal for battle.

Do not be afraid of them: This is a negative command in the second person plural. It is a command to the people to whom Nehemiah was speaking. Them refers to their enemies.

Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible: Instead of fearing their enemies, Nehemiah commands the people to think of the Lord. Often it is God who is asked to remember and to punish or reward accordingly (see Neh 1.8), but here Nehemiah asks the people to “think of” the Lord (so Contemporary English Version), whom he describes as being great and terrible. This is the same description that he used in his opening prayer to God (Neh 1.5; see also 9.32). His implicit meaning is that because the Lord is great and terrible, they should not fear their enemies. Good News Translation makes this explicit.

Fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes: Nehemiah commands the people to fight on behalf of their families and their relatives. First he cites a general category brethren or “kinsmen” (New Jerusalem Bible). He then specifically cites three immediate family relationships: sons, daughters and wives. Finally he says your homes, referring to families in this context, not property. However, some versions do take the meaning of this last word to be literally “houses” (so New American Standard Bible, New King James Version ). In some languages it may be common to refer to children without specifying gender, but here the distinction of sons and daughters should be retained in translation. Nehemiah is appealing to the people’s loyalty to their closest family members to motivate them to defend the city of Jerusalem.

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 .