This verse begins with the Hebrew construction with the connective conjunction and the verb “to be,” which King James Version renders as “Now it came to pass.” New King James Version has “So it was,” while Darby translates “And it happened that.” See the comments at Neh 1.1; 2.1. Many English versions simply begin with “When” as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

The people heard the law: The Hebrew word for law is torah. This can refer to the Law of Moses as Revised Standard Version seems to imply (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Chouraqui), or it can refer to the specific law that required the exclusion of foreigners (so Good News Translation, New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The latter interpretation seems more probable in this context.

They separated from Israel all those of foreign descent: The people of Israel immediately responded by excluding the foreigners. In earlier contexts they separated themselves from the foreigners (Ezra 10.11; Neh 9.2), but here they expelled the foreigners from among themselves; that is, they caused the foreigners to depart from their midst. From Israel means from among the people of Israel, but here it refers more specifically to “the community” of Israel as Good News Translation renders it, that is, Israel as a religious community. This would mean the foreigners are excluded from the Temple, the assembly, and other religious practices. They excluded all those of foreign descent from Temple worship. The Hebrew for those of foreign descent is literally “mixed people [or, race].” This expression is used in the Old Testament of people who have foreign or mixed ancestry (see Exo 12.38; Jer 25.20, 24). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “every person of mixed blood.” Only those who were considered to be pure-blooded Israelites were allowed to participate in the Temple activities. For comments on the theme of separation, see Ezra 6.21; 9.1; Neh 9.2. The Good News Translation rendering, “they excluded all foreigners from the community,” is misleading because it was the people “of mixed blood” (so Revised English Bible) who were the focus of the action here. New Living Translation says “all those of mixed ancestry were immediately expelled from the assembly,” and this is a good model to follow.

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 .