Nehemiah 4:12

Footnotes

1. 16 Heb “ten times.”
2. 17 The reads the anomalous מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת (mikkol hamméqomot, “from every place”) but the editors propose כָּל־הַמְּזִמּוֹת (kol hammézimmot, “about every scheme”). The initial mem (ם) found in the may have been added accidentally due to dittography with the final mem (ם) on the immediately preceding word, and the qof (ק) may have arisen due to orthographic confusion with the similar looking zayin (ז). The emendation restores sense to the line in the , which makes little sense and features an abrupt change of referents: “Wherever you turn, they will be upon us!” The threat was not against the villagers living nearby but against those repairing the wall, as the following context indicates. See also the following note on the word “plotting.”
3. 18 The reads תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “you turn”) which is awkward contextually. The editors propose emending to חָשְׁבוּ (hashévu, “they were plotting”) which harmonizes well with the context. This emendation involves mere orthographic confusion between similar looking ח (khet) and ת (tav), and the resultant dittography of middle vav (ו) in . See also the preceding note on the word “schemes.”