I sent messengers to them, saying: Nehemiah sent people back to Sanballat and Geshem with his answer that is recorded in the form of direct quotation.

I am doing a great work: Nehemiah did not directly turn down the invitation but said that he was too busy. His excuse was the “important work” (Good News Translation) of rebuilding the wall that his enemies wanted to stop by having him come to meet them. In the Hebrew text the object a great work is placed before the verb. This reinforces the fact that Nehemiah was claiming to be too busy. A possible translation model is “The work I am doing is so important that….”

I cannot come down: The Hebrew verb rendered come down may mean either “go down” or “come down.” In most languages it will be necessary to choose the one meaning or the other, as is the case in English. The choice of verb will indicate the speaker’s perspective, whether the speaker is locating himself down with the people to whom Nehemiah is sending his reply, or is locating himself with Nehemiah. Revised Standard Version has chosen the former, while Good News Translation has chosen the latter. The notion of coming or going down refers to descending to a lower geographical location or going away from Jerusalem, not to climbing down off the wall. Translators should use whichever verb is more natural in their language.

Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?: This is a rhetorical question to which Nehemiah does not expect an answer (so Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible). It has been translated in the form of a statement by Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version, which has “I can’t afford to slow down the work just to visit with you.”

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 .