Thou didst warn them in order to turn them back to thy law: Revised Standard Version gives a fairly literal translation of this complex sentence. The text here does not specify how God warned his people. The words of a message are only implied, and a messenger or messengers can only be assumed. This information is given in the following verse and should not be made explicit here. The purpose of God’s warning to his people was to cause them to return to his law (torah in Hebrew). Turn them back to thy law means that they should once again obey God’s commands. Good News Translation simplifies the structure of this sentence and interprets torah in its basic sense of “instructions” or “teachings.” This entire verse in Hebrew is syntactically complex and may require restructuring in the receptor language as Good News Translation and Bible en français courant have done. The translator should not simplify and condense the verse as much as Contemporary English Version has done.
Yet they acted presumptuously: God’s warning was meant to help them. The Hebrew begins this clause with the connective conjunction followed by the independent pronoun they to indicate that the warning will not be heeded. Revised Standard Version therefore translates with the conjunction Yet. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible conveys the emphasis of the Hebrew pronoun in French as follows: “but they, they acted with stubbornness” (also Bible en français courant). In English a possible rendering is “But as for them, they….”
Acted presumptuously is repeated for the third time in this chapter (see verses 10 and 16).
Did not obey thy commandments: See verse 16 above.
Sinned against thy ordinances: For sinned see Neh 1.6, and for ordinances (mishpat in Hebrew), see Neh 1.7. The verbal expression “to sin against” means “to disobey”; that is, the people of Israel broke God’s laws.
By observance of which a man shall live: In Hebrew this is literally “which a man obeys and he will live by them.” This reflects the concept in Deuteronomy that through keeping God’s commands, a person finds a long and fulfilling life (Deut 5.33; 8.1; 30.16). This concept is also recorded almost identically in Lev 18.5b, which in Hebrew is literally “by which man finds life if he keeps them.” In some languages translators will need to make it clear that the quality of life will be good; for example, “if people obey the commands of God they will have good lives” or “… they will live good lives.” Although the Hebrew text is translated by Revised Standard Version as a man, the meaning here includes men and women generally and should be translated accordingly (so Bible en français courant, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible).
Turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey: In Hebrew turned a stubborn shoulder is literally “they turned a withdrawing shoulder.” Both this metaphor and the metaphor stiffened their neck (see verse 16 above) are taken from the behavior of an ox when it refuses to let a yoke be put on its shoulders. The two expressions both express stubbornness. Some translators may retain the Hebrew metaphors as many translations have done. Others may convey the meaning by using a similar expression, for example, “they raised their shoulders [in stubbornness],” but this loses the picture of the ox. Still others may interpret the meaning explicitly without the metaphors. Thus, Bible en français courant translates with two adjectives, “obstinate and rebellious.” Good News Translation keeps a metaphor for the first expression, but not for the second one: “Hard-headed and stubborn.” The three-stage description here culminates in the people’s refusal to obey God, as is apparent in the translation of New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh: “They turned a defiant shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not obey.”
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 .