The first part of this verse gives the names of the second group of Levites. The second part includes a direct quotation addressed to the assembly. The first part of the quotation is the instruction of the Levites addressed to the people. The second part of the quotation is the beginning of the prayer addressed to God. The two quotations could be set off from each other by quotation marks (so New Living Translation, New International Version) or by a colon between them (so Revised English Bible). Good News Translation makes the second part a continuation of the invitation to the people to praise God rather than the actual beginning of the prayer (also Contemporary English Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), but the Handbook does not recommend this.
Even though five of the Levite names in this group are the same as those in the first group (Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, and Sherebiah), this is a completely different group of Levites.
Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting was an instruction to the people and an invitation for them to pray. The Levites first urged the people to “arise” (so Jerusalem Bible). According to verse 2, the people were standing already, so the verb stand up may signify the beginning of the action of blessing.
For bless the LORD your God, see Ezra 7.27. Good News Translation interprets this expression to refer to praising God (also New Living Translation, Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version renders it more dramatically with “shout praises…!” but this is too extreme to form an acceptable model.
The phrase from everlasting to everlasting is unusual. The form generally used is “from now and for evermore.” People could not have praised God from everlasting. This phrase is usually found at the end of a Psalm (for example, Psa 41.13; 106.48; see also 1 Chr 16.36). One possibility is that it should be attached to the next clause as in New English Bible. This, however, is rejected by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which supports the connection of from everlasting to everlasting with the preceding clause with an A rating. Good News Translation therefore connects it to the preceding verb bless in a way that is clearly understandable (also Contemporary Chinese Bible, Bible en français courant). However, some translations interpret this phrase to refer to God; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “bless the LORD your God who is from eternity to eternity” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New International Version), and this is recommended to translators.
The next part of the Levites’ quotation is addressed to God: Blessed be thy glorious name …. The verb Blessed be in Hebrew is literally “may they bless” (also the Septuagint). This is supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with an A rating. It has been suggested that a scribal error may have corrupted the original text, which had “your glorious name is blessed.” This is found in the Syriac version and is followed by New English Bible, but most versions do not follow this textual reading. The Hebrew verb here can be understood as a passive in meaning. This is how it is rendered in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and many other versions, and this is recommended to translators. In languages that do not possess a passive verb construction, this clause may be expressed in an active form, such as “May one bless your glorious Name” (Osty-Trinquet) or “may each one praise your glorious name” (Bible en français courant).
Glorious name: In Hebrew thought a person’s name may represent the person who bears the name. One’s name refers to one’s reputation through his or her character and deeds. Here the reference to a name is a reference to God. Therefore, the modifier glorious refers not only to the name, but to God (see 1 Chr 29.13; Psa 72.19; Isa 63.14). It is God himself who is qualified by glory. God’s glory is his power, his greatness, and his wonderful deeds. Because of the importance of the name in Old Testament Hebrew thought, the word “name” is retained in most translations, and translators should keep it unless it would sound very unnatural. Contemporary English Version uses the adjective “wonderful” in place of glorious.
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise: Exalted is a formal term for “praised” or “raised up.” The wonderful name of God is greater than all blessing and all praise that can be offered to it; that is, God should be blessed and praised even more than human words can be used to bless and to praise. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates fairly literally: “which surpasses all blessing and praise.” Good News Translation restructures this clause, while New Living Translation interprets it in a current expression with “It is far greater than we can think or say.” Contemporary English Version makes the reference to God explicit: “though he is greater than words can express.”
Good News Translation has adopted the format of poetry for the quoted words in this verse. Contemporary English Version likewise uses poetic format, as do Nouvelle Bible Segond and many others. The structure of parallelism seen in Good News Translation is not a feature of the Hebrew text of this verse, though parallelism is evident elsewhere in the prayer that follows.
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 .
Neh 9.:6
The poetic format of the previous verse is used in Good News Translation for the entire prayer from verse 6 through verse 37. Opening quotation marks indicate the beginning of the prayer and closing quotation marks indicate the end of the prayer at the end of verse 37.
And Ezra said is from the Septuagint but is not in the Hebrew text or Vulgate. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports the Hebrew text without these words with a B rating and many versions follow this reading (New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). This is recommended to translators. The Hebrew text makes no break between the prayer begun in 5b and its continuation in this verse. Good News Translation adds the clause “And then the people of Israel prayed this prayer.” Contemporary English Version marks off this part of the prayer with the subtitle “The People Pray.” However, this is not an appropriate place for a section heading, and as a matter of fact, the prayer would have been spoken by one of the Levites on behalf of the people.
Thou art the LORD, thou alone: God is addressed in the prayer as LORD, thou alone. What is meant is that “you alone are the LORD.” The Septuagint translates “You are yourself the only Lord.” New Jerusalem Bible renders it “You, Yahweh, are the one, only Yahweh.” In some languages independent pronoun forms will be required for emphasis. Translators may render this “It is you LORD who are the one LORD indeed.” The form of address must be appropriate in the receptor language. For some cultures this will require a second person plural pronoun as an honorific form of addressing God and this may appear to contradict the assertion of the LORD’s uniqueness as God. It is not a contradiction, of course, because when the plural form is used this way, it indicates majesty and conveys respect.
Thou has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth … the seas …: The first part of the prayer refers to the acts of God as the creator and giver of life. A cosmology of three elements is presented: 1) heaven, 2) the earth, and 3) the seas. God created heaven. The Hebrew word rendered heaven is always in the plural form and it refers to the part of the cosmos above the earth where the sun, moon and stars are located, where the birds fly, and where God himself lives (see the comments at Ezra 1.2). Here it is described in an appositional phrase as the heaven of heavens. This is a Hebrew way of expressing the superlative as rendered in Revised English Bible “the highest heavens.” Some versions translate the Hebrew expression literally as Revised Standard Version has done, but many versions simply say “heavens” as in Good News Translation. In some languages it may be acceptable to say “the whole heaven” or “the great heaven.” Host translates a Hebrew word that is used for a multitude of something that may be soldiers, that is, an army (Gen 21.22), or stars (Psa 33.6) or angels (Psa 24.10). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates all their host as “their whole army,” while many versions retain the ambiguous term host or “array” (so New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation interprets it to mean “stars” (also Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, New Living Translation). New International Version makes its meaning explicit in its rendering, “all their starry host.”
The earth refers to the land upon which people and other terrestrial creatures live. The seas include all the large bodies of water, that is, the oceans, the seas and the big lakes. In some cultures where oceans are not known, an expression like “the great waters” may be used.
The inhabitants of the earth and the seas are referred to in the most general terms by the word all. Because of the line thou preservest all of them, this clearly refers to all living creatures: those of the air, those of the land, and those of the waters. The word all takes on poetic significance through its fourfold repetition. This poetic repetition should be conveyed in the translation.
Thou preservest all of them: In Hebrew this is literally “you keep alive all of them.” Many versions understand this to refer to God’s giving life whether in a past creative act as in Good News Translation or in the present: “You give life to them all” (Revised English Bible; similarly New American Standard Bible). Mandinka says “You [emphatic] are life-giver of all things.” To give life and to preserve life is the essential meaning of blessing. This is the fulfillment of God’s blessing.
The host of heaven worships thee: The host of heaven actively participates in worshiping the LORD. As in the line above in this verse, many versions retain the ambiguity of host, and this is recommended if it can be done in the receptor language. Contemporary English Version interprets this to refer to “the stars” (see Job 38.7), while Good News Translation and other versions render it “the heavenly powers,” without making clear who or what these powers are (also Bible en français courant). New Living Translation interprets it as “all the angels of heaven,” and New International Version says “the multitudes of heaven.”
Worships here, as previously in 8.6 and verse 3 above, refers to prostration. Good News Translation makes explicit both the act of bowing down and its significance as a worshipful act.
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 .