* **twentieth year until the thirty-second year of Artexerxes the king** - second year of Artexerxes the king** - Years in the ancient Near East were measured by the year of a king's reign.
* **twelve years** - Nehemiah is restating the number of years for emphasis. AT: "during that entire time"
* **neither I nor my brothers ate the food provided for the governor** - "Neither my brothers nor I ate the food provided for the governor." This food was provided by the king and was part of what a governor was paid by the people. Because the people were starving, Nehemiah chose not to make use of this privilege.
* **former governors** - "previous governors" or "governors from the past" Nehemiah was not the first governor of Judah.
* **took from them forty shekels of silver for their daily food and wine** - AT: "from them forty shekels of silver in addition to daily food and wine."
* **shekel** - (See: [[:en:obe:other:biblicalmoney]] and [[:en:obe:other:biblicalweight]])
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