King James Version

Nehemiah 2:1

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

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Hebrew

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וַיְהִ֣יvayhiand beהָיָהconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and be”, the next action in the storyH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.בְּחֹ֣דֶשׁbechodeshin monthחֹדֶשׁpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “in month”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH2320the new moon; by implication, a monthmonth(-ly), new moon.נִיסָ֗ןnisanNisanנִיסָןnoun, proper name — “Nisan”H5212Nisan, the first month of the Jewish sacred yearNisan.שְׁנַ֥תshenatyearשָׁנֶהnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct — “year”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8141a year (as a revolution of time)[phrase] whole age, [idiom] long, [phrase] old, year([idiom] -ly).עֶשְׂרִ֛יםesrimtwentyעֶשְׂרִיםadjective, cardinal, both genders, plural, absolute — “twenty”, the ordinary formH6242twenty; also (ordinal) twentieth(six-) score, twenty(-ieth).לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁ֥סְתְּאleartachshasteto Artaxerxesאַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׁתָּאpreposition, noun, proper name — “to Artaxerxes”H783Artachshasta (or Artaxerxes), a title (rather than name) of several Persian kingsArtaxerxes.הַמֶּ֖לֶךְhamelekhthe kingמֶלֶךְdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the king”, the ordinary formH4428a kingking, royal.יַ֣יִןyayinwineיַיִןnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “wine”, the ordinary formH3196wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxicationbanqueting, wine, wine(-bibber).לְפָנָ֑יוlefanayvto a- foreפָּנִיםpreposition, noun, common, both genders, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…וָאֶשָּׂ֤אvaesaand lift upנָשָׂאconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 1st person, common, singular — “and lift up”, the next action in the storyH5375to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeaccept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable…אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).הַיַּ֨יִן֙hayayinthe wineיַיִןdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the wine”, the ordinary formH3196wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxicationbanqueting, wine, wine(-bibber).וָאֶתְּנָ֣הvaetnahand giveנָתַןconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 1st person, common, singular, paragogic he — “and give”, the next action in the storyH5414to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, [idiom] avenge, [idiom] be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, [phrase] cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, [idiom] doubtless, [idiom] wi…לַמֶּ֔לֶךְlamelekhto kingמֶלֶךְpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to king”, the ordinary formH4428a kingking, royal.וְלֹאveloand no , -r,לֹאconjunction, particle, negative — “and no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…הָיִ֥יתִיhayitibeהָיָהverb, qal, perfect, 1st person, common, singular — “be”, a completed actionH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.רַ֖עrabadרַעadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “bad”, the ordinary formH7451bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, [phrase] displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), [phrase] exceedingly, [idiom] great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), [phrase] mark, mischief(-vous), misery…לְפָנָֽיוlefanayvto a- foreפָּנִיםpreposition, noun, common, both genders, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Young’s Literal Translation

And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine [is] before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;

World English Bible

In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.

Darby Translation

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence.

Douay-Rheims

And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And it came to pass in the month Nisan of the twentieth year of king Arthasastha, that the wine was before me: and I took the wine, and gave it to the king: and there was not another before him.