‘Eyes to Hear’: Nehemiah 1,6 from a Pragmatics and Ritual Theory Perspective Exegesis is the art of looking at the fine details of a text, discourse, image or any other media seeking to communicate without overlooking the larger picture 1. In this brief study we would like to pay particular attention to an enigmatic statement in Nehemiah 1,6 (ÚDb[ tLpTAla [mvl t/jWtp Úy,y[w “ and ˆˆ " " i ˆ , " o ˆ i u ˆ n eˆ your eyes [be] open[ed] to listen to the prayer of your servant”) which is part and parcel of an important confessional prayer of the Hebrew Bible (Neh 1,5-11) 2. After a brief review of the history of interpretation of the phrase (or rather its lack thereof) we will try to interact with two more recent additions to the exegete’s toolbox, i.e., ritual theory and socio- cognitive linguistics, which promise helpful insights for understanding this particular phrase. 1. When Eyes are Listening: Nehemiah 1,6 in Recent Research Most commentaries dealing with Nehemiah 1,6 pay scant or no attention to the strange combination of metaphorical language that links eyes to the verbal act of listening 3. Older commentaries delight in establishing possible links to other important “thought leaders” of the literature of the HB (such as the “Chronicler” or the “Deuteronomist”) 4 or This paper was first presented in the Language and Linguistics section of 1 the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 9, 2008. We appreciated the helpful interaction with the audience and benefited from the insightful comments of the participants of this section. Cf. E. TALSTRA, “The Discourse of Praying: Reading Nehemiah 1”, 2 Psalms and Prayers. Papers Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society of Old Testament Study and Het Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland e n B e l g i ë , Apeldoorn August 2006 (eds. B. B E C K I N G – E. P E E L S ) (Oudtestamentische Studiën 55; Leiden 2007) 219-236. See also K. BALTZER, “Moses Servant of God and the Servants: Text and 3 Tradition in the Prayer of Nehemiah (Neh 1:5–11)”, The Future of Early C h r i s t i a n i t y . E s s ay s in Honor of Helmut Koester (ed. B.A. PEARSON ; Minneapolis, MN 1991) 121, who writes: “The prayer of Nehemiah in Nehemiah 1 has not received a particularly warm reception among exegetes”. J.M. MYERS, Ezra-Nehemiah (AB 14; Garden City, NY 1965) 95-96. 4 C f . F. MICHAELI , L e s Livres des Chroniques, d’Esdras et de Néhémie ( C o m m e n t a i r e de l’Ancien Testament 16; Paris 1967) 309. See also