THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM (NEHEMIAH 3:1). It is difficult to overemphasise the huge impact of what was about to be accomplished. A city which was largely uninhabited, lay partially in ruins, had no means of protection, and was making little impact on the surrounding area (apart from... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they rebuilt the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.' Even the greatest were involved in the project. Eliashib the High Priest (the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to him built the men of Jericho.' ‘And next to him --' is a feature of the next few verses up to Nehemiah 3:12. From then on, a few verses having intervened, it is ‘after him --' (Nehemiah 3:16), although ‘next to him' occurs in Nehemiah 3:17; Nehemiah 3:19. It has been suggested that ‘nex... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the fish gate; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars'. The Fish Gate itself was repaired by ‘the sons of Hassenaaah'. Hassenaah (Senaah with the definite article ‘ha') is probably a place name, referring to the place to which the sons o... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz.' The verb now changes from ‘rebuilt' to ‘repaired, made strong'. This may indicate that in this section the walls were in a better state of preservation. But as it is also used of the building of new walls later in the chapter... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their lords (or ‘of their Lord').' Next to Zadok and his wider family were the Tekoites. However, their leadership refused to be involved. They were stiffnecked. They refused to take on themselves the yo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the gate of the old (city or wall). They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars.' The next gate following the Fish Gate was the ‘gate of the old', that is, either of the old city or of the old wall.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, which pertains to the seat of the governor of Beyond the River.' The part of the wall following the Gate of the Old City/Wall was repaired by Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronoth... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Next to him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths.' The next part of the wall was repaired by the family or guild of Uzziel ben Harhaiah, who were goldsmiths. The name of the family guild head is intended to include both his own wider family and the guild of goldsmiths who would all assi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem.' ‘Them' refers to the perfumers. Next to the perfumers repaired Rephaiah, and the residents of half the district of Jerusalem over whom he was ruler. Rephaiah is a common Jewish name used elsewhere of a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, and over against his house.' This suggests that Jedaiah was an important man who had a large house in that part of Jerusalem. It confirms that where possible those who had residences in Jerusalem built the section of the wall in which they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.' Two further prominent men and their households, Malchijah and Hasshub, repaired the next section. This included the tower of the furnaces (or ‘ovens'). This was possibly the qu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.' In charge of the repairing of the next section of the wall were Shallum, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem (compare Nehemiah 3:9 for the ruler of the other half), ‘and h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.' Next to Shallum and his daughters were Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah. They repaired the Valley Gate (from which Nehe... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Malchijah, the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He built it, and set up its doors its bolts and its bars.' The Dung Gate itself was repaired by a second Malchijah, who was the son of Rechab, and was ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts and its bar, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.' The section... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, up to the place over against the sepulchres of David, and up to the pool that was made (or the artificial pool, i.e. man-made), and up to the house of the mighty men (warriors).' From now on we have ‘after him'... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired the Levites: It would appear that this next section of the wall, up to Nehemiah 3:19 (or 20) was repaired by Levites who had become involved in administration. This may have been because they were looked to for leadership after the devastation of the land by the Babylonians. Not... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah.' The next section of the wall was repaired by ‘their brothers', that is the remainder of the men of Keilah, under Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of the half district of Keilah. It may well hav... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, opposite the ascent to the armoury at the turning (of the wall).' ‘Next to him', as in Nehemiah 3:17, may be intended to indicate the close relationship between the Levites as they worked in association. Thus ne... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly (strivingly) repaired another portion, from the turning (of the wall) to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.' It is an open question as to whether Baruch is the last of the list of ‘the Levites' (Nehemiah 3:17) or is in fact introducing gr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.' This Meremoth was also responsible for another section of the wall in Nehemiah 3:4, which see for details about him. But the section men... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And after him repaired the priests, the men of the countryside.' Finishing off the section of the wall near the High Priest's house were ‘the priests, the men of the countryside' (literally ‘of the circle'. This could refer to ‘the circle of the Jordan' compare Genesis 13:10; but see Nehemiah 12:2... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After them repaired Benjamin and Hasshub over against their house.' The next part of the wall was repaired by Benjamin and Hasshub. Benjamin and Hasshub may have had two houses one close to the other (i.e. each over against their house), or they may have been related and have thus shared the one l... [ Continue Reading ]
After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning (of the wall), and to the corner.' Binnui the son of Henadad (and brother of Bavvai - Nehemiah 3:18) repaired the part of the wall between the end of the house of Azariah to the next angle in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Palal the son of Uzai (repaired) over against the turning (of the wall), and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard.' The next section, which was repaired (the verb is read in) by Palal the son of Uzai, was either near, or contained, a tower w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him the Tekoites repaired another (a second) portion, over against the great tower that stands out (projecting tower), and unto the wall of Ophel.' The Tekoites were also involved in Nehemiah 3:5, which see. This is thus the second portion for which they were responsible. It was adjacent to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his own house.' As we have seen the Nethinim (Temple Servants) dwelt at the low point of the Ophel (the ground rising towards the Temple). Now we have reached the point where the priests dwelt in Jerusalem. The portion of the wall b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his own house.' The next section was repaired by Zadok the son of Immer and his household, adjacent to his own house. Contrast Nehemiah 3:4 c where Zadok the son of Baana had been involved. Being a ‘son of Immer' may indicate his priestly des... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, a second portion.' The next section was the responsibility of Hananiah and Hanun. This may well have been the Hananiah, the governor of the fortress, who was placed in charge of the whole of Jerusalem by Nehemiah... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After him repaired Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, unto the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.' The next section was that which led up to the north east corner. It was repaired by Malchijah who was a goldsmith. It was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.' In Nehemiah 3:1 the description of the building works had commenced with the building of the Sheep Gate in the northern wall by the priests. Now the final section of the building work, that between... [ Continue Reading ]