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Nehemiah 3
The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.
The builders of the wall
1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and set up its doors. As far as the Tower of the Hundred they consecrated it, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to him Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. 4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. 5 Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their lords.
6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. 7 And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, which belonged to the seat of the governor beyond the River, made repairs. 8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 And next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 And next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
13 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 as far as the Dung Gate. 14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He built it and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars.
15 Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites made repairs: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their brothers made repairs: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section, opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zaccai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 And after him the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the Angle and the tower that projects from the king's upper house, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.
26 Now the Nethinim were living on the Ophel as far as opposite the Water Gate toward the east, and the projecting tower. 27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section, opposite the great projecting tower, as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and to the upper room of the corner. 32 And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
Notes
- 3:1 The account goes around the city counterclockwise, from the Sheep Gate in the north, near the house of Yahweh, west and south, then up the east side, and ends again at the Sheep Gate (verse 32). The high priest and the priests begin, and theirs is the only part said to be "consecrated." The Sheep Gate was probably where sheep for the sacrifices were brought in; in the first century the pool of Bethesda lay "by the Sheep Gate" (John 5:2). The Tower of Hananel is named again by Jeremiah and Zechariah in promises of a rebuilt Jerusalem (Jeremiah 31:38; Zechariah 14:10).
- 3:3 Many of the builders belong to families named in the lists of those who returned (Ezra 2; 8; 10): the sons of Hassenaah (the Senaah of Ezra 2:35, here with the Hebrew article), Meremoth the son of Uriah (Ezra 8:33), Pahath-moab, Harim and Parosh (Ezra 2:6, 32, 3). Some names come again in the covenant of chapter 10. The Nehemiah son of Azbuk of verse 16 is a different man from Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
- 3:5 To "put the neck" to a work pictures an ox bending its neck to the yoke. "Their lords" (adonehem) may mean the leaders set over the work, or, as some read it, their Adon, Yahweh; the Hebrew allows either. The nobles of Tekoa held back, but the men of Tekoa repaired a second section as well (verse 27).
- 3:7 "The seat" is kisse, literally "throne": Gibeon and Mizpah were probably under the authority of the Persian governor of the province beyond the River rather than of Jerusalem. Some read it instead as a place: they repaired as far as the governor's official residence in the city.
- 3:12 Shallum's daughters worked beside him on the wall, the only women named among the builders. Some think "daughters" may mean the villages that depended on his district, as towns are called "daughters" elsewhere (Numbers 21:25), but most take the word in its plain sense.
- 3:15 "The Pool of Shelah" follows the Hebrew name here, hashelach, from shalach, "to send," perhaps for the channel that sent the water to it. The same root gives the waters of Shiloah in Isaiah 8:6, and the pool is generally identified with the one known in the first century as Siloam, where Yeshua sent the blind man to wash; John explains the name as "Sent" (John 9:7). On the tunnel that brings water there, see the note on 2 Kings 20:20. "The king's garden" lay near it, by the gate through which Zedekiah's soldiers fled (2 Kings 25:4).
- 3:20 The TRB follows the way the Hebrew is to be read (the qere), "Zaccai," a family named in Ezra 2:9; the written text has "Zabbai," which many English Bibles print. "Zealously" translates hecherah, "he burned (with zeal)"; some think the word arose from a copying slip, since it looks much like the verb that follows.
- 3:32 The circuit closes where it began (verse 1). Priests and Levites, rulers of districts, families, towns, craftsmen such as goldsmiths and perfumers, and merchants all took part, many of them "opposite his own house" (verses 10, 23, 28-30). The gates named are the Sheep, Fish, Old, Valley, Dung, Fountain, Water, Horse, East and Inspection (or "Muster") Gates; the exact place of several of them is still debated.