Deeper Commentary

Nehemiah 3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate- "Rose up / arose" is a word used often of the 'rising up' of the exiles to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5; 3:2; 9:5; Neh. 2:18; 3:1). This was a fulfilment of the command to "Arise... Jerusalem!" (Is. 51:17; 52:2; 61:4). But this 'arising' was to be associated with the dawning of Zion's light in the form of Yahweh's glory literally dwelling over Zion (Is. 60:1). This didn't happen at the time, because the appearance of 'arising' by the exiles was only external and wasn't matched by a spiritual revival.

They sanctified it, and set up its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel- "Hammeah" is LXX "tower of the hundred". It could be they repaired 100 cubits around the tower of Hananel.

Nehemiah 3:2 Next to him built the men of Jericho. Next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri- The close fellowship between priests and secular people is stressed in the LXX "And they builded by the side of the men of Jericho, and by the side of the sons of Zacchur, the son of Amari".

Nehemiah 3:3 The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars- Zech. 2:4 had foretold that “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein”, seeing that Yahweh Himself would be as a wall of fire around her to protect her from her adversaries (Ezra had recognized this promise, that God would be a wall to them- Ezra 9:9). Note how this prophecy is introduced by an Angel with a measuring reed measuring out the rebuilt Zion (Zech. 2:1), just as we have in Ezekiel 40. But Judah disbelieved the promise of a Divine wall of fire, and insisted on building a physical wall to protect them; and the record in Nehemiah has plenty of reference to their setting up of bars and gates in their fear (Neh. 3:3,6,13-15). By doing so they disallowed the fulfilment of Ez. 38:11, and thereby precluded what was prophesied as subsequently following. If they had trusted Him and paid their tithes, their cattle would have multiplied, and the Scythian tribes would have come down to seek to take them, as Ezekiel 38:12,13 foretold. But as it happened, their cattle were diseased and their agriculture not blessed because of their dilatory attention to Yahweh’s house that lay waste (Haggai 1:11). So therefore there was no invasion, and no victory against the nations, and no Kingdom established at that time. 

Nehemiah 3:4 Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to them, Zadok the son of Baana made repairs- "Repaired" is the word used for 'strengthened'. They strengthened their hands and their hands were strengthened (s.w. Neh. 2:18; Zech. 8:9,13), and this empowered them to strengthen ("repair") the walls. This in turn could have fulfilled the restoration prophecy of Is. 54:2 "strengthen your stakes", the tent pegs of the revived tabernacle. But sadly this was but tokenistic fulfilment and their abiding disobedience and impenitence precluded the fulfilment of the full prophetic potential at the time. It is all therefore reapplied and reinterpreted with regard to the work of the Lord Jesus.

Nehemiah 3:5 Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn’t put their necks to the work of their Lord- The greater or lesser devotion to the Lord's work has been preserved in the record all these generations. LXX "And next to them the Thecoim took their place; but the Adorim applied not their neck to their service".

 

Nehemiah 3:6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars- Every detail of their work was recorded and has been for millennia, so sensitive was God to every bit of carpentry done for Him and the work of His Kingdom. And He remains so to this day.

Nehemiah 3:7 Next to them, Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, repaired the residence- RV "throne". It seems that the governor of the Persian empire to the west of the Euphrates (who was based in Damascus) had a throne on the northern wall of the city, which is where he would typically arrive from Damascus when he visited Jerusalem. This point is seen as the limit of the northern city wall.

Of the governor beyond the River- The fact they were still under the power of the Persian empire is emphasized, in tacit recognition of the fact that they had not received the radical independence and freedom promised in the restoration prophets. Zech. 9:8-10 is a prophecy of Zerubbabel or Joshua which had to have its real fulfilment deferred until the coming of Jesus: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass [Did Zerubbabel / Joshua like Nehemiah enter Jerusalem on a donkey?]. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem [the opposing Samaritans], and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth”. This latter phrase contrasts with the repeated reminder that the Persians had dominion “on this side the river” (Ezra 4:10,11,16; 5:3,6; 6:13; 8:36; Neh. 3:7). The coming King (and Joshua was prophesied as a king) was to free Judah from Persia’s dominion, and establish God’s Kingdom, with boys and girls playing in the streets of Jerusalem (Zech. 8:5).

Nehemiah 3:8 Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah one of the perfumers made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall- We note that those unaccustomed to heavy manual work still did it. This is the unity of the Spirit experienced when the body of believers put their hearts to the work of the Kingdom.

Isaiah’s messianic prophecies describe a Saviour coming from both the north and the east (especially in Is. 41). Babylon was to the East of Judah, and yet the approach road came down from the north. This Saviour could have come and brought destruction of the Gentile opposition, and established the Kingdom of God in the land. The carpenter encouraged the goldsmith (Is. 41:7) in the building of the wall (cp. Neh. 3:8,32), and there are other links with what happened at the restoration (e.g. the way each worker says to his neighbour “be of good courage”, the same word used throughout Nehemiah for the ‘repairing’ or strengthening of the wall). But evidently the intended, possible fulfilment just didn’t happen. The fulfilment has been deferred until the return of Jesus. He will come from Heaven, the figurative “north”, rather than literal Babylon; the essence will be gloriously fulfilled, but not every literality. And so it may well be with the prophecies of the temple and worship system which was to be restored. 

Nehemiah 3:9 Next to them, Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs- It seems that the actual builders are recorded here; and the idea was that the ruler worked next to goldsmiths who likewise were unaccustomed to manual labour (:8). Although Jerusalem was in ruins, there were still civil divisions and rulers over them. 

Nehemiah 3:10 Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs- It is always tempting to do God's work insofar as it reinforces our own personality or has some perceived benefit for us or our family. And so it seems it was with Jedaiah; he repaired the wall opposite his own house.

Nehemiah 3:11 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces- "Another portion" could suggest that they repaired not only their allotted section but another one as well. And this is noted; and such a person worked next to the one who was apparently more interested just in working for the benefit of their own house (:10). This is the same juxtaposition of motives and personalities which we find amongst God's people today.

Nehemiah did his very best to bring the potential Kingdom of God about by urging the people to repentance and conformity to God’s will, such was his perception of what was going on; that the coming of God’s Kingdom was being limited by the apathy of his own people. "Portion" is the word elsewhere translated "measure". No fewer than 24 times in Ez. 40-48 are we told that the temple was to be built by ‘measure’ (e.g. Ez. 40:3,5,10,21,22,24,28,29); and the same word occurs frequently in describing how Nehemiah gave various groups of Jews their own ‘measure’ or "portion" in the work of rebuilding Jerusalem (Neh. 3:11,19,20,22,24,27). See on :31. As he ‘measured out’ the work of rebuilding Jerusalem, he must have been conscious of the Kingdom prophecy of Jer. 31:38-40: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever”. It could have been fulfilled, this could have been the potential Kingdom of God, and he set about to seek to fulfill it; but those places were not kept “holy unto the Lord”, and therefore the Jews were to be again plucked up and thrown down.  

Nehemiah 3:12 Next to him, Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters, made repairs- This continues the theme of the work being done by those unaccustomed to manual work; the use of women connects with how goldsmiths, perfumers (:8) and civil administrative rulers all worked together in the great work.

Nehemiah 3:13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate- This was a huge amount of work to be done by one group- 1000 cubits of wall. Ez. 48:31-34 envisaged the 12 gates of Jerusalem being named after the 12 tribes of Israel. But it seems no accident that twelve separate gates of the city are mentioned in the restoration record- but they weren't renamed after the tribes of Israel. Here are the names of the city gates in Nehemiah: valley (Neh. 3:13); horse (Neh. 3:28); east (Neh. 3:29); Miphkad (Neh. 3:31); water (Neh. 8:16); dung (Neh. 12:31); fountain (Neh. 12:37); Ephraim, old, fish, sheep and prison gates (Neh. 12:39). No wonder some wept when the rebuilt temple was finally dedicated- the pattern of Ezekiel's vision hadn't been followed, even on such basic matters as the names of the twelve gates of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 3:14 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 was at the south west corner of the wall. If Malchijah was indeed a Rechabite, then they were forbidden to live in houses (Jer. 35:7). If indeed Jerusalem was in the totally ruined state as Nehemiah presents it, then it was somehow appropriate that a Rechabite ruled over part of those ruins.

Nehemiah 3:15 Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the spring gate. He built it and 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, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David- The record now moves on to those who repaired the southern part of the wall.

The emphasis in the record on bars, gates and locks (e.g. Neh. 3:15) was perhaps to highlight how the restoration prophecies of Ezekiel, of a people living confidently without those things, had actually not been fulfilled; and therefore the prophesied events of Ez. 38-40 didn't happen- i.e. an invasion of a restored Judah, dwelling without bars and gates, which would lead in to the rebuilding of the temple and establishment of the Kingdom. Note how the restoration Psalm Ps. 76:1-5 speaks in the prophetic perfect of a great battle at Jerusalem which Yahweh would win. Perhaps this speaks of the same battle spoken of in Ez. 38, which could have come true in God's prophetic program, had the people rebuilt the city as they should have done.

Nehemiah 3:16 After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made- This work was commendable in that this Nehemiah was from Beth Zur (Josh. 15:58) which was some way out of Jerusalem. So he got no personal benefit from the work, unlike Jedaiah in :10, who repaired the wall directly opposite his own house. And so it seems that some will get apparently more personal benefit from their service of God than others. "The pool" was perhaps that made by Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20; Is. 22:9-11).

And to the house of the mighty men- Perhaps the barracks for David's mighty men (2 Sam. 16:6; 23:8).

Nehemiah 3:17 After him the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district- Again we see the juxtaposition of personality types within the body of God's people. The Levites, the manual workers associated with the temple service, are working together with a ruler. Keilah was some way out of Jerusalem, so he got no personal benefit from doing this work; see on :16.

Nehemiah 3:18 After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs- Keilah was some way out of Jerusalem, so they got no personal benefit from doing this work; see on :16.

Nehemiah 3:19 Next to him, Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion, across from the ascent to the armoury at the turning of the wall- The people of Mizpah had already been mentioned as repairing another section in :7. The simple truth is that some respond to the call to work more zealously and extensively than others; partly because they are simply wired differently, some being more proactive than others; and partly because of differing levels of faith.

Nehemiah 3:20 After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest- We again note how the extent of zeal was recorded and noted by God; in this case, it is noted that he "earnestly repaired".

Nehemiah 3:21 After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib- Meremoth had done his own allotted portion (:4) and now took on "another portion". There can be no spirit of minimalism amongst those who are truly strengthened to do God's work and who perceive God's hands working with their hands, as was the case with the restoration of the Kingdom at this time.

Nehemiah 3:22 After him, the priests, the men of the Plain, made repairs- These priests presumably had property in the Jordan valley (s.w. Gen. 13:10; 19:17; 2 Sam. 18:23), "the plain"; there were men of Jericho, from the same area, involved in the work (:2).

Nehemiah 3:23 After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house- It is always tempting to do God's work insofar as it reinforces our own personality or has some perceived benefit for us or our family. And so it seems it was with these men; they repaired the wall opposite their own houses. This contrasts with those from outlying towns who came in to work in Jerusalem. And so it seems that some will get apparently more personal benefit from their service of God than others. God alone can judge our motives.

Nehemiah 3:24 After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner- LXX links this with :25, "to the turning of Phalach [Palal]". "Another portion" as in :21 suggests he had finished his own portion and had taken on another.

 

Nehemiah 3:25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite 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. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs- The court of the guard was inside the king's house (Jer. 32:2), and was used as a prison, therefore it was near the prison gate (Neh. 12:39). The way these ancient descriptions are internally corroborated is one of those 'ring of truth' impressions we get from the inspired record.

Nehemiah 3:26 (Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)- The implication may be that the Nethinim, the manual worker servants of the temple and priesthood, were the ones intended to do this kind of manual building work; but apparently they didn't.

 
Nehemiah 3:27 After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel- Tekoah was outside of Jerusalem; so we have another example here of people coming in to work for the sake of the overall wider good of God's people, as opposed to those who repaired parts of the wall near to their own homes. And they repaired "another" or a "second" portion, in addition to what they had originally repaired.

Nehemiah 3:28 Above the horse gate, the priests made repairs, each one across from his own house- As observed throughout this chapter, some got immediate personal advantage from their work and others didn't. The ideal of course is that the motivation should be the same for us all.

Nehemiah 3:29 After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate, made repairs- As noted on :28, some got immediate personal advantage from their work and others didn't, coming in from outside of Jerusalem to work on the project. The ideal of course is that the motivation should be the same for us all. Shemaiah is the one of 1 Chron. 3:22. He must have been an old man, as his son Hattush had returned to Jerusalem with Ezra (Ezra 8:2,3); again we get the impression of those not naturally adequate to the work still doing it (goldsmiths, perfumers, daughters, administrators and now old men). Whilst we are given talents which we should use in God's service, it is also true that His service is a going against the grain of our natural desires and not a mere reinforcement of our natural aptitudes and personalities; ultimately, we are called to carry the cross of the Lord Jesus.

 

Nehemiah 3:30 After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs across from his place- LXX "his treasury". See on :28,29. "After him" is in some versions "after me", as if Nehemiah himself worked on the wall. As the overseer of the work (Neh. 4:13-23), it was appropriate that he led by example.

Nehemiah 3:31 After him, Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, made repairs over against the Muster gate, and to the ascent of the corner- See on :11. Nehemiah arranged for 12 gates to be built in the wall, as Ez. 48:31-34 had commanded there to be. He built ‘miphkad’, “the Muster Gate” (Neh. 3:31 RSV), the “appointed place” [s.w.] of Ez. 43:21. But he didn't name the gates as he could have done and didn't appear willing to follow the restoration prophecies as a template for rebuilding the city. He like Ezra was more focused upon restoring the traditional former national glory and the old covenant, rather than accepting the new covenant.

Nehemiah 3:32 Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate- This marks a full circuit back to the sheep gate with which this account began (:1).

The goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs- Again we get the impression of those not naturally adequate to the work still doing it (goldsmiths, perfumers, daughters, administrators and now old men). Whilst we are given talents which we should use in God's service, it is also true that His service is a going against the grain of our natural desires and not a mere reinforcement of our natural aptitudes and personalities; ultimately, we are called to carry the cross of the Lord Jesus.