Chapter Three

1–32. Nehemiah’s restoration of the walls of Jerusalem and a list of the people who labored on this work.

Chapter III of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes the construction of the so-called second wall of Jerusalem and names many locations in it, has extremely important significance for studying the topography of the holy city in the biblical period. But, unfortunately, the indications of the chapter under consideration are not everywhere definite. Similarly, not at all points are the views about the topography of ancient Jerusalem, which have been formed on the basis of other testimonies and especially on the basis of excavations, firm. The investigations of Wilson on the southwest hill, the excavations of Warren near the temple courtyard, Guthe on Ophel, the Russian Palestine Society on the northwest side of the ancient city, the work of the English Palestine Society and the many years of work of architect Schick have clarified many disputed questions connected with the location of Jerusalem. But even now in this area much remains problematic. Because of this, and also because of the incompleteness of the text of Chapter III of Nehemiah and its probable corruption, the topographical indications of the chapter are not understood equally by all researchers and some individual points of the wall of Nehemiah, mentioned in the place under consideration, can be indicated only provisionally.

The description of the wall in Chapter 3 begins with the Sheep Gate, which lay on the northern side, not far from the north-east corner of the temple courtyard. Further, moving in the western direction, individual points of the wall are noted (the towers of Meah and Hananeel, the Fish Gate, the Old Gate), which all were located on the northern side. Turning to the southwest, the wall, as is evident from the subsequent description, approached the old (Solomonic) northern wall, with which it apparently came into contact near the present Tower of David, identified with the Furnace Tower mentioned in Nehemiah. From there the wall ran directly south to the south-west end of the southwest hill and ran along its edges. Near the said end were the Valley Gate, and to the east of them, at the south-east corner of the aforementioned hill, the Dung Gate. On the southern side of the city, crossing the Tyropoeon Valley, the wall approached the south-east hill, at the southern end of which, probably, were the Fountain Gate. From this point it turned north and ran parallel to the Kedron Valley. In this (eastern) part of the wall, to the southeast of the temple, there were apparently the Horse Gate. Having reached the north-east corner of the temple courtyard near the corner chamber (v. 31), the wall turned west and approached the Sheep Gate, which was not far from the corner.

For the purpose of carrying out the work, the space of the wall, as it seems, was divided into 42 sections, which were not of equal size and obviously were arranged according to the amount of work on the wall. The sections were undertaken by private individuals, families, associations, and settlement groups (residents of one locality). According to the opinion of Schick, in some places a double wall was built. Hence the remarks found in vv. 11, 19, 24: “on the second section,” which Schick understands as indications of the outer wall.

For clarifying Chapter 3, an extensive literature on the topography of Jerusalem is important. See Theological Encyclopedia, vol. VI, pp. 443–484 (Jerusalem); prof. A. A. Olesnitsky, Jerusalem and its Surroundings (Holy Land part 1), Kiev 1875; He also, on the question of excavations in 1883 on the Russian site in Jerusalem. A brief but thorough overview of the results of the most recent research as applied to the indications of Chapter 3 of Nehemiah is presented in the commentary of Ryssel.

Nehemiah 3:1. And Eliashib the high priest rose up, and his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and set its doors, and from the tower of Meah they consecrated them up to the tower of Hananeel. The high priest Eliashib mentioned in v. 1 was the son of Joiakim and grandson of Jeshua, the contemporary of Zerubbabel (cf. Neh 12:10). From the very fact that the high priest and his brothers were building the Sheep Gate (shaar hazzon), one can conclude that these gates were located near the temple. Such a conclusion is confirmed by the passage (Neh 12:39). The name was given to the gates either because flocks of sheep for food and for sacrifices were driven through them into the city, or because not far from them was a sheep market. According to many indications, the Sheep Gate was located approximately at the site of the gate which is now called by Christians the Gate of Stephen (since, according to tradition, not far from it the protomartyr Stephen was stoned to death), or the Gate of Mary (as leading into the Valley of Kedron or Valley of Mary), and by other residents the Dragon Gate. “And from the tower of Meah they consecrated them up to the tower of Hananeel.” The idea expressed in the text not entirely clearly seems to be this: they built the wall up to the tower of Meah, which they consecrated, and then built from the tower of Meah to the tower of Hananeel. Mention is not made of the consecration of the latter, probably because its construction did not lie within the obligation of the priests. The name of the tower of Meah, mentioned also in (Neh 12:39), probably arose from the fact that it had some relation to the number 100—perhaps was 100 cubits in height, or held 100 people. The tower of Hananeel is mentioned also in (Neh 12:39; Jer 31:38; Zech 14:10). According to these indications, the tower formed an angular point of the city, opposite the so-called “corner gates,” and was a prominent point precisely in the north-east part of the wall. The name of the tower probably came from the name of its builder.

Nehemiah 3:2. And beside him the people of Jericho built; and beside them Zaccur the son of Imri built. Nehemiah 3:3. And the Fish Gate built the people of Senaah; they covered it and set its doors, its bolts and its bars. “The Fish Gate was built by the people of Senaah.” The gate received its name either from its proximity to the fish market, on which Tyrian merchants traded in sea fish (cf. Neh 12:39; 2 Chr 33:14; Zeph 1:10) or from the fact that in a pool located not far from it fish were found. The gate was on the northern side of the wall, west of the tower of Hananeel, at a distance of two sections built according to v. 2 by the Jericho people and Zaccur.

Nehemiah 3:4. Beside them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired. And beside them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, repaired. And beside them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. Meremoth, son of Hakkoz, mentioned in v. 4, as is evident from v. 21, worked also on another section of the wall. Meshullam, son of Berechiah, according to (Neh 6:18), belonged to a very prominent family in Jerusalem and, according to the opinion of Herzfeld (Geschichte Isr. I, 384), was the then head of the descendants of David (1 Chr 3:19).

Nehemiah 3:5. And beside them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles did not bend their neck to serve their Lord. The refusal of the men from across the river of Tekoa from working “for the Lord” may have been due to the fact that the southern regions of Judea were subject to the rulers of neighboring tribes (like Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab) and by them were prevented from participating in the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 3:6. And Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they covered it and set its doors, its bolts and its bars. The Old Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. The name of the gate “Old” probably arose from the fact that it led to the old part of the city or to the part located to the west of the temple. According to (Neh 12:39) this gate lay between the Ephraim Gate and the Fish Gate, that is, on the northern side of the city.

Nehemiah 3:7. Beside them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon from Meronoth, with the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, under the authority of the governor of the region beyond the river. The builders mentioned in v. 7 were from places not far from Jerusalem, in the region of the tribe of Benjamin. “Gibeon,” the present Ed-Djib, is 2.5 hours’ journey to the north-west of Jerusalem. “Mizpah” is the present Nabi-Samwil at a distance of 3-4 miles to the north. As for “Meronoth,” its location is unknown. Probably it was some small place near Mizpah, which is why part of the inhabitants of the latter worked under the direction of the Meronothite. “With the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, under the authority of (Lekisse) the governor of the region beyond the river.” The end of the verse in the Russian translation is translated provisionally, since the meaning of the original is unclear. In the opinion of Osiander, Kpericus, Ryssel, the expression indicates that the named workers did not belong to the region of Judea subject to Nehemiah, but to Syria, and therefore their participation in the work was entirely voluntary. Other exegetes (Ewald, Keil, Guthe), basing themselves on the testimony of ancient translations, understand the Hebrew kisse (in the Russian translation “under the authority of”) in the sense of the name of an official residence or place of presence of the Syrian satrap (cf. LXX: ἕως θρόνου τοῦ ἄρχοντος, Syriac “throne,” Slavonic: “even up to the throne of the prince [which was] on the other side of the river”) and therefore see in the expression under consideration an indication of a point of the wall where the work of the Gibeonites and inhabitants of Mizpah continued. Schick even supposes that he discovered this point on the Jerusalem wall (Zeif. D. Pal. Ver. 1885, 279). In the opinion of prof. A. A. Olesnitsky, the verse under consideration speaks of an ancient judicial throne of Jerusalem at the Old Gate, which also served as a place of judgment for Persian satraps and their officials. The place of the “throne” A. A. Olesnitsky indicates there where the Russian building stands (Excavations 27–29). In the opinion of Schultz, the disputed words of the Hebrew text should be transmitted: “in the name of the representative of the authority of the governor of the region beyond the river” and contain an indication that the inhabitants of Gibeon and Mizpah were sent by the governor to carry out the king’s order brought by Nehemiah concerning assistance to the Jews. In view of the difficulty of interpreting the passage, Siegfried thinks the text is corrupted.

Nehemiah 3:8. Beside him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith, repaired. And beside him Hananiah, a member of the perfumers, repaired. And they restored Jerusalem up to the Broad Wall. Uzziel and Hananiah are named, of course, as representatives of a group working under their supervision. “And they restored (vajjazbu) Jerusalem up to the Broad Wall.” The meaning of the Hebrew vajjzabu (Russian “restored”) is unclear, since the meaning of the verb is not known. In the LXX it is transmitted as καὶ κατέλιπον, in the Vulgate dimiserunt, that is, “and they left” Jerusalem (cf. Isa 6:12). This translation is accepted by some exegetes and they understand the expression (“they left Jerusalem”), as an indication that the builders of the wall, in view of the sparse population of the city, did not enclose the entire former area, namely did not fence with a wall the part of the city extending to the “Broad Wall” (Ryssel). In the opinion of Schultz, the expression “they left Jerusalem” means that the builders, constructing the wall near the houses, at this point drew back from them and led the wall in the direction of the “Broad Wall,” well preserved. But the accepted understanding of the verb asab in the sense of restore, repair has more defenders among exegetes. In kindred languages the verb is indeed used in the sense of a building term (Bertheau, p. 54). Up to the Broad Wall, that is, up to the remains of the pre-exilic (Solomonic) wall, which is called broad either because it had greater extent than the post-exilic wall, or in view of its special thickness. It is thought that in v. 8 is meant properly that part of the wall which lies between the present Tower of David and the ancient Ephraim Gate (cf. Neh 12:38-39). This is the same part of the wall which, according to the testimony of (2 Kgs 14:13; 2 Chr 25:23), was destroyed over a distance of 400 cubits by the Israelite king Joash and then was restored by Uzziah (2 Chr 26:9); Josephus Antiquities IX, 10, 3.

Nehemiah 3:9. Beside them Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half-district of Jerusalem, repaired. “Ruler of the half-district of Jerusalem,” that is, of the region which, according to the division of the land introduced, belonged to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 3:10. And beside them and over against his house Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired. And beside him Hattush the son of Hashabniah repaired. The name of Hattush mentioned in v. 10 is found again in (1 Chr 3:22; cf. Ezra 8:2; Neh 10:4).

Nehemiah 3:11. On the second section Malchijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired. And they also repaired the Tower of the Furnace. “On the second section,” Hebrew midda schenith, Slavonic: “and near them.” It is unclear what the writer calls the “second section.” Bertheau understands schenith in the sense of “other” and sees an indication that the people named in v. 11 worked on two sections (cf. vv. 19, 21, 24, 27, 30). Keil considers the words cited as an indication of the second section of the part of the wall mentioned above. The latter understanding seems more natural. The Furnace Tower mentioned in v. 11, as is evident from (Neh 12:38-39), was located between the Ephraim Gate and the Valley Gate. One can suppose that the Furnace Tower formed the north-west gate or was very close to it (2 Chr 26:9). Schick identifies it with the present Tower of David.

Nehemiah 3:12. And beside them Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of the half-district of Jerusalem, repaired—he and his daughters. “Beside them Shallum repaired... and his daughters” (ubenotha). The words: “and his daughters” are understood by many researchers (Schultz, Ryssel) as a figurative indication of the inhabitants of the villages which formed part of the Jerusalem half-district, at the head of which stood Shallum. But nothing prevents understanding the words cited in the literal sense.

Nehemiah 3:13. The Valley Gate repaired Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate. “The Valley Gate repaired Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah,” which can be understood as the present Zanua, Ismail, at a distance of three German miles from Jerusalem. “And they repaired a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.” The words “repaired” are not in the original, and they represent a guess of the translators. From the text it is not clear whether the passage indicates the extent of the wall built by the inhabitants of Zanoah (which would be too great), or whether it designates the part of the wall (between the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate) which did not require repair (Ryssel)—or, finally, the sum of breaks which needed to be filled in the existing wall (Schick). The Dung Gate, or guttural gate, distant 1,000 cubits to the south of the Valley Gate, led to the present Lower Pool, Birket es-Sultan. The gate probably received its name from the fact that through it city dung was carried out. According to the opinion of Schick, the name was given to the gate because it led to the place of Topheth, considered unclean.

Nehemiah 3:14. And Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the Bethcar region, repaired the Dung Gate; he built it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. “The Dung Gate repaired Malchijah son of Rechab,” perhaps a Rechabite. Although, according to (Jer 35:5-7), the Rechabites were forbidden to build houses, but of course only for themselves. Beth-Carem (cf. Jer 6:1), of which Malchijah was the ruler of the region, is identified with the Hill of the Franks, to the south-east of Bethlehem.

Nehemiah 3:15. And Shallum the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the region of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he built it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars—and he also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam by the king’s garden and up to the stairs that go down from the City of David. “The Fountain Gate” probably received its name from its proximity to the Siloam spring and therefore it is sought at the south-east end of the hill of the city. Shallum, who worked on these gates, also repaired, according to v. 15, “the wall by the Pool of Siloam opposite the king’s garden and up to the stairs descending from the City of David.” The Pool of Siloam is usually identified with the Siloam pool (cf. Isa 8:6; John 9:7), although this identification is not without dispute (Guthe). The stairs or staircase which descended from the City of David is mentioned also in (Neh 12:37). Schick and Guthe indicate traces of them in the place where the ancient rock surface of that time is still preserved, not far from the wall (Zett. D. Pal. Ver. 1882, 315).

Nehemiah 3:16. After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half-district of Beth-Zur, repaired—up to the tombs of David and to the artificial pool and to the House of the Mighty. “Nehemiah son of Azbuk” (cf. Neh 1:1) was the ruler of the Beth-Zur half-district. Beth-Zur (Josh 15:58; 2 Chr 11:7), often mentioned in the Maccabee books, is identical with the present Beit-Sur, distant three German miles to the south of Jerusalem, to the west of the Hebron road. Here even now the remains of an ancient tower are preserved. Nehemiah repaired the section of the wall “up to the tombs of David and to the artificial pool and to the House of the Mighty.” The tombs of David or the tombs of the royal house of David were located to the east of Mount Zion. In present-day Jerusalem their location is indicated in various ways (Commentary on the Bible, note to 1 Kgs 2:10). By the artificial pool in v. 16 is meant, probably, some pool dug in recent time, shortly before Nehemiah, and therefore well known to all. The House of the Mighty was called, it may be supposed, some barracks (cf. 2 Sam 16:6) or a house in which were stationed guards of the temple gates, cf. (1 Chr 9:26) and (1 Chr 26:6). Guthe indicates this place to the south-west of the source of Mary (Zeit. D. Р. V. 1882, 332).

Nehemiah 3:17. After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. And beside him Hashabiah, the ruler of the half-district of Keilah, repaired for his district. Keilah mentioned in v. 17 (“half-district of Keilah”) is identical with the present village of Kila, lying to the east of Beit-Djibrina (Eleutheropolis), four German miles to the south-east of Jerusalem (cf. Josh 15:44; 1 Sam 23:1; 1 Chr 4:19).

Nehemiah 3:18. After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half-district of Keilah. “Their brothers,” that is, the inhabitants of the other half-district of Keilah.

Nehemiah 3:19. And beside him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired the second section, opposite the ascent to the armory at the corner. “On the second section.” Probably not Ezer himself repaired the second section, but the inhabitants of Mizpah standing under his supervision (cf. v. 7). “Opposite the ascent to the armory at the corner” (Slavonic: “the measurement of the second column of the ascent, touching the corner”). Neshek means an armory or arsenal. The location of this armory at the corner is difficult to determine.

Nehemiah 3:20. After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired the second section, from the corner up to the door of the house of Eliashib, the high priest. “After him zealously (hecherah) repaired Baruch.” The Hebrew hecherah, omitted in the LXX, is transmitted in the Russian text provisionally, since it is difficult to give the word a definite meaning in this place. In the Lucian version it is transmitted as Εἰς τὸ ὄρος, also in the Vulgate in monte, on a mountain; by some commentators: angrily (at the slowness of the construction). Ryssel prefers the Vulgate reading “in monte,” as corresponding to the position of the part of the wall on which Baruch worked. In that case Baruch repaired at the place where the wall, turning east and rising uphill, formed an angle. “On the second section.” The first section, however, is not indicated. The house of the high priest Eliashib mentioned in vv. 20 and 21 was apparently located southwest of the corner of the temple courtyard, not too far from the wall which rose on the western side of Ophel in an eastward direction. As is evident, the house of the high priest occupied considerable space.

Nehemiah 3:22. After him the priests from the surrounding region repaired. “After him the priests from the surrounding region” (hakikkar) repaired. Instead of the indefinite hakikkar, ordinarily used in the Bible as the name of the Jordan Valley (Gen 13:12; Deut 34:1), the Vulgate reads: “men from the fields of the Jordan,” Slavonic: “men from the field [of the Jordan].”

Nehemiah 3:23. After them Benjamin and Hashub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, repaired beside his house. Benjamin and Hashub were probably priests, since in the vicinity south of the temple courtyard were, as is evident, the houses of priests.

Nehemiah 3:25. After him Palal the son of Uzai, opposite the corner and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh. “Opposite the corner and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king.” From the original, according with the LXX, where it reads: ὁ πύργος ὁ ἀνώτερος, it is also translated: opposite the corner and the higher tower projecting from the house of the king. The house of the king is not the palace of the king, which lay in the City of David, but some government building near the temple courtyard, with a prison courtyard at it. According to the indication (Jer 32:2), the prison courtyard is mentioned by Jeremiah. Based on (Neh 12:39), one can suppose that the prison courtyard was located on the southern side of the temple courtyard, and precisely in the eastern half of this side. The corner mentioned in v. 25 was formed by the eastern side of the prison courtyard and the southern side of the temple courtyard.

Nehemiah 3:26. And the Nethinim who lived on Ophel repaired opposite the Water Gate on the east, and the projecting tower. The Russian translators inserted in the given verse the word “repaired.” In the original the discussion is only of the place of residence of the Nethinim, which is indicated “on Ophel opposite the Water Gate on the east up to the projecting tower.” “The Water Gate,” according to the Talmudic tradition, received its name from the fact that on the Feast of Tabernacles water drawn from the spring was carried through it into the temple. Some indicate its location not far from the Spring of Mary (Schultz). Bertheau, however, supposes that these were not city gates, but gates of the royal palace. “Up to the projecting tower.” See the note to v. 25.

Nehemiah 3:27. After them the Tekoites repaired the second section, from opposite the great projecting tower up to the wall of Ophel. “After them the Tekoites repaired:” from the original “after him”—apparently after Pedaiah (v. 25), “on the second section.” The first section of the Tekoites is mentioned in v. 5. The projecting tower opposite which the section of the Tekoites began, it is supposed (Robinson, Ryssel), was located at the south-east corner of the temple courtyard, where even now traces of a structure are visible.

Nehemiah 3:28. Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each opposite his house. “Above (more precisely: higher than) the Horse Gate the priests repaired.” Some explain the name of the Horse Gate from the fact that it was located not far from the stables dedicated to the sun-god (2 Kgs 23:11). According to Josephus, the gates were called Horse Gates because through them lay the shortest path to the royal stables (Josephus Antiquities IX, 7, 3). According to (Jer 31:40; 2 Kgs 11:16; 2 Chr 23:15), the gate had relation to the royal palace and consequently should be sought on the south-east of the temple courtyard, from where it led into the Kedron Valley.

Nehemiah 3:29. After him Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, keeper of the East Gate, repaired. “Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, keeper of the East Gate,” that is, the Water Gate mentioned in v. 26. The section of Shemaiah is not indicated. Probably, as keeper of the East Gate, he repaired this gate and the adjacent part of the wall.

Nehemiah 3:30. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired the second section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber. The words “the sixth son of Zalaph” raise uncertainty, since in other places in the chapter such indications are not made. It is possible that an error has crept into the text. Meshullam, son of Berechiah, is mentioned (cf. Neh 3:4) as having repaired “opposite his chamber” (Slavonic: “opposite his treasury”). Probably this was a chamber serving the purposes of worship.

Nehemiah 3:31. After him Malchijah, the son of the goldsmith, repaired up to the house of the Nethinim and the merchants, opposite the Gate of Miphkad and to the corner chamber. “Malchijah the son of Harsofi” (hazzorphi). Guthe reads the latter word as hazzarphi and understands it as an indication of Malchijah’s origin from Sarepta (“Sarepta native”); but usually the word is understood in the sense of an appellative, indicating that Malchijah belonged to the craft of goldsmiths. “Up to the house of the Nethinim and the merchants.” According to v. 26, the Nethinim lived on Ophel. In v. 31, one must think, the discussion is not of their residence, but of a place of service, which apparently was located on the north-east of the temple. The merchants placed in connection with the Nethinim were, of course, sellers of objects needed for worship (cf. Matt 21:12; John 2:14). They obviously were given, near the temple, a building in which the Nethinim also had their abode. “Opposite the Gate of Miphkad and to the corner chamber.” The Gate of Miphkad (Slavonic: “the gate of judgment”) did not belong to the city wall, because, as noted, they were building the wall opposite them. Probably they formed the entrance to the place mentioned in (Ezek 43:21) mipkad habst (Slavonic: “in the separated temple”)—the place of burning of the sin sacrifice (from the Hebrew: “raising of the corner”). The corner chamber—perhaps something like a tower, located at the north-east corner of the temple courtyard, on the site of the present “Throne of Solomon.” It should be noted that the text of v. 31 is not transmitted the same by all. Instead of the reading of our translation, some (Bertheau, Ryssel, Kautzsch) read: “After him Malchijah repaired, up to the house of the Nethinim and (after him the merchants repaired). The text of the Greek and Slavonic also gives an idea different from the reading of the Russian translation.

Nehemiah 3:32. And between the corner chamber and the Sheep Gate the silversmiths and the merchants repaired. “Silversmiths” (according to Perles, Analekta, p. 78, money-changers).