Nehemiah 3 Notes

[1] Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

·         Eliashib is the high priest, the grandson of Jeshua the high priest from Zerubabbel’s day (Neh 12:10) and he’s out here building with the rest. There is literally nobody, from top to bottom not engaged in this work. This is a stunning statement.

·         The Towers of the hundred and hananel are along the northern face.

·         They also sanctified it, made it full, set it apart for God.

·         The sheep gate was thought to be the gate near the temple where the sheep were brought in for sale and sacrifice. The priests were nearest to the gate, so they fixed it.

·         This is sort of out of order chronologically, obviously you can’t hang gates until the wall is finished, but this is a record of who did what, so it’s listed in this way.

·         Jeremiah 31:38 has these two towers mentioned in reference to the new Kingdom.

[2] And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.

·         The men of Jericho did not build the gates, but they did help with that portion of the wall

·         The northern face was likely fairly well demolished compared to the rest of the wall, which was protected more by natural geography.

[3] But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

·         Next to the tower of Hananeel was the fish gate and it’s segment of wall. Merchants used to use this gate to come in and set up the market.

·         2 Chron 33:14 has the record of the tower nearby being built.

[4] And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.

·         Repair work between the fish gate and old gate were done by Meremoth, Meshullam, and Zadok’s families. The head of the family stands for the accomplishment of the whole.

·         Meshullam was an important person in the city. See Neh 6:18.

·         The word repair, meaning to strengthen, is different than the word for built. It’s likely this section of wall was not as badly damaged, like the other section of wall.

[5] And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.

·         This is probably because they were loyal to Sanballat and Tobiah, and didn’t want to work against them. Neh 6:17 has a record saying that the nobles sent many letters informing the enemies of the progress.

·         These were rebelling against God, not man. There is no sitting on the fence.

[6] Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

·         Meshullam was a pretty hard worker, he was on both sides of the gate.

[7] And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.

·         There is some ambiguity in the text, but it looks like Melatiah and Jadon are not of Jerusalem. This shows that the report was famous, and many people came from all around to help in the work.

[8] Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

·         Hananiah the perfumer and Uzziel the goldsmith helped on this portion of the wall. They were not professional builders, in fact there is no record of anyone being a mason expert, although they likely had them.

·         They closed the gap leading south to the broad wall. The broad wall was more than 20 feet wide. It was broken by Joash king of Israel, 2 Kings 14:13, and was repaired by Uzziel with greater strength.

[9] And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.

·         Rephaiah also helped repair this section. This is interesting because of how high ranking he was. Both he and Halohesh who ruled over the other half got out and repaired the wall

[10] And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.

·         Here the people are repairing near their houses, this happens 5 times in the text. Just go outside and fix your stuff that will be fine.

[11] Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.

·         At the end of the broad wall was the tower of the furnace

[12] And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

·         Even the daughters of Jerusalem are fixing the walls

[13] The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.

·         The corner and valley gates are mentioned as being built by Uzziah in 2 CHron 26:9

·         They worked the distance of 1000 cubits, which is something in the neighborhood of 1500 feet of wall. This shows that the walls were in good shape

·         Zanoah was likely the area west of Jerusalem

[14] But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

·         It’s possible Malchiah and the Rechabites built the dung gate

·         The Rechabites were a group of people who lived in tents to show their dedication to God, Jer 35:2 has them as an object lesson

[15] But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

·         Now the distances compresses, and Nehemiah keeps a more accurate count of who is doing what because of the small spaces

[16] After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.

·         It looks like he is repairing the second, outer wall that encompasses the tombs and water pools

[17] After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.
[18] After him repaired their brethren, Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah.
[19] And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning of the wall.
[20] After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
[21] After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.
[22] And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.
[23] After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.
[24] After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner.
[25] Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.
[26] Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

·         A lot of people repairing the lower sections that had been knocked out

[27] After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel.

·         The Tekoites were quick and dispatched their original commission, then came to help the other groups

[28] From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.

·         So the priests lived in the north eastern portion of the city, and they went outside and began to repair their houses

[29] After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.
[30] After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.

·         And for a three peat, Meshullam does the section of wall in front of his own house, which was near the temple.

[31] After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.
[32] And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

·         And that’s how the building went down. A map of my guesswork makes all of this much more clear, but it should be kept in mind that that’s just a guess.

·         Some thoughts on the importance of the wall: this is clearly related to Revelation 22 when the new Jerusalem is given great details of the gates and walls.

·         The story of God’s people is the story of the city: taken down and humiliated, now brought back up and rebuilt. This is the promise Isaiah gives that God would rebuild His people