Nehemiah 3

Jerusalem’s wall builders: roll credits

Nehemiah’s motley construction crew

1Teams of people worked together repairing different parts of Jerusalem’s damaged wall and destroyed gates.

SHEEP GATE. Elisheba the high priest worked alongside other priests to rebuild the Sheep Gate. Then they built the doors, set them in place, and dedicated the entire area to God. They did this all the way from the Tower of the Hundred to the Tower of the Hananel.

2WALL. Jericho men worked on the wall beside the gate. Zaccur son of Imri worked just beyond them.

3FISH GATE. Hassenaah’s sons built the Fish Gate. They set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars.

4WALL. Meremoth worked beside them on wall repairs. He was the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz.

5WALL. People from the village of Tekoa made repairs. But their noble leaders wouldn’t stoop to manual labor—even for the Lord. It was beneath them.

6OLD GATE. Two men repaired the Old Gate. They were Joiada son of Paseah along with Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars.

7WALL. Working beside them were Melatiah from Gibeon and Jadon from Meronoth, along with men from Gibeon and Mizpah. Mizpah was the HQ for the governor in charge of the province west of the Euphrates River.

8WALL. Working beside them was Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith in town. Beside him was Hananiah, a perfume-maker. They repaired the wall as far as Broad Wall.

9WALL. Rephaiah son of Hur worked on the wall beside them. He governed half the district of Jerusalem.

10WALL. Jedaiah son of Harumaph worked beside them, fixing the walls near his house. Hattush son of Hashabneiah repaired the walls next to him.

11TOWER OF THE OVENS. Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab fixed another part of the wall, along with the Tower of the Ovens.

12WALL. Working with his daughters, Shallum son of Hallohesh, governor of the other half of Jerusalem, repaired part of the wall as well.

13VALLEY GATE. Hanun and the people of Zanoah rebuilt the Valley Gate. They set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars. In addition, they repaired a quarter mile [1] of the wall, all the way to Dung Gate.

14DUNG GATE. Malchijah son of Rechab, governor of the district of Beth-haccherem, rebuilt Dung Gate. He set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars.

15FOUNTAIN GATE. Shallum son of Col-hozeh, governor of the district of Mizpah, rebuilt Fountain Gate. He set in the door and placed the beams, bolts, and bars. He also built the wall at Shelah Pool in the King’s Garden. That stretch of wall went as far as the stairs leading down from the City of David. [2]

16WALL. Nehemiah son of Azbuk, who governed half the district of Beth-zur, repaired the wall from across David’s tomb to as far as the pool and the soldier barracks.

Levites at the wall

17Levites worked next to him. They included the following men: Rehum son of Bani. Hashabiah, governor of half the district of Keilah, repaired the wall in his district. 18Binnui, son of Henadad, governor of the other half of the district of Keilah. 19Ezer son of Jeshua, governor of Mizpah, repaired the wall across from the rise to the armory at the corner.

20Baruch son of Zabbai fixed another part of the wall from the armory corner to the door of the home of the high priest, Eliashib. 21Meremoth son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz repaired the wall from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of the house.

Priests at the wall

23Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs near their homes. Azariah son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah repaired the wall near his house. 24Binnui son of Henadad worked on the wall from Azariah’s house to the corner.

25Palal son of Uzai repaired the area at the corner of the wall and the tower at the king’s palace where the court guards meet. Pedaiah son of Parosh worked beside him. 26They worked with Temple servants who lived on the Jerusalem hill called Ophel. They repaired the wall up to a point across from Water Gate on the east, by the guard tower.

27Priests from Tekoa worked from across the huge tower and to the wall of Ophel. 28Another team of priests worked on the wall above Horse Gate. Each one repaired part of the wall near his home.

29Zadok son of Immer fixed the wall across from his house. Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, guard stationed at the East Gate, worked on the wall beside Zadok. 30Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph fixed the next part of the wall. After them, Meshullam son of Berechiah repaired the wall near where he lived.

31Malchijah, a goldsmith, repaired the wall from there to a house where Temple servants and merchants stay. That’s near the Meeting Gate. They worked as far as the top room at the corner. 32Goldsmiths and merchants made repairs between the top room at the corner and the Sheep Gate.

Footnotes

Intro Notes to Nehemiah

13:13

Literally, 1,000 cubits, about 440 meters. A cubit was considered the distance of a man’s forearm, from elbow to fingertips. That’s roughly 18 inches or 44 centimeters.

23:15

The City of David was a small part of Jerusalem at Nehemiah’s time. It was the Jerusalem at David’s time, a small walled town on a ridgetop in the southeast part of Jerusalem.