Nehemiah 3:22-32
Ne 3:22
And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.
The priests from the plain may have been from the areas
surrounding Jerusalem.
And the sons of the singers gathered
themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and
from the villages of Netophathi; (Nehemiah 12:28)
Ne 3:23
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.
Benjamin and Hashub must have been priests as they worked
to repair their houses by the wall and the same must be for Azariah who also
worked by his house to repair the wall.
It may have been an area where some of the temple priests lived.
Ne 3:24
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.
Then Binnui had taken over where Azariah in the previous
verse had worked and continued the wall from the house of Azariah to the corner
where the south wall turned to the east.
Ne 3:25
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.
Then Palal and his crew had labored adjacent to the royal
palace in the central part of Ophel.
The tower was located either in the king’s palace for a lookout or for a
defense.
For then the king of Babylon's army
besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the
prison, which was in the king
of Judah's house. (Jeremiah 32:2)
The court of the prison was located in the king’s house as written in
Jeremiah 32:2 and mentioned quite a number of times elsewhere.
Pedaiah had then continued on with the repairs.
Ne 3:26
Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place
over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.
The Nethinims were temple servants who worked for the
Levites in the temple. One of the
tasks of the Nethinims was they were to bring water into the temple so the water
gate was situated close by. The
Nethinims lived by the water gate to make it easy to bring water.
1 gallon of water has a specific gravity of 8.3216 pounds (3.77 KG) which
means if they had to bring in 10 or 20 gallons, the shorter the trip, the easier
it was. The tower was the outlying
tower in the king’s citadel in the west.
The name “Nethinims” means “given, offered or rewarded.”
Ne 3:27
After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over
against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel.
The Tekoites then took on a second portion of the wall to
repair. If you recall in 3:5 that
their nobles did not want to commit themselves to any of the physical labor.
The great tower is the one referred to in 3:26.
The wall of Ophel was right against the tower which they were presently
repairing.
Ne 3:28
From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one
over against his house.
The horse gate was where either the horses of the king or
priests was either near the stables or where they took the horses to be watered
in the brook Kidron. Then there was
probably a row or clump of houses where the priests had their homes and they did
any repairs that were needed.
Ne 3:29
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.
This is a different Zadok than the one in 3:4.
He was a priest and probably did the necessary repairs to his house and
to the wall by which it stood. The
East Gate was the Chief Gate and Shemaiah was the keeper of that gate.
Shemaiah may have been a descendant of David.
And the sons of Shechaniah;
Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah,
and Shaphat, six. (1 Chronicles 3:22)
The keeper of the east gate was a prestigious position.
Ne 3:30
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.
Hanun had six sons but only the youngest one, Zalaph, had
gotten involved in the work. Then Meshullam, the same one in 3:4 continued to
repair the area which was close to his house.
Ne 3:31
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.
Malchiah was the goldsmith’s son which meant that he was
one also as in those times a son normally followed in his father’s vocation.
He was willing to put his hand to the work because a goldsmith must have
hands that are able to work with gold meaning malleable.
The Miphkad gate was either a place of correction or where the Sanhedrin
sat. They repaired it from the east
side to the north side.
Ne 3:32
And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep
gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.