Nehemiah 3:16

‘After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, up to the place over against the sepulchres of David, and up to the pool that was made (or the artificial pool, i.e. man-made), and up to the house of the mighty men (warriors).'

From now on we have ‘after him' (Nehemiah 3:16) in contrast with ‘next to him' (Nehemiah 3:2). But see Nehemiah 3:17; Nehemiah 3:19. ‘Next to him' is used mainly on the northern and western wall, ‘after him' on the eastern wall, with neither being used going round the southernmost point from the Valley Gate to the Fountain Gate. This may simply be for literary reasons.

This is a general description of the section repaired by Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, who was ruler of the half district of Beth-zur. Here we have one of two other Nehemiahs (compare Nehemiah 7:7; Ezra 2:2). He was clearly a man of importance. Beth-zur was six kilometres (four miles) north of Hebron, identified as the mound of Khirbet et-Tubeiqah. Occupied and fortified by the Hyksos, it was destroyed by the Egyptians and left deserted and it was thus not mentioned by Joshua. But shortly thereafter it was rebuilt and became a flourishing Israelite city. It was occupied throughout the monarchy but suffered at the hands of the Babylonians and was mainly abandoned until being occupied by the returnees. This Nehemiah was ruler of half of the district around Beth-zur.

The section of the wall repaired by this Nehemiah and his helpers is identified by three apparently well known landmarks (although sadly not known to us), the sepulchres of David, the Man-made Pool, and the House of the Mighty Men/warriors. Many see it as a wholly new section of the wall, built higher up the slope because the wall at this point had been so thoroughly demolished that its rubble made building on the old line impossible. Compare how Nehemiah had been hindered in his examination of the wall at this point, being unable to pass along because of the rubble (Nehemiah 2:14). This claim gains some support from archaeology.

The sepulchres of David (compare 2 Chronicles 32:33) are unidentified. David was ‘buried in (by) the city of David' (1 Kings 2:10) a description which places the sepulchres in this part of Jerusalem, the ‘city of David' being the ancient Jebusite fortress (which was inside the walls at this time but was outside the walls existing in the time of Jesus and the present walls). But whether the sepulchres were within the walls, or on the slopes outside we cannot be sure. Long, horizontal tunnels have been discovered in the area, but they may have had other uses, and some would argue that Semitic practise, and especially Israelite practise, is against the sepulchres being within the actual city. Such would render it ‘unclean'. Josephus tells us that they were plundered by the Hasmoneans and by Herod. Then they were desecrated and destroyed in the time of Bar Kochba, being thereafter lost to sight. Other identifications can be rejected. They are in the wrong area.

Unless ‘the Man-made Pool' was the King's Pool we have no way of identifying it, whilst the situation of ‘the house of the Mighty Men' (the Barracks) is unknown. It may have originally been utilised by David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8 ff.).