Nehemiah 3:2

_AND NEXT UNTO HIM BUILDED THE MEN OF JERICHO. AND NEXT TO THEM BUILDED ZACCUR THE SON OF IMRI._ Next unto him builded the men of Jericho ... The wall was divided into portions, one of which was assigned respectively to each of the great families which had returned from the captivity; and this distribution, by which the building was carried on in all parts simultaneously with great energy, was eminently favourable to despatch. 'The villages where the restorers resided being mostly mentioned, it will be seen that this circumstance affords a general indication of the part of the wall upon which they laboured-such places being on that side of the city nearest their place of abode; the only apparent excepception being perhaps where they repaired more than their piece: having completed their first undertaking (if they worked anymore), there being no more work to be done on the side next thei...

The people of each provincial town were set to work for the most part on the portion of the wall nearest their city. Thus, “the men of Jericho,” were employed at the northeast corner of Jerusalem....

EXPOSITION COMMENCEMENT OF THE WORK, AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE WORKING PARTIES, WITH THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO SUPERINTENDED THE BUILDING (Nehemiah 3:1. ). The especial object of this chapter seems to be the rendering of honour where honour was due—the putting on record of the names of the men who boldly came to the front on this occasion, sacrificed their ease to their duty, and exposed themselves to a threatened hostile attack (Nehemiah 4:8). Though Nehemiah's eloquence had ca

CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The builders of the sheep gate (Nehemiah 3:1)_ 2. The builders of the fish gate (Nehemiah 3:3) 3. The repairers of the old gate (Nehemiah 3:6) 4. The repairers of the valley gate (Nehemiah 3:13) 5. The repairers of the dung gate (Nehemiah 3:14) 6. The repairers of the gate of the fountain (Nehemiah 3:15) 7. The repairers of the water gate ...

THE BUILDING OF THE WALLS, This is an independent section which breaks the connexion between Nehemiah 2:20 and Nehemiah 4:1 ff.; it is an excerpt which commences with And Eliashib. (not then Eliashib. as RV), thus betraying a connexion with something which must originally have preceded it. As the text now stands, the contents of the section do not follow on logically after Nehemiah 2:20. Further, the description here given, in itself incomplete, of the distribution of the work represents the different parts of the wall as having been repaired simultaneously, but this is contradicted by Nehemiah 6:1....

NEXT UNTO HIM. at his hand. THE MEN OF JERICHO. Compare Ezra 2:34. The gate opposite to their city. Hebrew. _'enosh._ App-14....

_next unto him_ i.e. next to Eliashib and the priests. The description passing northward from the Temple, now turns west. _the men of Jericho_ Some suppose that this section of the wall lay sufficiently on the N.E. quarter to offer to -men of Jericho" a convenient piece of work. On the other hand, the term may only denote a clan of fellow-townsmen, who had held together during the exile and were known by this name after they had settled in Jerusalem. See Ezra 2:34. _to them_ R.V. marg. Heb. _to him_. Perhaps the Hebrew indicates here an abbreviation of or omission from the list. -Next to," here and in Nehemiah 3:19 should have been rendered -next unto" as elsewhere....

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT TEXT, Nehemiah 3:1-32 1 Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. 2 And next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. 3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. 4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to him Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs. 5 Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters, 6 And Joiada the

3:2 them (f-4) them (f-13) Lit. 'him.'...

PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE REBUILDING 1. Then, etc.] For the purposes of repair the wall was parcelled out between a number of working parties consisting of various important families, the inhabitants of certain towns, and different professional and trading bodies. The description of the several sections of the wall begins near the Temple at the SHEEP-GATE, through which the flocks used to be driven for sacrifice. The writer's purpose in enumerating all who undertook to rebuild these sections is to put on record the names of those who devoted their labour and their substance to restoring the city which protected Jehovah's sanctuary, and to challenge the emulation of later generations....