Context No. 53 of 4322 · Nehemiah
Context · Reflection
Nehemiah 3:13-27: in context
13Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate. 14Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem, repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 15Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the spring gate. He built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars; and he repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even to the stairs that go down from David’s city. 16After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men. 17After him, the Levites—Rehum the son of Bani made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah made repairs. 19Next to him, Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion across from the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall. 20After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22After him, the priests, the men of the surrounding area made repairs. 23After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. 24After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner. 25Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26(Now the temple servants lived in Ophel, to the place opposite the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.) 27After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, opposite the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.
Nehemiah was a Jewish official in the Persian court who got permission to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall, still in ruins more than a century after Babylon broke it. Chapter 3 is the work roster: who built which stretch. This passage runs along the southern and eastern circuit, past the Valley Gate, the Dung Gate, the Fountain Gate, and up along the old city of David.
The list reads like a foreman's ledger, and that is its value. Perfumers and goldsmiths repair sections of wall. Priests build the stretch by their own houses. Rulers of districts come in from outside to take a portion. The men of Tekoa work hard, and the text notes drily that their nobles would not stoop to the labor. One man is recorded rebuilding opposite his own house, another opposite the tombs of David, another taking a second section after finishing his first.
Nobody built the wall. Everybody built a piece of it, mostly the piece in front of where they lived. The whole thing went up in fifty-two days because it was cut into portions small enough to be somebody's own. What large repair am I waiting to be able to do all at once, that would move if I just took the section in front of my own door?
Sources
- Nehemiah 2:1-8: Nehemiah's commission from Artaxerxes to rebuild the wall
- Nehemiah 3:5: the nobles of Tekoa who would not put their necks to the work
- Nehemiah 6:15: the wall finished in fifty-two days