Jeremiah 31:40

31:40 The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown ¹  and all the terraced fields ²  out to the Kidron Valley ³  on the east as far north ⁴  as the Horse Gate ⁵  will be included within this city that is sacred to the Lord. ⁶  The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”

Nehemiah 3:1-32

The Names of the Builders

3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues ⁷  arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated ⁸  it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred ⁹  and ¹⁰  the Tower of Hananel. 3:2 The men of Jericho ¹¹  built adjacent to it, and Zaccur son of Imri built adjacent to them. ¹² 

3:3 The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 3:4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakoz, worked on the section adjacent to them. Meshullam son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel worked on the section next to them. And Zadok son of Baana worked on the section adjacent to them. 3:5 The men of Tekoa worked on the section adjacent to them, but their town leaders ¹³  would not assist ¹⁴  with the work of their master. ¹⁵ 

3:6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah worked on the Jeshanah Gate. ¹⁶  They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 3:7 Adjacent to them worked Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, who were men of Gibeon and Mizpah. These towns were under the jurisdiction ¹⁷  of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. 3:8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ¹⁸  the city wall of Jerusalem ¹⁹  as far as the Broad Wall. 3:9 Rephaiah son of Hur, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to them. 3:10 Jedaiah son of Harumaph worked on the section adjacent to them opposite ²⁰  his house, and Hattush son of Hashabneiah worked on the section adjacent to him. 3:11 Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab worked on another section and the Tower of the Fire Pots. 3:12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to him, assisted by his daughters. ²¹ 

3:13 Hanun and the residents of Zanoah worked on the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars, in addition to working on fifteen hundred feet ²²  of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

3:14 Malkijah son of Recab, head of the district of Beth Hakkerem, worked on the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

3:15 Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, head of the district of Mizpah, worked on the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put on its roof, and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars. In addition, he rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Siloam, ²³  by the royal garden, as far as the steps that go down from the City of David. 3:16 Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of a half-district of Beth Zur, worked after him as far as the tombs of David and the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.

3:17 After him the Levites worked – Rehum son of Bani and ²⁴  after him Hashabiah, head of half the district of Keilah, for his district. 3:18 After him their relatives ²⁵  worked – Binnui ²⁶  son of Henadad, head of a half-district of Keilah. 3:19 Adjacent to him Ezer son of Jeshua, head of Mizpah, worked on another section, opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress. 3:20 After him Baruch son of Zabbai worked on another section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 3:21 After him Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, worked on another section from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of it. ²⁷ 

3:22 After him the priests worked, men of the nearby district. 3:23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub worked opposite their house. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, worked near his house. 3:24 After him Binnui son of Henadad worked on another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and the corner. 3:25 After him Palal son of Uzai worked ²⁸  opposite the buttress and the tower that protrudes from the upper palace ²⁹  of the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh 3:26 and the temple servants who were living on Ophel worked ³⁰  up to the area opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the protruding tower. 3:27 After them the men of Tekoa worked on another section, from opposite the great protruding tower to the wall of Ophel.

3:28 Above the Horse Gate the priests worked, each in front of his house. 3:29 After them Zadok son of Immer worked opposite his house, and after him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, guard at the East Gate, worked. 3:30 After him ³¹  Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, worked on another section. After them Meshullam son of Berechiah worked opposite his quarters. 3:31 After him Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, worked as far as the house of the temple servants and the traders, opposite the Inspection Gate, ³²  and up to the room above the corner. 3:32 And between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and traders worked.

Nehemiah 7:4

7:4 Now the city was spread out ³³  and large, and there were not a lot of people in it. ³⁴  At that time houses had not been rebuilt.

Isaiah 44:26

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ³⁵ 

and brings to pass the announcements ³⁶  of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ³⁷  ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ³⁸  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ³⁹  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:10

14:10 All the land will change and become like the Arabah ⁴⁰  from Geba to Rimmon, ⁴¹  south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate ⁴²  and on to the Corner Gate, ⁴³  and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ⁴⁴ 

[31:40]  ¹ sn It is generally agreed that this refers to the Hinnom Valley which was on the southwestern and southern side of the city. It was here where the people of Jerusalem had burned their children as sacrifices and where the Lord had said that there would be so many dead bodies when he punished them that they would be unable to bury all of them (cf. Jer 7:31-32). Reference here may be to those dead bodies and to the ashes of the cremated victims. This defiled place would be included within the holy city.

[31:40]  ² tc The translation here follows the Qere and a number of Hebrew mss in reading שְׁדֵמוֹת (shÿdemot) for the otherwise unknown word שְׁרֵמוֹת (shÿremot) exhibiting the common confusion of ר (resh) and ד (dalet). The fields of Kidron are mentioned also in 2 Kgs 23:4 as the place where Josiah burned the cult objects of Baal.

[31:40]  ³ sn The Kidron Valley is the valley that joins the Hinnom Valley in the southeastern corner of the city and runs northward on the east side of the city.

[31:40]  ⁴ tn The words “on the east” and “north” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to give orientation.

[31:40]  ⁵ sn The Horse Gate is mentioned in Neh 3:28 and is generally considered to have been located midway along the eastern wall just south of the temple area.

[31:40]  ⁶ tn The words “will be included within this city that is” are not in the text. The text merely says that “The whole valley…will be sacred to the Lord.” These words have been supplied in the translation because they are really implicit in the description of the whole area as being included within the new city plan, not just the Hinnom and terraced fields as far as the Kidron Valley.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:1]  ⁸ tn Or “consecrated” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, ASV “sanctified”; NCV “gave it to the Lord’s service.”

[3:1]  ⁹ tc The MT adds קִדְּשׁוּהוּ (qidshuhu, “they sanctified it”). This term is repeated from the first part of the verse, probably as an intentional scribal addition to harmonize this statement with the preceding parallel statement.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tc The translation reads וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “and unto”) rather than the MT reading עַד (ad, “unto”). The original vav (ו) was probably dropped accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word in the MT.

[3:2]  ¹¹ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[3:2]  ¹² tn Heb “it.”

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “their nobles.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “bring their neck.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn The plural form אֲדֹנֵיהֶם (’adonehem, “lords”) is probably a plural of majesty referring to Nehemiah (e.g., Isa 19:4; see GKC 399 §124.i). However, some English versions take the plural to refer to the “supervisors” (NIV, NCV, TEV) and others to “their Lord” (KJV, NRSV).

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the Old Gate” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the seat.”

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tc Assuming that the MT reading וַיַּעַזְבוּ (vayya’azvu) is related to the root עָזַב I (“to abandon”) – which makes little sense contextually – some interpreters emend the MT to וַיַּעַזְרוּ (vayya’azru, “they aided”), as suggested by the editors of BHS. However, it is better to relate this term to the root II עָזַב meaning “to restore; to repair” (BDB 738 s.v. II עָזַב) or “to plaster” (HALOT 807 s.v. II עזב qal.1). This homonymic root is rare, appearing elsewhere only in Exod 23:5 and Job 9:27, where it means “to restore; to put in order” (HALOT 807-8 s.v. II עזב qal.2). The related Mishnaic Hebrew noun מעזיבה refers to a “plastered floor.” This Hebrew root is probably related to the cognate Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Sabean verbs that mean “to restore” and “to prepare; to lay” (see BDB 738 s.v.; HALOT 807 s.v.). Some scholars in the nineteenth century suggested that this term be nuanced “paved.” However, most modern English versions have “restored” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rebuilt” (so NCV, CEV).

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[the city wall of] Jerusalem.” The term “Jerusalem” probably functions as a metonymy of association for the city wall of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the phrase “the city wall of” has been supplied in the translation to clarify this figurative expression.

[3:10]  ²⁰ tc The translation reads נֶגֶד (neged, “before”) with a few medieval Hebrew MSS, some MSS of the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate, rather than וְנֶגֶד (vÿneged, “and before”) of the MT.

[3:12]  ²¹ tc The reference to daughters, while not impossible, is odd in light of the cultural improbability that young women would participate in the strenuous labor of rebuilding city walls. All other such references in the Book of Nehemiah presuppose male laborers. Not surprisingly, some scholars suspect a textual problem. One medieval Hebrew MS and the Syriac Peshitta read וּבָנָיו (uvanayv, “and his sons”) rather than the MT reading וּבְנוֹתָיו (uvÿnotayv, “and his daughters”). Some scholars emend the MT to וּבֹנָיו (uvonayv, “and his builders”). On the other hand, the MT is clearly the more difficult reading, and so it is preferred.

[3:13]  ²² tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long, so this section of the wall would be about fifteen hundred feet (450 m).

[3:15]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word translated “Siloam” is הַשֶּׁלַח (hashelakh, “water-channel”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, CEV “Shelah”). It apparently refers to the Pool of Siloam whose water supply came from the Gihon Spring via Hezekiah’s Tunnel built in 701 B.C. (cf. Isa 8:6). See BDB 1019 s.v. שִׁלֹחַ; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 372. On the etymology of the word, which is a disputed matter, see HALOT 1517 s.v. III שֶׁלַח.

[3:17]  ²⁴ tc The translation reads וְעַל (vÿ’al, “and unto”) with several medieval Hebrew MSS and some MSS of LXX, rather than the MT reading עַל (’al, “unto”).

[3:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:18]  ²⁶ tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the Syriac Peshitta בִּנֻּי (binnuy) rather than the MT reading בַּוַּי (bavvay).

[3:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the house of Eliashib.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:25]  ²⁸ tc The MT lacks the phrase אַחֲרָיו הֶחֱזִיק (’akharayv hekheziq, “after him worked”). This phrase is used repeatedly in Neh 3:16-31 to introduce each worker and his location. It probably dropped out accidentally through haplography.

[3:25]  ²⁹ tn Heb “house of the king.”

[3:26]  ³⁰ tc The Hebrew text lacks the verb “worked.” It is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation.

[3:30]  ³¹ tc The translation reads אַחֲרָיו (’akharayv, “after him”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than the reading אַחֲרֵי (’akharey, “after me”) of the MT. So also in v. 31.

[3:31]  ³² tn Heb “Miphkad Gate” (so TEV; KJV similar); NRSV “Muster Gate.”

[7:4]  ³³ tn Heb “wide of two hands.”

[7:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the people were few in its midst.”

[44:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.

[44:26]  ³⁶ tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.

[44:26]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:6]  ³⁸ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

[12:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”

[14:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “like a plain” (similar KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT); or “like a steppe”; cf. CEV “flatlands.” The Hebrew term עֲרָבָה (’aravah) refers to an arid plain or steppe, but can be used specifically as the name of the rift valley running from the Sea of Galilee via the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.

[14:10]  ⁴¹ sn The expression from Geba to Rimmon is a way of indicating the extent of all Judah from north (2 Kgs 23:8) to south (Job 15:32; 19:7). Since Geba (Heb. גֶּבַע) means “hill” and Rimmon resembles the word for height (Heb. רָמָה, ramah), this could be a play on words suggesting that all the high country will be made low, like the great Arabah valley.

[14:10]  ⁴² tn Or “old gate” (NLT); or “former gate” (NRSV).

[14:10]  ⁴³ sn From the Benjamin Gate…on to the Corner Gate marks the northern wall of the city of Jerusalem from east to west.

[14:10]  ⁴⁴ sn From the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses indicates the extent of Jerusalem from north to south.