Discovery BoxNehemiah 3:1
Context3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues 1 arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated 2 it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred 3 and 4 the Tower of Hananel.
Nehemiah 3:15
Context3:15 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, 5 by the royal garden, as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.
Nehemiah 5:14
Context5:14 From the day that I was appointed 6 governor 7 in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes – twelve years in all – neither I nor my relatives 8 ate the food allotted to the governor. 9
Nehemiah 7:3
Context7:3 I 10 said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, 11 until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. 12 Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.”
Nehemiah 12:39
Context12:39 over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, 13 the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped 14 at the Gate of the Guard.
[3:1] 1 tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”
[3:1] 2 tn Or “consecrated” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, ASV “sanctified”; NCV “gave it to the Lord’s service.”
[3:1] 3 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] 4 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.
[3:15] 5 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
[5:14] 9 tc The BHS editors suggest reading צֻוֵּאתִי (tsuvve’ti, “and I was appointed”) rather than the reading of the MT, אֹתִי צִוָּה (tsivvah ’oti, “he appointed me”).
[5:14] 10 tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew
[5:14] 12 tn Heb “the food of the governor.” Cf. v. 18.
[7:3] 13 tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere, a Qumran text, and the ancient versions וָאֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, which reads וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
[7:3] 14 tn Heb “until the heat of the sun.” The phrase probably means that the gates were to be opened only after the day had progressed a bit, not at the first sign of morning light (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV). It is possible, however, that the Hebrew preposition עַד (’ad), here translated as “until,” has a more rare sense of “during.” If so, this would mean that the gates were not to be left open and unattended during the hot part of the day when people typically would be at rest (cf. NLT).
[7:3] 15 tn Presumably this would mean the gates were not to be opened until later in the morning and were to remain open until evening. Some, however, have understood Nehemiah’s instructions to mean that the gates were not to be left open during the hottest part of the day, but must be shut and locked while the guards are still on duty. See J. Barr, “Hebrew עַד, especially at Job i.18 and Neh vii.3,” JJS 27 (1982): 177-88.
