Nehemiah 3:1-7

The Names of the Builders

3:1 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. 3:2 The men of Jericho ⁵  built adjacent to it, and Zaccur son of Imri built adjacent to them. ⁶ 

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 ⁷  would not assist ⁸  with the work of their master. ⁹ 

3:6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah worked on the Jeshanah Gate. ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.

[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.

[3:2]  ⁵ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “it.”

[3:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “their nobles.”

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “bring their neck.”

[3:5]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Old Gate” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the seat.”