Nehemiah 3 - The Builders of the Wall

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Nehemiah has called the people to build. Now Scripture gives us their names. Priests, rulers, craftsmen, merchants, and households take their places along Jerusalem’s broken wall. The repeated phrase “next to them” makes the chapter a litany of remembered service: this person stood here; this household repaired here; this gate was not left open. The work has a leader, but it cannot be carried by one man’s zeal.

The account begins at the Sheep Gate and traces the repairs around the city until it returns there. Gates controlled entrance and movement; their doors, bolts, and bars mattered as much as the height of the wall. An unrepaired section exposed more than the family living beside it. Each household’s work helped protect its neighbors, and each household depended on work it could not do alone.

That dependence gives the list its spiritual force. Some repair near their homes. Some take a second portion. Some refuse to bend their necks. Scripture remembers both service and refusal, and later chapters will test the loyalty of men whose names appear here with honor. Building well today calls for faithfulness tomorrow.

Approximate teaching diagram of the gate sequence; not an archaeological reconstruction.

Building the Wall of Jerusalem, Sunrays Quarterly, 1908. Western biblical art; public domain.

Priests, gates, and the nobles who would not bend (Nehemiah 3:1-5)

A note on numbering. Nehemiah 3 is 2 Esdras 13 in the Septuagint, where Ezra and Nehemiah form one book. The displayed verses here retain Brenton’s English numbering; the chapter-boundary difference is explained in the Nehemiah 4 study.

¹ Then Eliasub the high priest, and his brethren the priests, rose up, and built the sheep-gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of the hundred they sanctified it, to the tower of Anameel. ² And they builded by the side of the men of Jericho, and by the side of the sons of Zacchur, the son of Amari. ³ And the sons of Asana built the fish-gate; they roofed it, and covered in its doors, and bolts, and bars. ⁴ And next to them the order reached to Ramoth the son of Uria, the son of Accos, and next to them Mosollam son of Barachias the son of Mazebel took his place: and next to them Sadoc the son of Baana took his place. ⁵ And next to them the Thecoim took their place; but the Adorim applied not their neck to their service.

Eliashib the high priest, called “Eliasub” in Brenton, rises with his fellow priests to build the Sheep Gate. They sanctify what they build. The first labor named is offered to God, and priestly hands take up the material work of repairing the city. Consecration reaches doors and stone as well as prayers.

The Sheep Gate also belongs to the Gospel’s Jerusalem. John 5:2 locates the pool of Bethesda beside it, and there Christ meets a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years. The shared place brings these histories close: the gate repaired by priests stands near the pool where the Lord gives a helpless man strength to rise. Jerusalem needs sound gates, and its people need the healing that only Christ can give.

Eliashib’s beginning is honorable, but the book does not leave his story here. In Nehemiah 13, he gives Tobiah a chamber in the house of God, and his grandson’s marriage joins the high-priestly family to Sanballat’s house (13:4-7, 28). The man who sanctifies a gate later admits a corrupting alliance into the temple. A holy beginning is a gift to guard, not a guarantee against relapse. Years of service do not make repentance unnecessary.

Alongside the priests, other groups take their places. The Fish Gate receives its roof, doors, bolts, and bars. The repeated “next to them” makes shared responsibility visible: each group has a distinct task, but the joins between their portions matter. Rivalry would weaken the very city they are trying to strengthen.

Verse 5 interrupts this rhythm. The Tekoites work, “but the Adorim applied not their neck to their service.” “Adorim” is not the name of another people. The Greek transliterates the Hebrew word for “nobles,” and Brenton carries that sound into English as though it were a name. The NKJV makes the meaning explicit: “their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.” Where the Hebrew-based wording names “their Lord,” the Greek speaks of “their service.”¹ Both readings expose a refusal to submit to the work; the NKJV also makes explicit the Lord to whom that work is owed.

The image of an unbending neck brings the refusal close to home. A task can be beneath our pride without being beneath our calling. Christ washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:3-15). Those who serve Him cannot reserve their hands for work that protects their importance. The Tekoites’ later appearance will show that the refusal of their nobles did not become the measure of their own obedience.

Rulers, craftsmen, and daughters in the work (Nehemiah 3:6-12)

⁶ And Joida the son of Phasec, and Mesulam son of Basodia, repaired the old gate; they covered it in, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars. ⁷ And next to them repaired Maltias the Gabaonite, and Evaron the Meronothite, the men of Gabaon and Maspha, to the throne of the governor on this side the river. ⁸ And next to him Oziel the son of Arachias of the smiths, carried on the repairs: and next to them Ananias the son of one of the apothecaries repaired, and they finished Jerusalem to the broad wall. ⁹ And next to them repaired Raphaea the son of Sur, the ruler of half the district round about Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And next to them repaired Jedaia the son of Eromaph, and that in front of his house: and next to him repaired Attuth son of Asabania. ¹¹ And next to him repaired Melchias son of Heram, and Asub son of Phaat Moab, even to the tower of the furnaces. ¹² And next to him repaired Sallum the son of Alloes, the ruler of half the district round about Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

The list widens through the Old Gate and along the broad wall. Men from Gibeon and Mizpah stand beside metalworkers, makers of perfumes, and district rulers. Their ordinary occupations remain visible in the record. They do not need to become priests before their labor can be offered to God. Authority and skill become gifts to the community when their possessors are willing to work beside others.

Jedaiah repairs “in front of his house.” The nearby breach gives him a particular responsibility without making the wall his private possession. His labor serves his household and his neighbors at once. The same relation holds in Christian life. Patience at home, truthfulness at work, and prayer when no one is watching belong to the Church’s strength. A public reputation for service cannot repair the harm caused by cruelty or neglect behind one’s own door.

Verse 12 remembers Shallum, a district ruler, “he and his daughters.” The Greek word is thygateres, “daughters,” and the NKJV retains that wording. Read as his children, the verse honors women sharing the work rather than appearing only as observers. Some interpreters, however, understand “daughters” as dependent villages within his district, using the same town-and-daughter-villages idiom found in Nehemiah 11:25-31.² The wording should not carry more certainty than it allows. On either reading, the ruler’s portion involves a wider household or community, and the work is remembered together.

Saint Paul’s account of the Body of Christ gives this variety its Christian depth (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Different members need one another; the apparently weaker members cannot be dismissed. Gifts do not establish a ladder of personal worth. A parish suffers when prominent work receives every expression of gratitude while the people who prepare, maintain, visit, and clean are treated as replaceable. The repeated names in Nehemiah resist that forgetting.

The valley, the Dung Gate, and the fountain (Nehemiah 3:13-15)

¹³ Anun and the inhabitants of Zano repaired the gate of the valley: they built it, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung-gate. ¹⁴ And Melchia the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district round about Beth-accharim, repaired the dung-gate, he and his sons; and they covered it, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars. ¹⁵ But Solomon the son of Choleze repaired the gate of the fountain, the ruler of part of Maspha; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors and its bars, and the wall of the pool of the skins by the meadow of the king, and as far as the steps that lead down from the city of David.

The sequence is earthy and practical: the Valley Gate, the Dung Gate, and the Fountain Gate. A city needs the removal of waste as surely as it needs access to water. The Dung Gate receives doors, bolts, and bars with the same care given to more dignified-sounding places. Its name does not diminish the worth of those who repair it.

Malchijah, a district ruler, takes responsibility for this gate with his sons in Brenton’s account. Here leadership is measured by willingness to meet a real need. Cleanup, maintenance, transporting supplies, and closing a building after others have left can carry the weight of love. Disgust at necessary work, or resentment that it earns little praise, reveals how easily service can become a search for rank.

The Fountain Gate leads the account toward pools, the king’s garden, and the steps from the City of David. Water supply and access belong within the same careful record as consecration. Worship takes place among people with bodies, homes, and daily needs. The Christian who longs for a beautiful church must also care whether the building is safe, the rooms are clean, and those who use them are helped.

The recurring doors, bolts, and bars also offer an image for discernment. A repaired entrance must open to what belongs and close against what harms. In the heart, that means welcoming correction and a neighbor’s need while refusing the gossip or bitterness we have learned to excuse. Such application grows from the gates’ actual purpose: their strength serves the lives within.

Service near the tombs, the pools, and the houses (Nehemiah 3:16-23)

¹⁶ After him repaired Neemias son of Azabuch, ruler of half the district round about Bethsur, as far as the garden of David’s sepulchre, and as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. ¹⁷ After him repaired the Levites, even Raum the son of Bani: next to him repaired Asabia, ruler of half the district round about Keila, in his district. ¹⁸ And after him repaired his brethren, Benei son of Enadad, ruler of half the district round about Keila. ¹⁹ And next to him repaired Azur the son of Joshua, ruler of Masphai, another portion of the tower of ascent, where it meets the corner. ²⁰ After him repaired Baruch the son of Zabu, a second portion, from the corner as far as the door of the house of Eliasub the high priest. ²¹ After him repaired Meramoth the son of Uria the son of Accos, a second part from the door of the house of Eliasub, to the end of the house of Eliasub. ²² And after him repaired the priests, the men of Ecchechar. ²³ And after him repaired Benjamin and Asub over against their house: and after him repaired Azarias son of Maasias the son of Ananias, the parts near to his house.

This Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, is another worker, not the governor who leads the book. His portion passes David’s sepulchre and the artificial pool. The places hold the city’s memory, but the builders must do something more than remember. They repair the Jerusalem they have inherited. Gratitude for God’s former mercies becomes fruitful when it gives courage for present obedience.

The Levites and rulers continue the work, and several men take “another portion” or “a second portion.” Baruch and Meremoth are remembered for further labor near Eliashib’s house. The record gives that additional work a place without making a spectacle of the workers. God sees the person who remains to help because another section is still unfinished.

A second portion is a gift of love, not a license to exhaust the willing while excusing everyone else. The whole chapter places workers beside one another. Its answer to a breach is shared responsibility, not the assumption that one dependable person must carry every neglected task. Some can offer more strength at a given time; others need help. Both giving and receiving can be humble.

Again the work comes close to home. Benjamin and Hasshub repair opposite their house; Azariah repairs nearby. Such service has an unavoidable honesty. The builder cannot admire a distant achievement while pretending that the breach outside his own door has disappeared. In a household, a needed repair may be an apology repeatedly delayed, an angry manner everyone has learned to fear, or the abandonment of common prayer. Repentance begins to mend what others have had to live beside.

Saint Paul joins gratitude for labor to judgment of its quality in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15. The Church is God’s building; Jesus Christ is the foundation; each builder’s work will be tested. Visible activity alone cannot establish faithfulness. The question reaches the manner and substance of our service: whether it rests on Christ, whether it serves His people, and whether it will endure His judgment. The names of Jerusalem’s builders honor work without allowing work to become an excuse for an unexamined life.

The eastern work and the return to the Sheep Gate (Nehemiah 3:24-32)

²⁴ After him repaired Bani the son of Adad, another portion from the house of Azaria as far as the corner and to the turning, ²⁵ of Phalach the son of Uzai, opposite the corner, and where is also the tower that projects from the king’s house, even the upper one of the prison-house: and after him repaired Phadaea the son of Phoros. ²⁶ And the Nathinim dwelt in Ophal, as far as the garden of the water-gate eastward, and there is the projecting tower. ²⁷ And after them the Thecoim repaired, another portion opposite the great projecting tower, even as far as the wall of Ophla. ²⁸ The priests repaired above the horse-gate, every man over against his own house. ²⁹ And after him Sadduc the son of Emmer repaired opposite his own house: and after him repaired Samaea son of Sechenia, guard of the east-gate. ³⁰ After him repaired Anania son of Selemia, and Anom, the sixth son of Seleph, another portion: after him Mesulam the son of Barachia repaired over against his treasury. ³¹ After him repaired Melchia the son of Sarephi as far as the house of the Nathinim, and the chapmen over against the gate of Maphecad, and as far as the steps of the corner. ³² And between that and the sheep-gate the smiths and chapmen repaired.

The temple servants, called “Nathinim” in Brenton, appear near Ophel and the Water Gate. Priests repair above the Horse Gate. The keeper of the East Gate takes his place. Finally metalworkers and merchants bring the account back toward the Sheep Gate. The chapter ends where it began, but the last hands named are those of craftsmen and traders. The city’s protection depends on many callings joined in one work.

The Tekoites return in verse 27 for “another portion.” Their nobles would not bend their necks in verse 5; the people of Tekoa undertake a second stretch. The common workers do double while their leaders refuse. They neither imitate that refusal nor use it to excuse their own. There is a freedom in serving God without waiting for every influential person to become faithful first.

Meshullam son of Berechiah also appears again, having already worked in verse 4. Brenton calls him “Mesulam the son of Barachia” here. His repeated labor deserves remembrance, yet Nehemiah 6:18 later tells us that his daughter married Tobiah’s son. Divided loyalty can live inside the builders themselves. Like Eliashib’s later failure, this connection unsettles the easy division between faithful people within and dangerous people outside. Repairing a wall does not dispense anyone from guarding his own allegiance.

For Christians, the deepest building is the one Saint Paul describes in Ephesians 2:19-22. Those brought near to God become fellow citizens and members of His household, built on the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is fitted together and becomes a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The unity is more than efficient cooperation: Christ joins people to Himself and therefore to one another. Our portion serves its purpose when it belongs to that whole.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

Direct witness. Saint Jerome explicitly notices the families assigned to build Jerusalem’s walls and towers. In his account of Ezra and Nehemiah, these details have a historical meaning and a spiritual depth. His attention to the builders confirms that a list of names can nourish the Church’s life rather than merely supply information about the past. He writes: “These references convey one meaning upon the surface, but another below it.”³

The history gives the spiritual reading its substance. Real families repaired real breaches; their shared work helps us recognize our dependence on one another in Christ. Jerome’s brief observation opens that depth without replacing the builders with an invented story about them.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

Nehemiah is not among the Scripture readings in the Coptic lectionary this site follows (Coptic Reader).

The Church nevertheless prays and hears Scriptures that illuminate this chapter. Psalm 122 (LXX Psalm 121), with its vision of Jerusalem built together as a city, is prayed in the Agpeya Eleventh Hour and Midnight Second Watch. The image carries the repairs beyond private success: we seek the peace of a people gathered before God, not a collection of impressive but disconnected lives.⁴

John 5:1-18 is the Liturgy Gospel on the Sunday of the fifth week of Great Lent. The pool by the Sheep Gate draws our attention from the stones of Jerusalem to Christ’s mercy toward a man unable to heal himself. Our labor in the Church begins with receiving His life and strength; it must remain attentive to the person who needs help rather than becoming absorbed in the work itself.

The Pauline readings give the building image its fulfillment. The Church hears 1 Corinthians 3:9-23 on Nasie 4 and Ephesians 2:19-3:10 on the Sunday of the second week of the Holy Fifty Days. Christ is both the foundation on which the work must stand and the cornerstone in whom the whole is joined. These readings give shared service its hope and its seriousness: we build as people belonging to God, and our work is answerable to Him.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

The nobles of Tekoa expose the pride that accepts a place of honor but resents an ordinary task. When an unpraised duty comes, notice the inward protest before excusing it. Offer that work to Christ, who washed feet, and do it without making another person pay for the sacrifice through complaints. Gratitude can also become more truthful: thank someone whose repeated labor has quietly made worship or parish life possible.

The repairs opposite the builders’ houses give repentance a starting place. Choose one breach close at hand: harsh speech, a neglected promise, a refusal to apologize, or prayer continually postponed. Bring it honestly to confession and begin the repair that is yours to make. Public service cannot substitute for tenderness toward those who live with us.

Tekoa’s second portion strengthens those discouraged by another person’s refusal. We can serve without copying the faithlessness that has wounded us. Yet love also receives help. Before taking on another burden, consider the people beside you and whether the work can be shared. A joined wall is a better image of the Church than a solitary servant slowly collapsing under everyone else’s duties.

Eliashib and Meshullam keep gratitude from turning into self-assurance. Yesterday’s good work does not make today’s compromise harmless. Ask the Lord to show where affection, advantage, or the desire to belong is weakening obedience. Then return to Christ, the foundation, rather than defending a reputation for service. He can make our labor truthful and give us joy in the portions entrusted to others.

Teaching Notes

Priests, gates, and the nobles who would not bend (Nehemiah 3:1-5)

• Ask: What is the difference between being unable to do a task and refusing to bend one’s neck to it?
• Emphasize: The priests sanctify the gate they build, but Eliashib’s later relapse shows why a good beginning requires continuing faithfulness.
• Watch for: Do not force every gate into a speculative allegory. Explain “Adorim” as the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word for nobles, and distinguish the Greek “their service” from the Hebrew-based “their Lord.”
• Connect: John 5:2 locates Bethesda by the Sheep Gate; John 13:3-15 brings humble service before Christ’s washing of feet. Nehemiah 13:4-7, 28 completes Eliashib’s warning.
• Show: Begin with the approximate gate-sequence diagram. Explain that it traces the account for teaching and does not establish the archaeological location of every feature.

Rulers, craftsmen, and daughters in the work (Nehemiah 3:6-12)

• Ask: Which forms of service are easiest to overlook when a community celebrates its achievements?
• Emphasize: Different occupations and responsibilities serve a common need; the Body of Christ requires its less prominent members as well as its visible ones.
• Watch for: Keep the interpretation of Shallum’s daughters measured. The wording can refer to his children; some understand dependent villages, as in the idiom of Nehemiah 11:25-31. Do not build a large historical claim on this verse alone.
• Connect: Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 alongside the variety of workers, then consider the repair in front of Jedaiah’s house.
• Show: Use the Sunrays Quarterly illustration to discuss shared physical labor. Identify it as Western biblical art, not an Orthodox icon or an eyewitness reconstruction.

The valley, the Dung Gate, and the fountain (Nehemiah 3:13-15)

• Ask: Why does the Dung Gate receive the same practical care as the other gates?
• Emphasize: Necessary and unpleasant work has dignity; a district ruler and his sons are remembered for repairing this gate.
• Watch for: Do not despise maintenance or turn the names of the gates into a fixed scheme of spiritual stages.
• Connect: The actual function of doors and bars can illuminate discernment about speech, habits, and what enters the heart.
• Show: Return to the diagram to locate the Valley, Dung, and Fountain Gates within the chapter’s sequence.

Service near the tombs, the pools, and the houses (Nehemiah 3:16-23)

• Ask: What repair close to home might a person avoid while remaining busy with public service?
• Emphasize: Second portions are remembered, and local responsibility protects neighbors as well as one’s own household.
• Watch for: Do not confuse the worker Nehemiah son of Azbuk with the governor. Do not use second portions to justify burnout or to excuse those who refuse their own share.
• Connect: In 1 Corinthians 3:9-15, Christ is the foundation and the quality of each builder’s work is tested. Gratitude for activity must include examination of its substance.

The eastern work and the return to the Sheep Gate (Nehemiah 3:24-32)

• Ask: How does Tekoa’s second portion change the way we read its nobles’ refusal in verse 5?
• Emphasize: The names form a litany of remembered service. Ephesians 2:19-22 carries shared building to its fulfillment in Christ and the dwelling of God in the Spirit.
• Watch for: Meshullam’s repeated labor does not erase the divided loyalty revealed by Nehemiah 6:18. Jerome supports spiritual depth here, not a speculative meaning for every name or gate.
• Connect: Use the worship parallels to join labor, healing, and unity in Christ. Nehemiah itself is not appointed as a Scripture reading in the lectionary followed here.
• Show: Trace the diagram back to the Sheep Gate, where the closing craftsmen and merchants join the opening priestly work.

Sources

1. Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).

2. Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta, 2 Esdras 13. The Greek numbering and the readings behind “Adorim” and “daughters” are distinguished from the Hebrew-based NKJV wording.

3. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Nehemiah 3:5, 12; Nehemiah 6:18; Nehemiah 11:25-31; Nehemiah 13:4-7, 28; John 5:1-18; 1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 2:19-22.

4. Saint Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus, §8, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6. Text at New Advent.

5. Coptic Reader reading assignments as preserved in @andraws/lectionary-data 1.3.3: Agpeya Eleventh Hour and Midnight Second Watch; Liturgy of the Sunday of the fifth week of Great Lent; Nasie 4; Sunday of the second week of the Holy Fifty Days. These are the worship parallels discussed above, not appointments of Nehemiah 3.

6. Approximate teaching diagram of the gate sequence; not an archaeological reconstruction.

7. Building the Wall of Jerusalem, Sunrays Quarterly, 1908, public-domain Western biblical illustration. Wikimedia Commons.

Numbering continues: NKJV Nehemiah 4:1-6 begins at Hebrew/Greek 3:33, but the Greek lacks NKJV 4:6; see the full note in the Nehemiah 4 study.

Footnotes

1. Nehemiah 3:5. Brenton follows the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word for nobles as “Adorim” and reads “their service.” The Hebrew-based NKJV reads “their nobles” and “the work of their Lord.” The Greek reading is attested in Rahlfs, 2 Esdras 13:5; the difference should remain visible when interpreting the refusal. ↩

2. Nehemiah 3:12. Brenton and the NKJV both read “his daughters”; the Greek has thygateres, “daughters.” The alternative interpretation takes the phrase as dependent villages, using the geographical idiom found in Nehemiah 11:25-31. It is an interpretive possibility, not a different word supplied by the NKJV. ↩

3. Saint Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus, §8, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6 (1893). Direct reference to the families assigned the building of Jerusalem’s walls and towers. New Advent. ↩

4. The worship placements in this section are attested in @andraws/lectionary-data 1.3.3. Psalm 122 (LXX Psalm 121). The stated Gospel and Pauline ranges are John 5:1-18, 1 Corinthians 3:9-23, and Ephesians 2:19-3:10; the exposition discusses the relevant portions within those readings. ↩