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Nehemiah 11:21

in Nehemiah 11

The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, with Ziha and Gishpa over them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel: and Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim.

KJV

But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel: and Ziha and Gispa were over the Nethinims.

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This verse in Nehemiah 11

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel,.... An high place or tower on the wall of Jerusalem, see 2Ch 27:3, and Ziha, and Gispa, were over the Nethinims; had the oversight of them, and took care that they did their work; they were such themselves, but the principal of them, see Ezr 2:43.

This site's exposition

the residue of Israel

on Nehemiah 11:20-24

The residue of Israel, priests, and Levites kept their ancestral holdings in the towns of Judah while the Nethinims, the temple's lowest servants, dwelt on Ophel close by the wall of the house they served, under their own overseers Ziha and Gispa. The singers drew a certain portion for every day by the king's own commandment, the Persian court funding Israel's worship much as the hand of God refrain has already shown Artaxerxes funding Ezra's caravan. Pethahiah, of the line of Zerah, stood at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people, a Jew holding the empire's own seat of arbitration over his countrymen.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The Nethinims dwelt in Ophel - Which was upon the wall of Jerusalem, because they were to do the servile work of the temple: therefore they were to be posted near it, that they might be ready to attend.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

9 And Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer: and Judah the son of Senuah was second over the city. 10 Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin. 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, was the ruler of the house of God.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Ophel, the southern spur of the temple hill, having a wall of its own Neh 3:27 might be reckoned either in Jerusalem or outside it. Here it is made a separate place.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהַנְּתִינִ֖יםand the temple servants

    vehanetinimH5411 →17 times

  • יֹשְׁבִ֣ים[were] dwelling

    yoshevimH3427 →1079 times

  • בָּעֹ֑פֶלon <the> Ophel

    baofelH6077 →5 times

  • וְצִיחָ֥אand Ziha

    vetzicha'H6727 →

  • וְגִשְׁפָּ֖אand Gishpa

    vegishpa'H1658 →

  • עַל־[were] over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַנְּתִינִֽים׃ פthe temple servants

    hanetinimH5411 →17 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 27:3

    Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he worked extensively on the wall at the hill of Ophel.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 33:14

      After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Nehemiah 3:26–27

      and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 3:26

    and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 8:1

      At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD…

    • Nehemiah 12:37

      At the Fountain Gate they climbed the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

    • Nehemiah 8:3

      So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand. And all the people…

    • Ezra 2:43–58

      The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

  • Through

    Nehemiah 3:31

    Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 3:8

      Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs, and next to him, Hananiah son of the perfumer made repairs. They fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

    • Nehemiah 3:32

      And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 11 →