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Nehemiah 3:1

in Nehemiah 3

At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananel.

KJV

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

This verse in Nehemiah 3

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Eliashib (compare the marginal reference) was the grandson of Joshua, the high priest contemporary with Zerubbabel. The sheep gate - This was a gate in the eastern wall, not far from the pool of Bethesda, marginal reference, which was perhaps originally a sheep-pool. The exact line which the writer follows in describing the circuit of the wall will probably be always a matter of dispute.

This site's exposition

At the Sheep Gate

on Nehemiah 3:1-2

The high priest builds first, and the sheep gate he raises is the only stretch the chapter says was SANCTIFIED. The circuit that begins here will close here, and its first and last stone belong to worship. Leadership in this roll means a trowel in the high priest's hand.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

And Eliasib the great priest rose, etc. This Eliasib, the high priest of that time, was the son of Joakim, who, after his father Jesus the son of Josedec the great priest, himself also for no small time held the insignias of the high priesthood. …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

And up to the tower of a hundred cubits, etc. For priests build up to the measure of a hundred cubits, when they kindle all whom they instruct with love and desire for eternal things. For the number one hundred, which in the counting of …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The priests repaired the sheep-gate, so called because through it were brought the sheep that were to be sacrificed in the temple; and therefore the priests undertook the repair of it because the offerings of the Lord made by fire were their inheritance. And of this gate only it is said that they sanctified it with the word and prayer, and perhaps with sacrifices perhaps, 1.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Ministers should be foremost in every good work, animating others by their example as well as doctrine. Sheep-gate - Which was next to the temple; so called, because the sheep were brought thro' it to be sacrificed. Sanctified - Or, they prepared or repaired it: for so the word sometimes signifies.
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests,....
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

There the sheep were washed and then taken to the temple for sacrifice. they sanctified it, and set up the doors--Being the common entrance into the temple, and the first part of the building repaired, it is probable that some religious ceremonies were observed in gratitude for its completion.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Eliashib the high priest - It was right that the priests should be first in this holy work; and perhaps the sheep gate which is mentioned here is that by which the offerings or sacrifices were brought into the temple. They sanctified it - As they began with the sacred offering as soon as they got an altar built, it was proper that the gate by which these sacrifices entered should be consecrated for this purpose, i. e., set apart, so that it should be for this use only.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַיָּ֡קָםand he arose

    vaiyakomH6965 →628 times

  • אֶלְיָשִׁיב֩Eliashib

    ʾelyashivH475 →17 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֨ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • הַגָּד֜וֹל<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • וְאֶחָ֣יוand brothers his

    veechavH251 →630 times

  • הַכֹּהֲנִ֗יםthe priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • וַיִּבְנוּ֙and they rebuilt

    vaiyivnuH1129 →376 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שַׁ֣עַר[the] gate of

    shaarH8179 →374 times

  • הַצֹּ֔אןthe sheep

    hatzonH6629 →274 times

  • הֵ֣מָּהthey

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • קִדְּשׁ֔וּהוּthey consecrated it

    kideshuhuH6942 →171 times

  • וַֽיַּעֲמִ֖ידוּand they set up

    vaiyaamiduH5975 →521 times

  • דַּלְתֹתָ֑יוdoors its

    daltotavH1817 →88 times

  • וְעַד־and to

    vead-H5704 →1261 times

  • מִגְדַּ֤ל[the] tower of

    migdalH4026 →48 times

  • הַמֵּאָה֙the hundred

    hameahH3968 →

  • קִדְּשׁ֔וּהוּthey consecrated it

    kideshuhuH6942 →171 times

  • עַ֖דto

    ʾadH5704 →1261 times

  • מִגְדַּ֥ל[the] tower of

    migdalH4026 →48 times

  • חֲנַנְאֵֽל׃ סHananel

    chananelH2606 →

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

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

    Jeremiah 31:38

    “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:13

      There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 30:18

      This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Zechariah 14:10

      All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the…

  • Through

    John 5:2

    Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 12:39

      over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of…

  • Through

    Zechariah 14:10

    All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 15:32

      Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—twenty-nine cities in all, along with their villages.

    • Zechariah 12:6

      On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right…

  • Through

    Nehemiah 12:39

    over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 3:3

      The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

    • Nehemiah 8:16

      And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the court of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).