Nehemiah 3:8
in Nehemiah 3Next 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. And next unto him repaired Hananiah one of the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem even unto the broad wall.
KJV
Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
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This verse in Nehemiah 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGoldsmiths - From the remotest period of the history of the Jews they had artists in all elegant and ornamental trades; and it is also evident that goldsmiths, apothecaries, and merchants were formed into companies in the time of Nehemiah. Apothecaries - Rather such as dealt in drugs, aromatics, spices, etc., for embalming, or for furnishing the temple with the incense consumed there.
This site's exposition
The Jeshanah Gate
on Nehemiah 3:6-12
The builders are tradesmen: at verse 8 "one of the goldsmiths" and "Hananiah son of the perfumer" make repairs. At verse 12 Shallum repairs "with the help of his daughters," women named into the wall's record. Perfumers and goldsmiths doing masonry picture a city where the work outranked the trade.
This site's exposition
one of the goldsmiths, made repairs
Clarke finds guilds of goldsmiths and perfumers, the perfumers dealing in spices for burial and in the incense of the temple. Spurgeon pictures the Broad Wall as the defence and glory of Jerusalem, and preaches it as the church's separation, security and enjoyment. The Broad Wall recurs at 12:38.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And they left Jerusalem, etc. The wall of the broad street in Jerusalem is the firmness and fortification of perfect love in the hearts of the elect, to which its teachers reach by building, when progressing in works of charity, they can say to their …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They did not think their callings excused them, nor plead that they could not leave their shops to attend the public business, knowing that what they lost would certainly be made up to them by the blessing of God upon their callings. Some ladies are spoken of as helping forward this work-- Shallum and his daughters (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Fortified - It is not said, they repaired, but they fortified it, either because this part of the wall was less demolished than the other, and therefore they needed not to repair it, but only to make it stronger: or, to note their extraordinary care and diligence, that they would not only repair it, but make it stronger than ever.
Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3281: “The Broad Wall” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
IT seems that around Jerusalem of old, in the time of her splendor, there was a broad wall which was her defense and her glory. Jerusalem is a type of the Church of God. It is always well when we can see clearly, distinctly and plainly that around the Church to which we belong there runs a broad wall. This idea of a broad wall around the Church suggests three things, separation, security and enjoyment. Let us examine each of these in its turn. I.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3281: “The Broad Wall” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT seems that around Jerusalem of old, in the time of her splendor, there was a broad wall which was her defense and her glory. Jerusalem is a type of the Church of God. It is always well when we can see clearly, distinctly and plainly that around the Church to which we belong there runs a broad wall. This idea of a broad wall around the Church suggests three things, separation, security and enjoyment. Let us examine each of these in its turn. I. First, the SEPARATION of the people of God from the world is like that broad wall surrounding the holy city of Jerusalem. When a man becomes a Christian, he is still in the world, but he is no longer to be of it. He was an heir of wrath, but he has now become a child of Grace. Being of a distinct nature, he is required to separate himself from the rest of mankind, as the Lord Jesus Christ did, who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." The Lord's Church was separated in His eternal purpose. It was separated in His Covenant and decree. It was separated in the Atonement, for even there we find that our Lord is called "the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." An actual separation is made by Divine Grace, is carried on in the work of sanctification and will be completed in that day when the heavens shall be on fire and the saints shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air—and in that last tremendous day He shall divide the nations as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats! And then there shall be a great gulf fixed, across which the ungodly cannot go to the righteous, neither shall the righteous approach the wicked. Practically, my business is to say to those of you who profess to be the Lord's people, take care that you maintain a broad wall of separation between yourselves and the world.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יָד֣וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הֶחֱזִ֗יק | hechezik | he repaired | H2388 → | 291 times |
| עֻזִּיאֵ֤ל | ʾuziel | Uzziel | H5816 → | |
| בֶּֽן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| חַרְהֲיָה֙ | charhayah | Harhaiah | H2736 → | |
| צֽוֹרְפִ֔ים ס | tzorfim | goldsmiths | H6884 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יָד֣וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הֶחֱזִ֔יק | hechezik | he repaired | H2388 → | 291 times |
| חֲנַנְיָ֖ה | chananyah | Hananiah | H2608 → | 29 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הָרַקָּחִ֑ים | harakachim | the perfumers | H7546 → | |
| וַיַּֽעַזְבוּ֙ | vaiyaazvu | and they restored | H5800 → | 215 times |
| יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַחוֹמָ֥ה | hachomah | the wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
| הָרְחָבָֽה׃ ס | harechavah | <the> broad | H7342 → | 21 times |
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יָד֣וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
הֶחֱזִ֗יקhe repaired
hechezikH2388 →291 times
עֻזִּיאֵ֤לUzziel
ʾuzielH5816 →
בֶּֽן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
חַרְהֲיָה֙Harhaiah
charhayahH2736 →
צֽוֹרְפִ֔ים סgoldsmiths
tzorfimH6884 →
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
יָד֣וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
הֶחֱזִ֔יקhe repaired
hechezikH2388 →291 times
חֲנַנְיָ֖הHananiah
chananyahH2608 →29 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
הָרַקָּחִ֑יםthe perfumers
harakachimH7546 →
וַיַּֽעַזְבוּ֙and they restored
vaiyaazvuH5800 →215 times
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
עַ֖דto
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַחוֹמָ֥הthe wall
hachomahH2346 →133 times
הָרְחָבָֽה׃ ס<the> broad
harechavahH7342 →21 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Exodus 30:25Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.
it leads to
- Exodus 37:29
He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.
- Psalms 89:20
I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
- Psalms 133:2
It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes.
- 1 Chronicles 9:30
And some of the sons of the priests mixed the spices.
- Exodus 40:9
Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it along with all its furnishings, and it shall be holy.
- Exodus 37:29
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:1As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:13–16
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and…
- Galatians 2:12–14
For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
- Matthew 5:13–16
Through
Genesis 50:2And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him,
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 16:14
And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes;…
- 2 Chronicles 16:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Nehemiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3281: “The Broad Wall” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.