Nehemiah 12:39 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 12:39
And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.
an opening · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Ephraim
אֶ֠פְרַיִם'Ef.ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
old
יָשָׁןyâshân
H3465
old
gate
שַׁ֨עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
fish
הַדָּגִ֗יםha.da.Gim
H1709
a fish (often used collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
tower
וּמִגְדַּ֤לu.mig.Dal
H4026
a tower (from its size or height) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
Hananeel
חֲנַנְאֵל֙cha.nan.'El
H2606
Chananel · proper noun, a man's name
tower
וּמִגְדַּ֣לu.mig.Dal
H4026
a tower (from its size or height) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
Meah
הַמֵּאָ֔הha.me.'Ah
H3968
Meah · definite article + proper noun, a place name
sheep
הַצֹּ֑אןha.Tzon
H6629
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
still
וְעָ֣מְד֔וּve.'A.me.Du
H5975
to stand · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
prison
הַמַּטָּרָֽהha.ma.ta.Rah
H4307
a jail (as a guard-house) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
gate
בְּשַׁ֖עַרbe.Sha.'ar
H8179
an opening · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Nehemiah 3:1 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 doo…
Nehemiah 3:3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the…
Nehemiah 3:6 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the d…
Nehemiah 8:16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in th…
Nehemiah 3:25 Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king’s high house, that was by the court…
2 Kings 14:13 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and br…
Nehemiah 3:31-32 After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith’s son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to…
Jeremiah 31:38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 12:27-43
We have read of the building of the wall of Jerusalem with a great deal of fear and trembling; we have here an account of the dedicating of it with a great deal of joy and triumph. Those that sow in tears shall thus reap.
I. We must enquire what was the meaning of this dedication of the wall; we will suppose it to include the dedication of the city too (continens pro contentothe thing containing for the thing contained), and therefore it was not done till the city was pretty well replenished, Neh 11:1. It was a solemn thanksgiving to God for his great mercy to them in the perfecting of this undertaking, of which they were the more sensible because of the difficulty and opposition they had me…
at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem--This ceremony of consecrating the wall and gates of the city was an act of piety on the part of Nehemiah, not merely to thank God in a general way for having been enabled to bring the building to a happy completion, but especially because that city was the place which He had chosen. It also contained the temple which was hallowed by the manifestation of His presence, and anew set apart to His service. It was on these accounts that Jerusalem was called "the holy city," and by this public and solemn act of religious observance, after a long period of neglect and desecration, it was, as it were, restored to its rightful proprietor. The dedication cons…
The broad wall - What part this was, we know not: it might have been a place designed for a public promenade, or a parade for assembling the troops or guard of the temple.
John Gill on Nehemiah 12:39
And from above the gate of Ephraim,.... The gate which led to the tribe of Ephraim, where that tribe formerly dwelt, see Nehemiah 8:16
and above the old gate; of which mention is made, Nehemiah 3:6
and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate; of all which see Nehemiah 3:1, and they stood still in the prison gate; which was not a gate of the city, but of the court of the prison, Nehemiah 3:25, which was near both the king's palace and the temple, see Jeremiah 20:1.
Dictionary and topics
Ephraim, Gate of — One of the gates of Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:13; 2 Chr. 25:23), on the side of the city looking toward Ephraim, the north side.
Ezra — Help. (1.) A priest among those that returned to Jerusalem under Zerubabel (Neh. 12:1). (2.) The “scribe” who led the second body of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459, and…
Fenced cities — There were in Palestine (1) cities, (2) unwalled villages, and (3) villages with castles or towers (1 Chr. 27:25). Cities, so called, had walls, and were thus fenced. The fortifications consisted of…
Fish — Called dag by the Hebrews, a word denoting great fecundity (Gen. 9:2; Num. 11:22; Jonah 2:1, 10). No fish is mentioned by name either in the Old or in the New Testament. Fish abounded in the…
Hananeel — God has graciously given, a tower in the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:1; 12:39). It is mentioned also in Jer. 31:38; Zech. 14:10.
Jerusalem — Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the…
Meah — An hundred, a tower in Jersalem on the east wall (Neh. 3:1) in the time of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah — Comforted by Jehovah. (1.) Ezra 2:2; Neh. 7:7. (2.) Neh. 3:16. (3.) The son of Hachaliah (Neh. 1:1), and probably of the tribe of Judah. His family must have belonged to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:3). He was…
Old gate — One of the gates in the north wall of Jerusalem, so called because built by the Jebusites (Neh. 3:6; 12:39).
Sheepgate, The — one of the gates of Jerusalem as rebuilt by Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:1,32; 12:39) It stood between the tower of Meah and the chamber of the corner, ch. (Nehemiah 3:1,32) or gate of the guard-house, ch.…
Dedication · Of the wall of
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 12:27-43
The dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. - The measures proposed for increasing the numbers of the inhabitants of Jerusalem having now been executed (Neh 7:5 and Neh 11:1.), the restored wall of circumvallation was solemnly dedicated. Neh 12:27-29 treat of the preparations for this solemnity.
Neh 12:27
At the dedication (i.e., at the time of, בּ denoting nearness of time) they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication. Only a portion of the Levites dwelt in Jerusalem (Neh 11:15-18); the rest dwelt in places in the neighbourhood, as is more expressly stated in Neh 12:28 and Neh 12:29. ושׂמחה, to keep the dedication and joy, is not suitable,…
The second choir . . . went northward, up the western wall past the Broad Wall (3:8), the Old City Gate (3:6), and the Fish Gate (3:3), then across the northern side of the wall until it came to the Sheep Gate (3:1) on the northeast corner of the Temple. • The Guard Gate might be the Inspection Gate (3:31).
Rashi on Nehemiah 12:39
and they stood They stood, there and did not go any further.
Gates · Of Jerusalem: Gate of Ephraim — Of Jerusalem: Gate of Ephraim
Hananeel · Name of a tower forming part of the wall of — Name of a tower forming part of the wall of
Jerusalem · .Old gate, fish gate, sheep gate, pri — .Old gate, fish gate, sheep gate, pri
Levites, The · Services of: Conducting the sacred music — Services of: Conducting the sacred music
Meah · A tower in — A tower in
Sheep Gate · An ancient gate of — An ancient gate of
Tower · Of Meah — Of Meah
Towers · Mentioned in scripture: Meah — Mentioned in scripture: Meah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
