Nehemiah 3:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 3:13
The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.
a gorge (from its lofty sides · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֨עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
repaired
הֶחֱזִ֣יקhe.che.Zik
H2388
to fasten upon · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Hanun
חָנוּן֮cha.Nun
H2586
Chanun · proper noun, a man's name
inhabitants
וְיֹשְׁבֵ֣יve.yo.she.Vei
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
Zanoah
זָנוֹחַ֒za.no.aCh
H2182
Zanoach · proper noun, a place name
built
בָנ֔וּהוּva.Nu.hu
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
וַֽיַּעֲמִ֙ידוּ֙vai.ya.'a.Mi.du
H5975
to stand · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
doors
דַּלְתֹתָ֔יוdal.to.Tav
H1817
something swinging · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
locks
מַנְעֻלָ֖יוman.'u.Lav
H4514
a bolt · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
bars
וּבְרִיחָ֑יוu.ve.ri.Chav
H1280
a bolt · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
thousand
וְאֶ֤לֶףve.'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular construct
cubits
אַמָּה֙'a.Mah
H520
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
wall
בַּחוֹמָ֔הba.cho.Mah
H2346
a wall of protection · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
dung
הָשֲׁפֽוֹתha.sha.Fot
H830
a heap of rubbish or filth · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֥עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · 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 2:13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, whi…
Joshua 15:34 And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam,
Joshua 15:56 And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,
1 Chronicles 4:18 And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the…
2 Chronicles 26:9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
Nehemiah 11:30 Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beer…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 3:1–end
The best way to know how to divide this chapter is to observe how the work was divided among the undertakers, that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it accordingly with a holy emulation, and desire to excel, yet without any contention, animosity, or separate interest. No strife appears among them but which should do most for the public good. Several things are observable in the account here given of the building of the wall about Jerusalem: -
I. That Eliashib the high priest, with his brethren the priests, led the van in this troop of builders, Neh 3:1. Ministers should be foremost in every good work; for their office obliges them to teach and quicken by their example, as wel…
the inhabitants of Zanoah--There were two towns so called in the territory of Judah (Jos 15:34, Jos 15:56).
Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 3:13
The inhabitants of Zanoah - This was a town in the tribe of Judah. Jos 15:34.
John Gill on Nehemiah 3:13
The valley gate repaired Hanun,.... Of which see Nehemiah 2:13,
and the inhabitants of Zanoah; a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:34,
they built it, and set up the doors thereof, &c. see Nehemiah 3:3,
and a thousand cubits on the wall to the dung gate; that is, they repaired the wall to such a length from the valley gate to the dung gate; see Nehemiah 2:13.
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 3:13-14
From the valley-gate to the dung-gate. The valley-gate lay in the west, in the neighbourhood of the present Jaffa gate (see rem. on Neh 2:13), "where," as Tobler, Topogr. i. p. 163, expresses it, "we may conclude there must almost always have been, on the ridge near the present citadel, the site in the time of Titus of the water-gate also (Joseph. bell. Jud. v. 7. 3), an entrance provided with gates." Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah are here connected, probably because Hanun was the chief or ruler of the inhabitants of this place. Zanoah, now Zanna, is in the Wady Ismail, west of Jerusalem; see rem. on Jos 15:34. They built and set up its doors, etc.; comp. Neh 3:6. The further statement…
The Church Fathers
And Hanun built up the Valley Gate, etc. We know that the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which was also called Gehenna, that is, the Valley of Hinnom, was to the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem, through which flows the Kidron stream, mentioned in the Gospel (John XVIII), when it receives waters from rain or snow, flowing from the northern to the southern region. But we also read of the Valley of Gihon on the western side of the same city, as the Book of Chronicles says about King Manasseh of Judah, which we have mentioned above: After this, he built a wall outside the City of David to the west of Gihon in the valley (II Chronicles XXXIII). Gihon, moreover, is the name of the spring where Solomon was anointed king outside the city. Therefore, whether Ezra signifies this one, that one, or any other valley of the same city in this place, the mystery is clear, because the Valley Gate is built in Jerusalem, when for those who have been recently initiated into the knowledge of faith, or for those who have been restored to chastity of faith by the truth's teachers who had gone astray, the virtue of humility, among other virtues, is commanded to be observed, through which they may deserve to be elevated by a greater grace of God, as the Holy Scripture says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (I Peter V). And in the Psalm: And the valleys are covered with grain (Psalm LXV), which means, the humble will be abundantly filled with the gifts of heavenly sustenance. And it is fitting that after the Old Gate and the wall of the broad street, the Valley Gate is built; because indeed, after the first principles of the catholic faith, which works through love, humility must be inculcated to us, which is the guardian of virtues, so that according to the wise man's precept, the greater we are, the more we should humble ourselves in all things (Ecclesiasticus III).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Hanun — Graciously given. (1.) The son and successor of Nahash, king of Moab. David’s messengers, sent on an embassy of condolence to him to Rabbah Ammon, his capital, were so grossly insulted that he…
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…
Zanoah — Marsh. (1.) A town in the low country or shephelah of Judah, near Zorah (Josh. 15:34). It was re-occupied after the return from the Captivity (Neh. 11:30). Zanu’ah in Wady Ismail, 10 miles west of…
Gihon · the city of — the city of
Hezekiah · .Conducts the Gihon Brook into — .Conducts the Gihon Brook into
Jerusalem · Valley gate — Valley gate
Lock · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Zanoah · 1. A city of western — 1. A city of western
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).
