Nehemiah 3:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 3:14
But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
a heap of rubbish or filth · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
repaired
הֶחֱזִיק֙he.che.Zik
H2388
to fasten upon · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Malchiah
מַלְכִּיָּ֣הmal.ki.Yah
H4441
Malkijah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Rechab
רֵכָ֔בre.Khav
H7394
Rekab · proper noun, a man's name
ruler
שַׂ֖רsar
H8269
a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine singular construct
part
פֶּ֣לֶךְPe.lekh
H6418
a circuit (i.e. district) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Beth-haccerem
בֵּיתbeit-
H1021
Beth-hak-Kerem · proper noun, a place name
built
יִבְנֶ֔נּוּyiv.Ne.nu
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
וְיַעֲמִיד֙ve.ya.'a.Mid
H5975
to stand · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 3rd person masculine singular
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
וּבְרִיחָֽיוu.ve.ri.Chav
H1280
a bolt · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Jeremiah 6:1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire…
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…
Nehemiah 3:9 And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 3:12-13 And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
Nehemiah 3:15-18 But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the…
Nehemiah 12:31 Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the ri…
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…
Beth-haccerem--a city of Judah, supposed to be now occupied by Bethulia, on a hill of the same name, which is sometimes called also the mountain of the Franks, between Jerusalem and Tekoa.
Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 3:14
Beth-haccerem - A village or town in the tribe of Benjamin. See Jer 6:1.
John Gill on Nehemiah 3:14
But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab,.... If this was one of the Rechabites, they were forbid to build houses, Jeremiah 35:7 but, perhaps, though they might not build private houses for themselves to dwell in, they might be employed in building walls and fortresses for public security; though it is more probable that this man was not of that family:
the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; or of the tract of Bethhaccerem, a place between Tekoah and Jerusalem; see Jeremiah 6:1,
he built it, and set up the doors thereof; &c. as in Nehemiah 3:3.
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 a thousand cubits along the wall up to the Dung Gate, etc. They say that the site of the city of Jerusalem is arranged on such a gentle slope, facing north and east, that rain falling there never remains, but flows like rivers through the eastern gates, carrying with it all the filth of the streets, augmenting the torrent Cedron in the valley of Josaphat. From this, it seems likely that the gate is called the Dung Gate, through which filth and impurities are accustomed to be carried out. It is by no means of less strength and usefulness that all impurities should be carried out of the city of the Lord than that which is pure should be gathered into it. Therefore, they build the Dung Gate in Jerusalem, who ordain those into the ministry of the Holy Church, through whom the filth of vices may be cleansed from the minds of the elect. But also corrupt-minded men should be excluded from the borders of the Church, with the help and weakening of all impurity by the shower of heavenly grace; so that according to the Psalmist, "All who do iniquity may be destroyed from the city of the Lord" (Psalm 10). And since it is a sign of great perfection when someone progresses so much through the merit of humility that they can keenly perceive their errors and effectively cleanse those discovered; it is rightly said that those who built the Valley Gate also constructed a thousand cubits in the wall up to the Dung Gate. For the number a thousand signifies perfection, and a cubit signifies the operation which is done by hands and arms. And they reach a thousand cubits building in the wall of the holy city from the Valley Gate to the Dung Gate, who, having acquired the grace of humility, devote themselves so industriously to the works of perfection that they cast out from themselves all rubble of not only harmful action or useless speech but even superfluous thought.
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
Beth-haccerem — House of a vineyard, a place in the tribe of Judah (Neh. 3:14) where the Benjamites were to set up a beacon when they heard the trumpet against the invading army of the Babylonians (Jer. 6:1). It is…
Bethhaccerem — (house of the vine). (Nehemiah 3:14; Jeremiah 6:1) A beacon station near Tekoa, supposed to be the Frank Mountain, a few miles southeast of Bethlehem.
Malchiah — Jehovah’s king. (1.) The head of the fifth division of the priests in the time of David (1 Chr. 24:9). (2.) A priest, the father of Pashur (1 Chr. 9:12; Jer. 38:1). (3.) One of the priests appointed…
Mortar — (Heb. homer), cement of lime and sand (Gen. 11:3; Ex. 1:14); also potter’s clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14). Also Heb. ‘aphar, usually rendered “dust,” clay or mud used for cement in building (Lev.…
Rechab — Horseman, or chariot. (1.) One of Ishbosheth’s “captains of bands” or leaders of predatory troops (2 Sam. 4:2). (2.) The father of Jehonadab, who was the father of the Rechabites (2 Kings 10:15, 23;…
Rechabites — The descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab. They belonged to the Kenites, who accompanied the children of Israel into Palestine, and dwelt among them. Moses married a Kenite wife (Judg.…
Gates · Of Jerusalem: Dung gate — Of Jerusalem: Dung gate
Gihon · the city of — the city of
Lock · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Malchiah · 5. A — 5. A
Rechab · 3. Father of Malchiah — 3. Father of Malchiah
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).
These verses focus on the reconstruction of the southern tip of the city where the Hinnom Valley and Kidron Valley meet.
3:14 The Beth-hakkerem district might have been about two miles (3.2 kilometers) south of Jerusalem (at modern Ramat Rachel) or five miles (8 kilometers) west (at modern Ain Karem).
Rashi on Nehemiah 3:13
until the Dung Gate but the Dung Gate was not included.
