Nehemiah 3:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 3:16
After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.
to fasten upon · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Nehemiah
נְחֶמְיָ֣הne.chem.Yah
H5166
Nechemjah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Azbuk
עַזְבּ֔וּק'az.Buk
H5802
Azbuk · proper noun, a man's name
ruler
שַׂ֕רsar
H8269
a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine singular construct
half
חֲצִ֖יcha.Tzi
H2677
the half or middle · noun, common masculine singular construct
part
פֶּ֣לֶךְPe.lekh
H6418
a circuit (i.e. district) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Beth-zur
בֵּֽיתbeit-
H1049
Beth-Tsur · proper noun, a place name
sepulchres
קִבְרֵ֣יkiv.Rei
H6913
a sepulchre · noun, common masculine plural construct
David
דָוִ֔ידda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
pool
הַבְּרֵכָה֙ha.be.re.Khah
H1295
a reservoir (at which camels kneel as a resting-place) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
made
הָעֲשׂוּיָ֔הha.'a.su.Yah
H6213
to do or make · definite article + verb, qal passive participle, feminine singular absolute
house
בֵּ֥יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
mighty
הַגִּבֹּרִֽיםha.gi.bo.Rim
H1368
powerful · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
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
2 Kings 20:20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they no…
Nehemiah 3:9 And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 3:12 And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto th…
Nehemiah 3:14 But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the lo…
Isaiah 7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in th…
Isaiah 22:11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect…
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 sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty--that is, along the precipitous cliffs of Zion [BARCLAY].
Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 3:16
The pool that was made - Calmet supposes that this was the reservoir made by Hezekiah, when besieged by Sennacherib, Ch2 32:4.
The house of the mighty - Probably a place where a band of soldiers was kept, or the city guard.
John Gill on Nehemiah 3:16
After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur. A strong fortified place in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:58,
unto the place over against the sepulchres of David; where he and his family, and the kings of his race, were buried, which remained to this time untouched by the Babylonians, and to many ages after; see Acts 2:29
and to the pool that was made; not a natural, but an artificial one, which was made by Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:20,
and unto the house of the mighty; where was a garrison of soldiers in former time for defence.
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 3:16-17
The wall from the steps leading from the city of David to the angle opposite the armoury. From Neh 3:16 onwards we find for the most part אחריו, after him, instead of ידו על, which only occurs again in Neh 3:17 and Neh 3:19. Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur (see rem. on Ch2 11:7), repaired the wall as far as "opposite the sepulchres of David, and unto the pool that was made, and to the house of the heroes." The sepulchres of David are the sepulchres of the house of David in the city of David (comp. Ch2 32:33). "Opposite the sepulchres of David" is the length of wall on the eastern side of Zion, where was probably, as Thenius endeavours to show in the Zeit…
The Church Fathers
And up to the pool, etc. The pool, indeed, constructed with great effort, can not be unreasonably understood as divine Scripture; which, created by the work of the Holy Spirit, provides for us a washing to cleanse sins, and at the same time offers a cup of salvific taste. Which if it has been transformed for us by the Lord into wine, that is, translated into a spiritual sense, it inebriates us with the more pleasant sweetness of truth. Wherein also is the house of the strong; for whoever has been accustomed to be refreshed by the frequent streams of divine words by hearing and doing, they are rendered strong and invincible against all the snares of the ancient enemy. Therefore, after the tomb of David, in the holy city a pool constructed with great effort is placed, to which the house of the strong is adjacent; because through the passion of the Lord, the abyss of the Scriptures has been revealed to us, by whose abundance the hearts of the faithful are strengthened, and the city of Christ made impregnable to all enemies. For if the waters fail or are obtained by the enemy, the city is easily captured. And if the ancient enemy removes from us the fountain of the word of God, nothing prevents the fierce attacker and destroyer from immediately ascending the citadel of our mind.
After him Nehemiah built, etc. Note that King David is buried not in Bethlehem, as some assert, but in Jerusalem; and indeed not without a certain reason of mystery. For just as in Bethlehem he was born and anointed as a king, prefiguring that the Lord Christ would be born there from his seed and be adored by the Magi under the guise of a king; so also, having died and been buried in Jerusalem, he signified that the same Lord would suffer and be buried in that city, but would rise again from the grave. Therefore, after the gate of the fountain, and the walls of the pool of Siloam, which reach into the king's garden, and up to the steps that descend from the city of David, even up to the tomb of the same David the measure of the holy city extends; because he who preaches the faith of divine eternity, who declares the dispensation of the Lord's incarnation, who relates the fruitfulness of the Church adhering to Christ; of which he Himself says: A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse (Song of Solomon IV); he declares to the faithful listeners that not only do they need to imitate those steps of good deeds by which they ascend to the eternal homeland; but also they must always recall the sacrament of the Lord's Passion to their memory, that they may recognize that through Him who died and rose again for them, they too are to be raised from the region and shadow of death to life, and to ascend to the heavenly kingdom. It follows well, however:
Dictionary and topics
Azbuk — (strong devastation), father or ancestor of Nehemiah, the prince of part of Bethzur. (Nehemiah 3:16)
Bath, Bathing — This was a prescribed part of the Jewish ritual of purification in cases of accident, or of leprous or ordinary uncleanness, (Leviticus 15; 16:28; 22:6; Numbers 19:7; 19; 2 Samuel 11:2,4; 2 Kings…
Baths — The use of the bath was very frequent among the Hebrews (Lev. 14:8; Num. 19:19, ect.). The high priest at his inauguration (Lev. 8:6), and on the day of atonement, was required to bathe himself…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
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…
Azbuk · Father of Nehemiah — Father of Nehemiah
Beth-Zur · A town in — A town in
Gihon · the city of — the city of
Hezekiah · .Conducts the Gihon Brook into — .Conducts the Gihon Brook into
Nehemiah · 2:2; — 2:2;
Persia · Municipal governments in, provi — Municipal governments in, provi
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 describe the building of the new eastern wall.
3:16 The district of Beth-zur was located just north of Hebron. • The tombs of David’s family might refer to where King David was buried (1 Kgs 2:10; 11:43; 2 Chr 21:20; Acts 2:29), and the House of the Warriors might have been a tomb for David’s mighty men (2 Sam 23:8-39).
