Nehemiah 12:39

Neh 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.

Ver. 39. And from above the gate of Ephraim] Much mention is here made of the several gates and towers; because God was much seen in helping them so soon to build such; and, by the sight of them, they were much excited to praise the Lord.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 12:39-40. They stood still in the prison-gate — Waiting, as also their brethren did, that they might go together in due order into God’s house, there to perfect the solemnity. So stood the two companies, &c. — That is, they met together at the temple, and gave thanks in the courts of it. And I and the half of the rulers with me — And Ezra and the other half with him, as appears by comparing this with Neh 12:35-36. The order wherein they marched in this pompous manner round about the city seems a little obscure; but the sense of the whole description is this: that they being met together in the same place, half of the rulers went upon the wall on the right hand, accompanied with several priests and Levites, and Ezra the scribe at the head of them, Neh 12:36; and the other half took the left hand, and walked upon the wall in the same order, accompanied with Nehemiah, who brought up the rear of them, Neh 12:38. And, at length, both parts of this chorus met in the temple, and there they stood still and completed their praises and thanksgivings, and offered sacrifices, as mentioned Neh 12:43.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(39) The gate of Ephraim.—Not mentioned in the process of repairing, as having remained comparatively intact with part of the “broad wall.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. from above] R.V. above.

the gate of Ephraim] This gate is not mentioned in chap. 3. It was situated probably at about the centre of the northern wall, and was so called because through it passed the main road to Ephraim.

above the old gate] R.V. by the old gate. Cf. Neh_3:6.

above (R.V. by) the fish gate] Cf. Neh_3:3.

39. Cf. Neh_3:2

Hananeel] R.V. Hananel.

Meah] R.V. Hammeah. Marg. Or, The hundred.

the sheep gate] Cf. Neh_3:1.

the prison gate] R.V. the gate of the guard. In Neh_3:25, we have mention of ‘the court of the guard.’ The gate here mentioned we should expect to be one of the gates of the Temple precincts, leading from the north side into the open space to the east of the Temple. It is an objection that from the mention of ‘the court of the guard’ (Neh_3:25) we should infer that it lay on the south side of the Temple; and if so (which is very unlikely), that the procession led by Nehemiah would have marched past the halting-place of the other company.

It is noticeable that the concluding clause is not found in the best text of the LXX. It may possibly represent a later insertion on the part of a scribe who wished to assign a halting-place to this company.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer,.... These seem to be all priests that blew the trumpets:

and the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer; these were the Levites, that sung the songs of praise vocally, and raised their voices very high, Jezrahiah being precentor, who led the tune, as well as played on instruments.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Waiting, as also their brethren did, that they might go together in due order into God’s house, there to perfect the solemnity.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. Gate of Ephraim — In the northern wall, opening out in the direction of Ephraim’s territory. See on 2Ki_14:13.

Old gate… sheep gate — See Plan, page 444, and notes on Neh_3:1; Neh_3:3; Neh_3:6.

Stood still in the prison gate — Came to a halt at that point. The position of the prison gate is uncertain, but was probably near the southwestern corner of the temple area, and not far from the water gate, where the other procession halted. See on Neh_12:37.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Stood still - Waiting, as also their brethren did, that they might go together in due order into God's house, there to perfect the solemnity.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and they stood They stood, there and did not go any further.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.