Nehemiah 3:13

Neh 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.

Ver. 13. The valley gate] See Neh 2:13.

And the inhabitants of Zanoah] Together with Hanun, their governor. Not priests and Levites only, but the great men in every country, yea, and the country people too, must work at God’s building. Every one must be active in his own sphere; not live to himself, but help to bear the burdens of Church and commonwealth, toti natum se credere mundo, as Cato did (Lucan).

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.

3:13 Zanoah was a village about thirteen miles (21 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the inhabitants of Zanoah--There were two towns so called in the territory of Judah (Jos 15:34, Jos 15:56).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. The inhabitants of Zanoah] This was a town in the tribe of Judah. Jos 15:34.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) A thousand cubits.—Not so much “built” as “strengthened.” This comparatively large space—mentioned in round numbers—had probably suffered less damage, and therefore needed less repairing.

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

13. The valley gate] See note on Neh_2:13; Neh_2:15. This was the main entrance on the western side.

Zanoah] This town, mentioned in Neh_11:30; Jos_15:34, is probably the modern Zanuah, some 13 miles W. of Jerusalem.

the doors thereof, &c.] See note on Neh_3:3.

and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate] R.V. of the wall. Some who have thought that this would be too great a distance of wall to be restored by a single section of the community regard the clause as a topographical parenthesis, = ‘There were a thousand cubits between the two gates.’ But if we may suppose little restoration was here needed, no further details would be recorded of this section of the wall. This very reason, however, would enable us to accept the repairing of ‘the thousand cubits’ as the work of ‘Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah.’ Comparatively little work was here needed, and a small party could undertake a long stretch.

The ‘dung gate’ was probably at the S.W. angle of the wall. The wall having passed due S. from the ‘valley gate’ to the ‘dung gate,’ turned thence in an easterly direction.

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.

But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab,.... If this was one of the Rechabites, they were forbid to build houses, Jer 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 Jer 6:1,

he built it, and set up the doors thereof; &c. as in Neh 3:3.

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

Zanoah lay west of Jerusalem, at the distance of about 10 miles (Jos 15:34 note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. The valley gate — On the west side of the city, opening into the valley of Gihon. See note on Neh_2:13.

A thousand cubits — About 1,820 feet, which is the distance from the present tower of Hippicus to the southwestern corner of Zion. The dung gate, so called, no doubt, from being the place where the filth of the city was carried out, must have stood somewhere near the southwestern corner of Zion, and was probably the same as that which Josephus (v, 4, 2) calls the gate of the Essenes.

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

The valley gate. A gate in the western wall (See the comment on Neh_2:13) Zanoah was situated to the west of Jerusalem at the distance of some nine or ten miles. It is mentioned in Jos_15:34 as a city of Judah, but was not a place of much importance. We can scarcely suppose that the inhabitants had as much as a thousand cubits of the wall assigned to them, since that is more than a quarter of a mile, and the entire circuit was under four miles. Bertheau suggests that Nehemiah merely means to note that the distance between the two gates, the Valley and the Dung gate, was a thousand cubits, and that he says nothing of the repairs because no repairs were needed.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, "and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung-gate," still depends on החזיק, the principal verb of the verse. It is incomprehensible how Bertheau can say that this statement does not refer to the repairing of the wall, but only declares that the distance from the valley-gate to the dung-gate amounted to one thousand cubits. For the remark, that a section of such a length is, in comparison with the other sections, far too extensive, naturally proves nothing more than that the wall in this part had suffered less damage, and therefore needed less repair. The number one thousand cubits is certainly stated in round numbers. The length from the present Jaffa gate to the supposed site of the dung-gate, on the south-western edge of Zion, is above two thousand five hundred feet. The dung-gate may, however, have been placed at a greater distance from the road leading to Baher. השׁפות is only another form for האשׁפּות (without א prosthetic). Malchiah ben Rechab, perhaps a Rechabite, built and fortified the dung-gate; for though the Rechabites were forbidden to build themselves houses (Jer 35:7), they might, without transgressing this paternal injunction, take part in building the fortifications of Jerusalem (Berth.). This conjecture is, however, devoid of probability, for a Rechabite would hardly be a prince or ruler of the district of Beth-haccerem. The name Rechab occurs as early as the days of David, Sa2 4:5. בּית־הכּרם, i.e., the garden or vineyard-house, where, according to Jer 6:1, the children of Benjamin were wont to set up a banner, and to blow the trumpet in Tekoa, is placed by Jerome (Comm. Jer 6) upon a hill between Jerusalem and Tekoa; on which account Pococke (Reise, ii. p. 63) thinks Beth-Cherem must be sought for on the eminence now known as the Frank mountain, the Dshebel Fureidis, upon which was the Herodium of Josephus. This opinion is embraced with some hesitation by Robinson (Pal. ii. p. 397), and unreservedly by Wilson (The Holy City, i. p. 396) and v. de Velde, because "when we consider that this hill is the highest point in the whole district, and is by reason of its isolated position and conical shape very conspicuous, we shall find that no other locality better corresponds with the passage cited.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Hanun

This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)

the inhabitants of Zanoah

"the people from Zanoah"

Zanoah

This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)

the Valley Gate

"the Gate of the Valley" or "the Gate that Leads to the Valley." Try to translate this expression as a name, not just as a description.

set its doors

"installed its doors" or "put its doors in place"

its bolts, and its bars

"its locks and bars." These locked the gates securely.

They repaired a thousand cubits as far as the Dung Gate

They repaired the portion of the wall between the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate. AT: "They repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, from the Valley Gate to the Dung Gate" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

They repaired a thousand cubits

It is understood that they were repaing the wall of Jerusalem. AT: "They repaired a thousand cubits of the wall" or "They repaired another thousand cubits of the wall beyond the Valley Gate" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

a thousand cubits

"1,000 cubits." This may be written in modern measurements. AT: "460 meters" (See: Biblical Distance and Numbers)

the Dung Gate

Presumably, refuse was removed from the city through this gate. Try to translate this expression as a name, not just as a description.

translationWords

gate

dung

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

until the Dung Gate but the Dung Gate was not included.

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.