Nehemiah 3:16

Neh 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.

Ver. 16. Over against the sepulchres of David] His burying place. The Jews had their sepulchres ready made, as the old prophet, 1Ki 13:30, Joseph of Arimathaea, &c. So had the emperors of Constantinople their tombstone presented them on their coronation day. Charles V, emperor of Germany, five years before his death caused his sepulchre to be made, with all things appertaining to it necessary for his burial. Another great prince began his tomb, and left it imperfect; commanding a servant once every day to remind him of finishing it. The Thebans had a law, that no man should set up a house for himself to dwell in, but he should first make his grave. David, it seems, had his choice of sepulchres, not far from the wall of the city of David.

And to the pool that was made] With great art and cost, by King Hezekiah, 2Ki 20:20.

And unto the house of the mighty] Where David’s mighties, or the watchmen of his city, lodged; or where youth were trained up and taught to handle their arms.

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.

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 Zeitschr. of the deutsch morgenl. Gesellsch. xxi. p. 495f., an entrance to the burying-place of the house of David, which was within the city. The "pool that was made" must be sought at no great distance, in the Tyropoean valley, but has not yet been discovered. The view of Krafft (Topographie von Jerusalem, p. 152), that it was the reservoir artificially constructed by Hezekiah, between the two walls for the water of the old pool (Isa 22:11), rests upon incorrect combinations. "The house of the heroes" is also unknown. In Neh 3:17 and Neh 3:18, the lengths of wall repaired by the three building parties there mentioned are not stated. "The Levites, Rehum the son of Bani," stands for: the Levites under Rehum the son of Bani. There was a Rehum among those who returned with Zerubbabel, Neh 12:3; Ezr 2:2; and a Bani occurs among the Levites in Neh 9:5. After him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district. Keilah, situate, according to Jos 15:44 and Sa1 23:1, in the hill region, is probably the village of Kila, discovered by Tobler (vol. iii. p. 151), eastward of Beit Dshibrin. By the addition לפלכּו, for his district, i.e., that half of the whole district which was under his rule, "it is expressly stated that the two halves of the district of Keilah worked apart one from the other" (Bertheau). The other half is mentioned in the verse next following.

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.)

3:16-32 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).

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

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].

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 16. The pool that was made] Calmet supposes that this was the reservoir made by Hezekiah, when besieged by Sennacherib, 2Ch 32:4.

The house of the mighty.] Probably a place where a band of soldiers was kept, or the city guard.

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

(16) The sepulchres of David.—Excavated on the western side of the Temple, and never yet traced.

The pool that was made.—This may have been the reservoir of Hezekiah (Isa_22:11); and “the house of the mighty” may have been the barracks of David’s elect troops (1Ch_11:10).

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

16. the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur] R.V. the ruler of half the district of Beth-Zur. Beth-Zur (Jos_15:58), the modern Beitsur, was about 13 miles S. of Jerusalem. It commanded the road to Hebron and was fortified by Rehoboam (2Ch_11:7). From the mention of it in this verse we may gather that it ranked as an important town on the Southern frontier. In the Maccabean Wars it appears as a strongly fortified place and the scene of three of the bloodiest conflicts (cf. 1Ma_4:29; 1Ma_11:65-66; 1Ma_14:7.

unto the place over against the sepulchres of David] This must have been a well-known spot opposite the tombs of the former kings of Judah. From the way in which these are mentioned in 2Ch_32:33 ‘they buried (Hezekiah) in the ascent of the sepulchres of the sons of David,’ they were probably on the side of the south-east or east cliff of Mt. Ophel. We may expect interesting discoveries to result from investigations instituted at this spot for the sake of identifying the royal sepulchres.

and to the pool that was made] R.V. and unto &c. From this description of ‘the pool’ some have supposed that Nehemiah regarded it as a recent construction in his own time. Others identify it with the pool constructed by Hezekiah mentioned in Isa_22:9-11.

It clearly lay north of the pool of Shelah, and was fed perhaps by the same conduit from the Virgin’s Well. Cf. Sayce, ‘Traces of this have been found by Dr Guthe, close to the so-called tree of Isaiah; and since the city wall here formed one of the walls of the reservoir, the latter must have been constructed after the walls had been built.’

the house of the mighty] R.V. the house of the mighty men. This name was probably given to the traditional site (or building on the site) of the former royal barracks erected by David for his ‘body-guard of mighty men’ (2Sa_16:6; 2Sa_23:8). That it denotes the residence of the Temple guard (cf. 1Ch_9:26; 1Ch_26:6), is a less probable explanation of the name.

Rabbi Saadiah understands by the expression ‘the Sanhedrin,’ who were mighty in the Law, and compares Psa_103:20, ‘ye mighty in strength that fulfil his word.’

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.

After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani,.... Who was one of them, as he that follows was another:

next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah: a city of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:4

in his part; either with the men of that part of Keilah under his jurisdiction, or at the expense of that part of it.

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

Beth-zur - Now Beit-sur, on the road from Jerusalem to Hebron Jos 15:58.

By “the sepulchres of David” must be understood the burial place in which David and the kings his descendants to the time of Hezekiah were interred. This was an excavation in the rock, in the near vicinity of the temple Eze 43:7-9, and on its western side. The position of the burial-place was well known until the destruction of the city by Titus; but modern research has not yet discovered it.

The pool - Probably that made by Hezekiah in the Tyropoeon valley, west of the temple area (marginal reference).

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

Labour, by Ezechias, for a reservoir, 2 Paralipomenon xxxii. 4. --- Mighty men of David, (1 Paralipomenon xi. 10.) or the king’s guards, (Calmet) or the garrison. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Over against the sepulchres of David, i.e. the place which David appointed for his own sepulchres, and the sepulchres of his successors the kings of Israel and Judah.

The pool that was made, to wit, by Hezekiah, 2Ki 20:20; whereby it is distinguished from that pool which was natural.

The house of the mighty; or, of the valiant; which possibly was formerly appointed for the receipt of those chief captains that should attend upon the king, their courses, or of some other valiant commanders who should upon occasion resort to Jerusalem.

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

16. Over against the sepulchres of David — David and most of his sons who reigned after him were buried “in the city of David.” 1Ki_2:10; 1Ki_14:31; 1Ki_15:8; 1 Kings 24:22, 1 Kings 24:50. The site of this royal sepulchre is not known, but an uncertain tradition associates it with an ancient church on Zion, now known as the mosque of the tomb of David. The sepulchres being “in the city of David,” must have been somewhere on Zion, and hence we may infer that the repairs of the Nehemiah of this verse were upon a wall that ran northward along the eastern brow of Zion, and was one of the “two walls” mentioned in 2Ki_25:4, and Isa_22:11.

The pool that was made — Not the pool of Hezekiah, (2Ki_20:20,) for that was near the northwest corner of the city; nor the pool of Siloam, for this could hardly be referred to in this manner after the mention of it in Neh_3:15; nor the king’s pool, for that was not opposite or near to David’s sepulchre; but probably the “ditch [Hebrew, reservoir] between the two walls” mentioned in Isa_22:11.

House of the mighty — Probably a tower or small castle built on the wall, and formerly used as the station and headquarters of the king’s mighty men — such, for instance, as were David’s pride. Compare 2Sa_23:8.

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

Nehemiah the son of Azbuk. Not the writer, who was "the son of Hachaliah", (Neh_1:1) but another person of the same name. It was the frequent bearing of the same name by two or more contemporaries which made it necessary to designate men generally by their own names and the names of their fathers. Bethzur ("House of the Rock") is now Beit-Sur, and lies on the ordinary route from Jerusalem to Hebron, about fifteen miles south of Jerusalem. It is mentioned in Jos_15:58 among the cities of Judah, and appears to have become a place of considerable importance under the Maccabees. (RAPC 1Ma 4:29 6:31-50 14:7; etc.) The sepulchres of David and the kings, his descendants, to the time of Hezekiah, were excavated in the rock upon which the temple stood, (Eze_43:7-9) apparently on its western side. They have not hitherto been discovered. Here too was the pool that was made by Hezekiah when he was about to be besieged by Sennacherib. (2Ch_32:30 Isa_22:9-11) The house of the mighty the Gibborim, or "mighty men of David (2Sa_23:8 1Ch_11:10) is not elsewhere mentioned. It was no doubt the barrack where, according to tradition, David had quartered his best troops.

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

Made - By Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx, 20. Whereby it is distinguished from that pool which was natural. Mighty - Or, of the valiant: which possibly was formerly appointed for the receipt of those chief captains that should attend upon the king in their courses.

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

Nehemiah ... Azbuk ... Rehum ... Bani ... Hashabiah

These are names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

Nehemiah son of Azbuk, the ruler

Nehemiah was the ruler, not Azbuk.

Nehemiah

This is a different man named Nehemiah from the person who authored this book.

ruler

leader or chief administrator. See how you translated this in Nehemiah 3:9.

half the district

"Half" means one part out of two equal parts. (See: Fractions)

Beth Zur ... Keilah

These are names of places. (See: How to Translate Names)

repaired to the place ... Levites repaired

These phrases refer to repairing the wall. AT: "repaired the wall up to the place ... Levites repaired the wall" (See: Ellipsis)

mighty men

"warriors"

for his district

"representing his district" or "on behalf of his district"

translationWords

son

grave

David

house

might

Levi

rule

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

Beth Zur the name of a place.

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.