Nehemiah 3:32

Neh 3:32 And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.

Ver. 32. Unto the sheep gate] Here they began and here they end, having repaired round, and thereby obtained a good report, being here registered and renowned. Those that have a hand in building the spiritual Jerusalem shall be surely crowned and chronicled. Their names shall be written in the book of life, where no devil can scrape them out. Up, therefore, and be doing worthily in Ephratah, that ye may be famous in Bethlehem, Rth 4:11. "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, shall be eternal life," Rom 2:7.

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 3:32. The going up unto the sheep-gate — There they began, and there they ended, which shows that they left not off till they had compassed the whole city with a wall. No man can think, (as Pellicanus observes,) that the names of them who repaired the walls of Jerusalem were set down so diligently as here they are, without some rational cause for it. And the reason was, because it was a work of great virtue, to love and to do honour to their country; a work of piety, to restore the holy city; a religious conduct, to defend the true worshippers of God, that they might serve him in quietness and safety; and a courageous behaviour, in the midst of so many enemies, to go on with this work in a pious confidence of the power of God to support them. The names, therefore, of such persons deserved to be preserved and transmitted to future generations, as a most noble example to them.

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

Verse 32. The goldsmiths and the merchants.] The word הצרפים hatstsorephim may signify smiths, or persons who worked in metals of any kind; but it is generally understood to mean those who worked in gold. I have already observed, that the mention of merchants and goldsmiths shows that these persons were formed into bodies corporate in those ancient times. But these terms are differently rendered in the versions. The Vulgate is the same as ours, which probably our translators copied: aurifices et negociatores. The Syriac is, goldsmiths and druggists. The Arabic, smelters of metal and porters. The Septuagint, in some copies, particularly in the Roman edition, and in the Complutensian, Antwerp, and Paris Polyglots, have οἱ χαλκεις και οἱ μεταβολι, smiths and merchants; but in other copies, particularly the London Polyglot, for μεταβολοι we find ρωποπωλαι seller of shields. And here the learned reader will find a double mistake in the London Polyglot, ῥοποπωλαι for ῥωποπωλαι, and in the Latin version scruta for scuta, neither of which conveys any sense.

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

(32) Unto the sheep gate.—It appears that the “goldsmiths and the merchants” undertook the small space necessary to complete the circuit.

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

32. the going up, &c.] see Neh_3:31.

unto the sheep gate] R.V. and the sheep gate. This was the starting place of the description (Neh_3:1).

the goldsmiths] see Neh_3:8-31.

the merchants] see Neh_3:31.

The proximity of their work of restoration suggests that both goldsmiths and merchants represented communities largely and closely interested in the transactions connected with Temple offerings. For, apart from the supply and repair of vessels, furniture, and dress, required for the daily ministration, the dedication of precious things would create a constant traffic close to the Temple. The merchants would establish themselves at the main approaches to the Temple and expose their wares to the throngs of worshippers and sacrificers who collected about this spot.

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.

32. The corner unto the sheep gate — That is, from the southeast corner of the outer wall northward to the point whence the writer’s description started. Neh_3:1. Thus the description of the rebuilding of the walls has passed entirely round the city, and also noticed the repairing of inner walls which separated one part of the city from the other. The last section was repaired by the goldsmiths and the merchants, probably because they had their dwellings and business in this quarter of the city.

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

Unto the sheep gate. Compare ver. 1. The circuit is completed, and the point reached from which the commencement was made. The goldsmiths and the merchants were required to repair the piece of wall immediately to the south of the sheep gate, for which no individual had volunteered. Probably they had houses in the neighbourhood. They consented; and thus the entire wall was taken in hand, and the great work, which Nehemiah had conceived in his heart while still in Susa, was inaugurated.

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

And between the ascent to the tower and the Sheep Gate At the beginning of the building they began to build the Sheep Gate, as it says (verse 1): “...and they built the Sheep Gate, etc.” So did they build the wall all around, one after the other.

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.