Nehemiah 3:4

Neh 3:4 And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.

Ver. 4. Meshullam the son of Berechiah] This Meshullam was one of those men of understanding and made use of by Ezra, Ezr 8:16.

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.

3:4 Meremoth: See Ezra 8:33. • Meshullam had given his daughter in marriage to a son of Tobiah (Neh 6:18; see also 10:20).

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

(4) Repaired.—Literally, strengthened; as before it was built.

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

4. repaired] Literally ‘made strong.’ The word in the Hebrew is used of ‘calking’ a ship in Eze_27:9; Eze_27:27. In this chapter it is used of making good the defects and filling up the breaches in the wall. In Neh_3:19 the same verb is used with a different shade of meaning.

Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Koz] R.V. Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. The children of Hakkoz are mentioned in Ezr_2:61.

We hear of a further piece of restoration undertaken by this Meremoth in Neh_3:21.

Meshullam … Meshezabeel] R.V. Meshezabel. Meshullam the son of Berechiah appears from Neh_6:18 to have been one of the leading nobles, but, like Eliashib the high-priest, though he cooperated in the restoration of the walls, to have been also a close ally of Tobiah, whose son, Jehohanan, married Meshullam’s daughter. He was therefore probably opposed to Nehemiah in general policy.

The identity of name with one of the sons of Zerubbabel (1Ch_3:19) suggests the possibility that this noble was of David’s line and that connexion with the royal family may have been a successful piece in the diplomacy of Tobiah.

Zadok the son of Baana] This may be the same as the Baanah who came up with Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:2; Neh_7:7; Neh_10:27).

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 next unto them repaired Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Koz,.... And the men under him; see Ezr 8:33, this part of the wall on which they worked was not wholly demolished, only weakened, and therefore did not rebuild it, but repaired and strengthened it, and this phrase is used all along afterwards:

and next unto them repaired Meshullam, the sort of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel: and next unto them repaired Zadok, the son of Baana; but who they were cannot be said.

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

Repaired, to wit, the demolished or decayed wall, there being no gate in this part. And so in the rest which follow.

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

The son of Koz. Rather "the son of Hakkoz." Meshullam the son of Berechiah is mentioned again in Neh_6:18.

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

Next to these, Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Hakkoz, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, Zadok the son of Baana, and the Tekoites, repaired in the above order, each a portion of wall. החזיק, to strengthen, means here to repair the gaps and holes in the wall; comp. Neh 3:9, Neh 3:27. Meremoth ben Urijah repaired, according to Neh 3:21, another portion besides. Meshullam ben Berechiah was, according to Neh 6:18, a person of consideration in Jerusalem. The men of Tekoa, who do not occur among those who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2), also repaired a second portion. "But their nobles brought not their neck to the service of their Lord." The expression "to bring the neck to service" is, according to Jer 27:11, to be understood as meaning: to bring the neck under the yoke of any one, i.e., to subject oneself to the service of another. צוּרם stands for צוּארם. It is questionable whether אדניהם is to be taken as the plural of excellence, and understood of God, as in Deu 10:17; Psa 135:3; Mal 1:6; or of earthly lords or rulers, as in Gen 40:1; Sa2 10:3; Kg1 12:27. The former view seems to us decidedly correct, for it cannot be discerned how the suffix should (according to Bertheau's opinion) prevent our thinking of the service of God, if the repairing of the wall of Jerusalem may be regarded as a service required by God and rendered to Him. Besides, the fact that אדנים is only used of kings, and is inapplicable whether to the authorities in Jerusalem or to Nehemiah, speaks against referring it to secular rulers or authorities.

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.)

repaired Heb. הֶחְֱזִיק, [lit. strengthened,] to build the building.

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.