Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 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.
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).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Repaired, to wit, the demolished or decayed wall, there being no gate in this part. And so in the rest which follow.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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. , 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. stands for . It is questionable whether 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; 2Sa 10:3; 1Ki 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 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.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(4) Repaired.Literally, strengthened; as before it was built.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz.’
The verb now changes from ‘rebuilt’ to ‘repaired, made strong’. This may indicate that in this section the walls were in a better state of preservation. But as it is also used of the building of new walls later in the chapter it is possibly simply a general term for building.
This important northern section was repaired under the oversight of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. It is probable that he is the same Meremoth, son of Uriah, son of Hazzoz, who is described as being in charge of a group of priestly builders in Neh 3:21 with regard to ‘a second portion’. Thus he was clearly seen as very reliable, having oversight over two portions. It has been suggested that Neh 3:17 may suggest that that Meremoth was a Levite, which might discount the connection, but that interpretation is not necessary.
One question is whether this Meremoth is to be identified with Meremoth the son of Uriah who was one of the treasurers to whom Ezra handed over the treasures that he had brought from Persia (Ezr 8:33). There he was called ‘the priest’, i.e. one of the chief priests. While that Meremoth is not also further called ‘the son of Hakkoz’ there is a good likelihood that the identity can be maintained, even though it be admitted that both names were popular ones. This would make Meremoth a very important man, and would serve to confirm the close association of the ministry of Ezra with the time of Nehemiah. The problem with this identification is that the sons of Hakkoz had not earlier been accepted as priests because they could not prove their genealogy (Ezr 2:62), but it is quite probable that by this time that had been remedied. In Neh 10:6 a Meremoth is listed as eleventh among the priests, but is seen as important enough to be called on as a sealant of the covenant of Nehemiah. This may well be the same Meremoth. In Neh 12:3 a Meremoth, (clearly not the same one), was one of the chiefs of the priests who had come up with Zerubbabel. This Meremoth the son of Uriah may have been his grandson.
Neh 3:4
‘And next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel.’
Meshullam was a very popular Jewish name. It appears that this Meshullam later gave his daughter to be wife of Jehohanan, the son of Tobiah, suggesting that, at least by that stage, he was favourably inclined towards Tobiah, who was an adversary of Nehemiah’s and opposed to the building of the wall (Neh 2:19). But however that may be, Meshullam here, along with his wider family, plays his full part in the building of the wall. His presence is, however, a reminder of the divisions which grew up among the descendants of the returnees as they continued to settle in the land (Neh 6:17-19). He was not the only one to be so involved. Many of the aristocracy became friendly with Tobiah and were in constant communication with him (Neh 6:17), reminding us that not all was straightforward for Nehemiah, even among the descendants of the returnees. But differences had to be set aside when the walls of Jerusalem had to be rebuilt.
Another Meshullam, son of Besodeia, helped to repair the gate of the old city (Neh 3:6) whilst even another ‘Meshullam, the son of Berechiah’, repaired a further part of the wall (Neh 3:30). This latter might be seen as identifiable with the one here, but as there is no mention of him as building ‘a second portion’ (contrast Neh 3:11; Neh 3:19-21; Neh 3:24; Neh 3:30), it may simply be a coincidence of names.
Neh 3:4
‘And next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.’
The next section was repaired under the supervision of Zadok ben-Baana. This was probably the same Zadok who was also one of the signatories to the covenant made with Nehemiah by the princes, priests and Levites of Israel (Neh 10:21), although the name was a admittedly very popular one. We do not know whether the Zadok mentioned in Neh 13:13 is identical with him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Meremoth: Neh 3:21, Neh 10:15
Urijah: Ezr 8:33, Uriah
Meshullam: Neh 10:7
Reciprocal: Neh 3:30 – Meshullam Neh 6:18 – Meshullam Neh 10:5 – Meremoth Neh 10:21 – Meshezabeel