Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 3:16
After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, unto [the place] over against the sepulchers of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.
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.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. the sepulchres of David, and tothe pool that was made, and unto the house of the mightythatis, along the precipitous cliffs of Zion [BARCLAY].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur. A strong fortified place in the tribe of Judah,
Jos 15:58,
unto the place over against the sepulchres of David; where he and his family, and the kings of his race, were buried, which remained to this time untouched by the Babylonians, and to many ages after; see Ac 2:29
and to the pool that was made; not a natural, but an artificial one, which was made by Hezekiah, 2Ki 20:20,
and unto the house of the mighty; where was a garrison of soldiers in former time for defence.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 , after him, instead of , 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 2Ch 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. 2Ch 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 1Sa 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 , 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.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(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 Davids elect troops (1Ch. 11:10).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, up to the place over against the sepulchres of David, and up to the pool that was made (or the artificial pool, i.e. man-made), and up to the house of the mighty men (warriors).’
From now on we have ‘after him’ (Neh 3:16-31) in contrast with ‘next to him’ (Neh 3:2-12). But see Neh 3:17; Neh 3:19. ‘Next to him’ is used mainly on the northern and western wall, ‘after him’ on the eastern wall, with neither being used going round the southernmost point from the Valley Gate to the Fountain Gate. This may simply be for literary reasons.
This is a general description of the section repaired by Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, who was ruler of the half district of Beth-zur. Here we have one of two other Nehemiahs (compare Neh 7:7; Ezr 2:2). He was clearly a man of importance. Beth-zur was six kilometres (four miles) north of Hebron, identified as the mound of Khirbet et-Tubeiqah. Occupied and fortified by the Hyksos, it was destroyed by the Egyptians and left deserted and it was thus not mentioned by Joshua. But shortly thereafter it was rebuilt and became a flourishing Israelite city. It was occupied throughout the monarchy but suffered at the hands of the Babylonians and was mainly abandoned until being occupied by the returnees. This Nehemiah was ruler of half of the district around Beth-zur.
The section of the wall repaired by this Nehemiah and his helpers is identified by three apparently well known landmarks (although sadly not known to us), the sepulchres of David, the Man-made Pool, and the House of the Mighty Men/warriors. Many see it as a wholly new section of the wall, built higher up the slope because the wall at this point had been so thoroughly demolished that its rubble made building on the old line impossible. Compare how Nehemiah had been hindered in his examination of the wall at this point, being unable to pass along because of the rubble (Neh 2:14-15). This claim gains some support from archaeology.
The sepulchres of David (compare 2Ch 32:33) are unidentified. David was ‘buried in (by) the city of David’ (1Ki 2:10) a description which places the sepulchres in this part of Jerusalem, the ‘city of David’ being the ancient Jebusite fortress (which was inside the walls at this time but was outside the walls existing in the time of Jesus and the present walls). But whether the sepulchres were within the walls, or on the slopes outside we cannot be sure. Long, horizontal tunnels have been discovered in the area, but they may have had other uses, and some would argue that Semitic practise, and especially Israelite practise, is against the sepulchres being within the actual city. Such would render it ‘unclean’. Josephus tells us that they were plundered by the Hasmoneans and by Herod. Then they were desecrated and destroyed in the time of Bar Kochba, being thereafter lost to sight. Other identifications can be rejected. They are in the wrong area.
Unless ‘the Man-made Pool’ was the King’s Pool we have no way of identifying it, whilst the situation of ‘the house of the Mighty Men’ (the Barracks) is unknown. It may have originally been utilised by David’s mighty men (2Sa 23:8 ff.).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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
And unto the house of the mighty
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 3:16-27
16After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men. 17After him the Levites carried out repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. 18After him their brothers carried out repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, official of the other half of the district of Keilah. 19Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory at the Angle. 20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section, from the doorway of Eliashib’s house even as far as the end of his house. 22After him the priests, the men of the valley, carried out repairs. 23After them Benjamin and Hasshub carried out repairs in front of their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, carried out repairs beside his house. 24After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as the Angle and as far as the corner. 25Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26The temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.
Neh 3:16 Beth-zur This (BDB 112 & 813) means the house of rock, and it was located fifteen miles south of Jerusalem.
a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as the Artificial Pool, and the House of the Mighty Men Since the tombs of David is plural, it must refer to his family’s burial tomb(s). The modern location on Mt. Zion is not original. The location of the house of the mighty men is uncertain. This may refer to quarters of an elite group of men of David’s army (cf. 2Sa 23:8-39; 1Ch 11:10), also known as the royal body guard (cf. 1Ki 1:8; 1Ki 1:10; 1Ch 29:24).
The Artificial Pool was created by Hezekiah (cf. 2Ki 20:20; Neh 2:14). It served as a source of water under the city’s wall in case of siege.
Neh 3:17 the Levites The construction and repair referred to is on the southern part of the new city wall. Why Levites would be involved this far from the temple area is uncertain. It probably was the area of their homes (cf. Neh 3:20-22).
Keilah This was a village eighteen miles south/southwest of Jerusalem in the Philistine coastal plain (cf. Jos 15:44).
Neh 3:18 Bavvai the son of Henadad This is not a Hebrew name. It may be a copyist’s corruption of Binnui, son of Henadad of Neh 3:24 and the Peshitta.
Neh 3:19; Neh 3:24 at the Angle This turn in the walls of Jerusalem is also mentioned in Neh 3:24-25, and 2Ch 26:9. It was close to the palace (cf. Neh 3:25; IDB, vol. 1, p. 137). Apparently it ran from Gihon spring to the armory (ZPBE, vol. 1, p. 168). The wall was straight so the term must refer to something on the inside like the corner of a building or open court.
Neh 3:20 Zabbai This is how the MT writes this name, but the note says, read as Zakkai, which is followed by the Peshitta, the Vulgate, and a few Hebrew manuscripts.
zealously repaired The term translated zealously (from the root to burn) is unusual because it occurs only here in this list. Was he the only zealous worker? The PRONOUN him and the ADJECTIVE are spelled almost exactly alike. The BDB (354 thinks it is a copyist’s error [dittography]). This ADJECTIVE is missing in the Septuagint.
to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest This begins a series of new geographical locations which are connected with personal houses. Many assume that at this point the wall began its new direction along the eastern ridge.
Neh 3:22
NASBthe priests, the men of the valley
NKJV, Peshittathe priests, the men of the plain
NRSVthe priests, the men of the surrounding area
TEVpriests from the area around Jerusalem
NJBthe priests who lived in the district
LXXthe priests, the men of Ecchechar
The memories of the siege of Jerusalem had been passed down through the families who survived. No one wanted to live in the rebuilt city (cf. Neh 11:1-2). These priests who repaired this section lived in the surrounding area.
The term valley is literally the circle (BDB 503), but here is used in a specialized sense of a plain or lowland.
Neh 3:25 the court of the guard If this is the same location mentioned in Jer 32:2 it was associated with the palace.
Neh 3:26 the temple servants See note at Ezr 2:43.
Ophel this term (BDB 779 I) refers to a filled area on the east between Mt. Zion and Mt. Moriah (cf. 2Ch 27:3; 2Ch 33:14; Isa 32:14; Mic 4:8).
Water Gate The gate on the eastern wall, where the people met to hear Ezra read the law of God (cf. Neh 8:1-8).
Neh 3:27 the Tekoites See note at Neh 3:5.
the great projecting tower Apparently, there were two towers by the Water Gate, one noticeably larger.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Beth-zur. Now Beit Sur, about four miles north of Hebron.
the sepulchres of David. These therefore were in Zion, and include those of his descendants.
pool. See 2Ki 20:20.
mighty = mighty men. Hebrew, plural of gibbor. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the ruler: Neh 3:9, Neh 3:12, Neh 3:14
Bethzur: Jos 15:58, 1Ch 2:45, 2Ch 11:7
the sepulchres: 2Ch 16:14, Act 2:29
the pool: 2Ki 20:20, Isa 7:3, Isa 22:11
the house: 1Ki 14:27, 1Ki 14:28, 2Ch 12:10, 2Ch 12:11, Son 3:7
Reciprocal: Neh 3:17 – the ruler Neh 12:37 – the fountain gate