Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 3:26
Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.
26. Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel lieth out ] R.V. ( Now the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel standeth out). The parenthesis probably includes the whole verse. We prefer the R.V. translation to that of the margin of the R.V., which limits the parenthesis to the first clause, and connects the second clause with the previous verse.
(1) The omission of the verb at the close of Neh 3:25 creates no real difficulty; for we have had a similar omission at the beginning of the verse.
(2) We should not expect that a parenthetical clause relating to the dwellingplace of the Nethinim would, in the midst of so much detailed topography, describe it in such brief and general terms as ‘in Ophel.’ (In Neh 11:21, where the same words occur, they are possibly based on this passage.)
(3) The reference to ‘the tower that standeth out’ is an allusion to the same tower as that mentioned in the previous verse. The parenthesis seems to be introduced in order to connect the dwelling of the Nethinim with the tower just spoken of.
(4) Neh 3:27 opens with (R.V.) ‘After him:’ and although in view of Neh 3:2 ; Neh 3:23 ; Neh 3:29 this is not conclusive, it certainly favours the R.V. treatment of the parenthesis.
in Ophel ] This may possibly mean on the brow of the Ophel hill to the east of the Temple. The wall of ‘Ophel’ was built on by Jotham (2Ch 27:3). And the ‘hill’ was surrounded by a wall in Manasseh’s reign, 2Ch 33:14. ‘Ophel’ means ‘a mound,’ and was the name applied to the S. continuance of the Temple hill.
over against the water gate toward the east ] Between the Temple and the water gate there seems to have been a large open space in which the people could assemble (see Neh 8:1; Neh 8:3; Neh 8:16, Neh 12:37; Neh 12:39; Ezr 10:9). The houses of the Nethinim approached or abutted on the city wall at this point.
The ‘water gate’ was obviously so called because the path leading from the spring of Gihon, the Virgin’s Spring, entered the city here. Water-carriers passing in and out gave the gate its name. On Gihon, cf. 1Ki 1:33; 1Ki 1:38. It is “the one spring of Jerusalem, known as the Virgin’s Fountain to Christians, and as ‘the Mother of Steps’ to Moslems, because of the steps which lead down into the vault from the present surface of the valley” (Conder’s Palestine, p. 26).
From here the wall led northward or north-eastward to ‘the corner’ ( Neh 3:31).
the tower that lieth out ] Probably the same as that mentioned in Neh 3:25. Perhaps the tower was intended especially to protect ‘the water gate,’ in connexion with which it is here mentioned.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Dwelt in Ophel, or, who dwelt in Ophel; for this seems to be only a description of the persons, whose work follows.
The water-gate; so called because by that gate water was brought in, either by the people for the use of that part of the city, or rather by these Nethinims, who were Gibeonites, for the uses of the temple, for which they were drawers of water, Jos 9:21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. the NethinimsNot only thepriests and the Levites, but the common persons that belonged to thehouse of God, contributed to the work. The names of those whorepaired the walls of Jerusalem are commemorated because it was awork of piety and patriotism to repair the holy city. It was aninstance of religion and courage to defend the true worshippers ofGod, that they might serve Him in quietness and safety, and, in themidst of so many enemies, go on with this work, piously confiding inthe power of God to support them [BISHOPPATRICK].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moreover, the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel,…. An high tower upon the wait, in this part of it, see 2Ch 27:3, these were servants to the Levites, and repaired here, where their dwellings were:
unto the place over against the water gate toward the east: and as one part of their work was to fetch water for the temple, they were here very properly situated; it led to the king’s garden, the valley of Jehoshaphat, and from thence a plain way to Bethany:
and the tower that lieth out; from the wall.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Having now reached the place where the wall encloses Ophel, a remark is inserted, Neh 3:26, on the dwellings of Nethinim, i.e., of the temple servants. The Nethinim dwelt in Ophel as far as (the place) before the water-gate toward the east, and the tower that standeth out. still depends upon . The water-gate towards the east, judging from Neh 12:37, lay beyond the south-eastern corner of the temple area. Bertheau, reasoning upon the view that the open space of the house of God, where Ezra spoke to the assembled people (Ezr 10:9), is identical with the open place before the water-gate mentioned Neh 8:1, Neh 8:3, Neh 8:16, places it on the east side of the temple area, near where the golden gate ( Rab er Rahme) now stands. This identity, however, cannot be proved; and even if it could, it would by no means follow that this open space lay on the east side of the temple area. And as little does it follow from Neh 12:37, as we shall show when we reach this passage. is said by Bertheau to have belonged perhaps to the water-gate towards the east, since, by reason of the statements contained in Neh 3:31 and Neh 3:32, we must not seek it so far northwards on the east side of the temple area, as to combine it with the remains of a tower projecting seven and a half feet from the line of wall at the north-east corner, and described by Robinson ( Biblical Researches, p. 226). But even if the tower in question must not be identified with these remains, it by no means follows that it stood in the neighbourhood of the golden gate. Even Arnold, in his work already cited, p. 636, remarks, in opposition to Bertheau’s view, that “it is evident from the whole statement that the tower standing out from the king’s house, in Neh 3:25, Neh 3:26, and Neh 3:27, is one and the same, and that Bertheau’s view of our having here three separate towers can hardly be maintained,” although he, as well as Bertheau, transposes both the king’s house and the court of the prison to the south of the Temple area. The similar appellation of this tower as in the three verses speaks so decidedly for its identity, that very forcible reasons must be adduced before the opposite view can be adopted. In Neh 3:26 it is not a locality near the water-gate in the east which is indicted by , but the western boundary of the dwellings of the Nethinim lying opposite. They dwelt, that is, upon Ophel, southwards of the temple area, on a tract of land reaching from the water-gate in the east to opposite the outstanding tower of the royal citadel in the west, i.e., from the eastern slope of the ridge of Ophel down to the Tyropoean valley.
Neh 3:27 After them the Tekoites repaired a second piece from opposite the great tower that standeth out to the wall of Ophel. The great (high) tower of the king’s house within the city wall being some distance removed therefrom, the portion of wall on the eastern ridge of Zion from south to north, reaching as far as the turning and the corner, and the commencement of the wall running from this corner eastwards, might both be designated as lying opposite to this tower. The portion mentioned in our verse passed along the Tyropoean valley as far as the wall of Ophel. King Jotham had built much on the wall of Ophel (2Ch 27:3); and Manasseh had surrounded Ophel with a very high wall (2Ch 33:14), i.e., carried the wall round its western, southern, and eastern sides. On the north no wall was needed, Ophel being protected on this side by the southern wall of the temple area.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(26) The Nethinims dwelt in Ophel.It has been proposed to insert who before dwelt (following the Syriac); but this is not necessary. Ophel was the long rounded spur running out south of the Temple, on the sides of which the ancient temple servants still dwelt, separated from others, on a tract of land reaching from the water-gate toward the east to the outlying tower of the kings citadel in the west. Nothing is said of their part in the general labour.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Dwelt in Ophel Ophel is the name of the sloping ridge that runs down, south of the temple area, between the mouth of the Tyropoeon and the valley of Kedron, and ends in a rocky bluff just above the pool of Siloam. The water gate toward the east is an expression so obscure as to baffle any plausible conjecture as to its locality. According to chap. 8. 1, 3. it faced the street in which the people assembled to hear the law read and expounded, and hence could not well have been a gate in the outer wall of the city, near the present golden gate, as Bertheau thinks. The mention again of the tower that lieth out, leads rather to the opinion that the water gate was also in the vicinity of the bridge over the Tyropoeon, perhaps in the western wall of the temple area.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 3:26 Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.
Ver. 26. Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel ] Of Nethinims see Ezr 2:43 . Their work was to carry wood and water to the Temple; therefore they dwelt near the water gate, for their own convenience.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Moreover. Note the Parenthesis of Neh 3:26.
Nethinims. Their work was to carry wood and water for the Temple. Hence their dwelling. See note on Ezr 2:43.
Ophel = the Ophel: the hill south of Moriah. Formerly Jebus, afterward Zion. See App-68. the water gate. By Gihon. Now ‘Ain Umm ed Deraj, “the Virgin’s Fount”. On east side of Ophel, in Kedron valley. See App-59and App-68.
that lieth out. Probably the “tower in Siloam”, Luk 13:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Nethinims
i.e. dedicated (persons), probably descendants of the Gibeonites 2Sa 21:1-3 devoted to the service of the Levites. But see Jos 9:17-21.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Nethinims: Neh 7:46-56, Neh 10:28, 1Ch 9:2, Ezr 2:43-58
dwelt: etc. or, which dwelt in Ophel, repaired unto
Ophel: or, the tower. Neh 3:27, Neh 11:21, 2Ch 27:3, 2Ch 33:14
the water: The water gate is supposed to have been that by which the Nethinim brought in water for the use of the temple. Neh 8:1, Neh 8:3, Neh 12:37
Reciprocal: Ezr 2:58 – Nethinims Neh 8:16 – the street of the water gate
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 3:26. The Nethinims dwelt in Ophel Or, who dwelt in Ophel. For this seems to be only a description of the persons whose work follows. Not only the priests and Levites, but the meanest persons that belonged to the house of God, inferior officers, contributed to this work. Over against the water-gate So called, because by that gate water was brought in, either by the people, for the use of that part of the city, or rather, by these Nethinims, who were Gibeonites, for the uses of the temple, for which they were drawers of water, Jos 9:21.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:26 Moreover the {f} Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.
(f) Read Ezr 2:43.