Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
- BSB Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;
- NKJV Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.
- NASB Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.
- NLT Then I went to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but my donkey couldn’t get through the rubble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He continues to the spring gate and king's pool, but the rubble is so great his animal cannot pass. The scale of devastation is vividly clear.
Overview
As Nehemiah presses on, the debris blocks even his mount, illustrating how thoroughly the city had been destroyed. The detail conveys the enormity of the rebuilding challenge ahead. Yet the very obstacles he surveys become the canvas on which God will display His restoring power through committed laborers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Neh 3:15But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.
- 2 Kgs 20:20And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
- 2 Chr 32:30This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
- 2 Kgs 18:17And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.