At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up its doors. They sanctified it even to the tower of Hammeah, to the tower of Hananel.
- KJV Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.
- NKJV Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.
- NASB Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and installed its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.
- NLT Then Eliashib the high priest and the other priests started to rebuild at the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, building the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and the Tower of Hananel.
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
The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests begin the rebuilding with the sheep gate, which they consecrate. The spiritual leaders set the example, and the work is dedicated to God.
Overview
The detailed building register opens fittingly with the high priest and priests, who not only build but "sanctify" the sheep gate and tower section, setting the work apart as holy. The sheep gate, near where sacrificial animals entered, carries fitting symbolism for priestly labor. That God's work begins with spiritual leaders consecrating it teaches that restoration is a sacred undertaking, devoted to the Lord from the start.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Neh 12:39over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
- Jer 31:38“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
- John 5:2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
- Zech 14:10All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.
- Prov 3:9Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Neh 3:32And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
- Neh 13:28Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.
- Neh 12:30After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
- Prov 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Ps 30:1A Psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will exalt You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up and have not allowed my foes to rejoice over me.
- Neh 7:1When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.
- Neh 3:20Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
- Neh 6:1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—
- Deut 20:5Furthermore, the officers are to address the army, saying, “Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it.
- Neh 12:10Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada,
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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 3:1 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
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