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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 12:39And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.
- Jer 31:38Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
- John 5:2Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
- Zech 14:10All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
- Prov 3:9Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
- Neh 3:32And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.
- Neh 13:28And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.
- Neh 12:30And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
- Prov 3:6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
- Ps 30:1I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
- Neh 7:1Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
- Neh 3:20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
- Neh 6:1Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
- Deut 20:5And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
- Neh 12:10And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat 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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