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.
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.
- 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.
- 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 above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even to the sheep gate: and they stood still in the gate of the guard.
- Jer 31:38“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
- John 5:2Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches.
- Zech 14:10All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.
- Prov 3:9Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase:
- Neh 3:32Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
- Neh 13:28One 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 12:30The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and 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. By David. I will extol you, Yahweh, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.
- Neh 7:1Now 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 another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
- Neh 6:1Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates)
- Deut 20:5The officers shall speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
- Neh 12:10Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became 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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