Bible Strands
Nehemiah 12:39
over 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah narrates the second thanksgiving choir's procession along the top of the wall, moving past specific landmarks before halting at the Gate of the Guard. This movement follows the leftward route established in Nehemiah 12:38 and precedes the group's assembly in the house of God in Nehemiah 12:40.
The words — וּ/מֵ/עַ֣ל (u./me./'Al, H5921) literally means "and from/over," and שַׁ֣עַר (Sha'ar, H8179) means "gate." These terms function as geographical markers tracking the exact path the procession takes along the wall.
The thread — The route passes through locations previously detailed during the wall's reconstruction in Nehemiah 3:1, 3:3, and 3:6. The text links the physical restoration of the city's defenses to the organized movement of the community back to the temple.
Why it lands — The text records a precise geographic itinerary to demonstrate the completeness of the wall's rebuilding and the orderly conduct of the dedication. It requires the reader to see how restored boundaries facilitate the structured return of worship.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And 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.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 3:1 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.
- Nehemiah 3:3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
- Nehemiah 3:6 The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
- Nehemiah 8:16 And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.
- Nehemiah 3:25 and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh
- 2 Kings 14:13 There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.
- Nehemiah 3:31 Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above the corner.
- Jeremiah 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.
- Jeremiah 32:2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
- Zephaniah 1:10 On that day,” declares the LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.