Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the commencement of Jerusalem’s wall reconstruction at the Sheep Gate, listing Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests as the initial laborers. This account follows the post-exilic return and marks the official start of the city’s fortification project.
The words — וַיָּקָם (va/yi.qom) translates to "and he arose," denoting the priest’s active initiation of the task. וַיִּבְנוּ (va/yi.vnu) means "and they rebuilt," specifying the concrete action undertaken by the priestly group.
The thread — The Sheep Gate and Tower of Hananel reappear in Nehemiah 12:39 during a procession, Jeremiah 31:38 as boundary markers for future restoration, and John 5:2 as the location of a healing pool near Jerusalem.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that communal restoration begins with designated leaders taking responsibility at a specific point. It requires readers to identify their own starting positions and execute concrete work rather than awaiting completion.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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.
- John 5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
- Zechariah 14:10 All 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.
- Nehemiah 3:32 And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
- Nehemiah 13:28 Even 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.
- Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
- Nehemiah 3:20 Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
- Nehemiah 6:1 When 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—
- Nehemiah 7:1 When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.