Bible Strands
Nehemiah 3:5
Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Nehemiah records the Jerusalem wall reconstruction as labor shifts to a new section. The account places the Tekoites in the building sequence immediately after Meremoth, Meshullam, and Zadok complete their assignments.
The words — The text uses הֶחֱזִיקוּ (he.che.Zi.ku) to state the Tekoites made repairs, then contrasts this with לֹא הֵבִיאוּ צַוָּרָם (lo'- he.Vi.'u tza.va.Ra/m), literally noting the nobles did not bring their necks to the task.
The thread — The Tekoites appear again in Nehemiah 3:27 repairing a different wall section opposite the great tower. Tekoa is also identified in 2 Samuel 14:2 as the town from which Joab summons a wise woman.
Why it lands — The verse records that while common laborers from Tekoa worked on the wall, their own nobles refused to participate. It requires the reader to acknowledge that effective communal action demands leadership involvement, not merely delegation.
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 next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 3:27 And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.
- 2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- Judges 5:23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
- Jeremiah 5:4 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
- Jeremiah 27:2 This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
- Jeremiah 27:8 As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.
- Jeremiah 27:12 And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
- Jeremiah 30:8 On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds, and no longer will strangers enslave them.
- Amos 1:1 These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
- Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.