Nehemiah Chapter 3    

“the wall.” The Hebrew text reads “it,” but that refers to the wall going away from the gate.

“bars.” The “bars” were strong wooden beams that were placed behind the doors so they could not be opened and could withstand pounding from the outside without giving way. Those bars were the origin of the shout “Bar the doors!” when an enemy would approach.

“put their necks to the work.” This idiomatic language compares people to oxen, who put their neck in the yoke so they can do work. If an ox will not take a yoke, it will not work, and that is the image here. The nobles considered themselves above the work, and perhaps did not even support it at all, so they refused to work.

“lords.” The Hebrew is plural, “lords.” Many scholars think this is the plural of majesty, and the “lord” is Nehemiah, which is why a number of versions read “lord” (cp. CJB; ESV; JPS; KJV), and that may be true. However, since the Hebrew is plural, it is at least as possible that it refers to all the “supervisors,” or even the work of God via Nehemiah and his officers.

“beyond the River.” The “River” is the Euphrates. The governor of the Persian province on the other side of the Euphrates, hundreds of miles away, had a residence in Jerusalem. It was very common for powerful people in an empire as large as Persia to have palaces in many major cities, and for kings to have palaces in many cities of their realm. King Herod, for example, had palaces in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Jericho, as well as outside Bethlehem (the Herodian) and in the Judean Wilderness (Masada).

“Broad Wall.” The Broad Wall is a wall that King Hezekiah built to defend Jerusalem from the Assyrians. Today a part of it can be seen in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The archaeologist Nahman Avigad uncovered about 70 yards (about 65 meters) of the Broad Wall in the 1970s. The wall is over 21 feet wide (7 meters) in some places, so we can see why the ancients referred to it as “the Broad Wall.” Although it would have been much taller in biblical times, the archaeological remains are just over 10 feet high (3.3 meters). The Broad Wall is mentioned here in Nehemiah and is likely included as part of the fortification of the “wall” of Jerusalem (Isa. 22:10).

“1,000 cubits.” Scholars estimate that a standard cubit was about 18 inches, so 1,000 cubits would be 1,500 feet (500 yards or 457 meters).