Nehemiah 3:6

Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) The old gate.—Not mentioned elsewhere: probably that of Damascus; but (by a conjectural addition to the text,) it has been translated the gate of the old wall, as if distinguished from “the broad wall.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:1-32 The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. - The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them, by which they may advance the good of their country. Even some females helped forward the work. Some repaired over against their houses, and one repaired over against his chamber. When a general good work is to be done, each should apply himself to that part which is within his reach. If every one will sweep before his own door, the street will be clean; if every one will mend one, we shall all be mended. Some that had first done helped their fellows. The walls of Jerusalem, in heaps of rubbish, represent the desperate state of the world around, while the number and malice of those who hindered the building, give some faint idea of the enemies we have to contend with, while executing the work of God. Every one must begin at home; for it is by getting the work of God advanced in our own souls that we shall best contribute to the good of the church of Christ. May the Lord thus stir up the hearts of his people, to lay aside their petty disputes, and to disregard their worldly interests, compared with building the walls of Jerusalem, and defending the cause of truth and godliness against the assaults of avowed enemies.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The old gate - Either the modern Damascus gate, the main entrance to the city on the north side; or a gate a little further eastward.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. next unto him builded the men of Jericho, &c.—The wall was divided into portions, one of which was assigned respectively to each of the great families which had returned from the captivity. This distribution, by which the building was carried on in all parts simultaneously with great energy, was eminently favorable to despatch. "The villages where the restorers resided being mostly mentioned, it will be seen that this circumstance affords a general indication of the part of the wall upon which they labored, such places being on that side of the city nearest their place of abode; the only apparent exception being, perhaps, where they repaired more than their piece. Having completed their first undertaking (if they worked any more), there being no more work to be done on the side next their residence, or having arrived after the repairs on that part of the city nearest them under operation were completed, they would go wherever their services would be required" [Barclay, City of the Great King].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Moreover, the old gate repaired Jehoiada, the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah,.... Which some think was so called because it led to the old city Salem. Dr. Lightfoot (a) thinks it is the same with the second or third gate, Zephaniah 1:10. According to Vatablus, it was the gate of the old pool, Isaiah 22:11, or rather, perhaps, it was the gate of the old wall Josephus speaks of (b); it led to the north of the land:

they laid the beams thereof; as in Nehemiah 3:3.

(a) Ut supra. (Chorograph. Cent. of the Land of Israel, c. 26. p. 27. vol. 2.) (b) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2, 3.

Geneva Study Bible

Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. Moreover the old gate] R.V. And the old gate. Marg. ‘Or, the gate of the old city or, of the old wall.’ Literally rendered the words are ‘And the gate of the old,’ so that there is some uncertainty which word we should supply. From the mention of the same gate elsewhere (Nehemiah 12:39) we gather that it stood between the ‘fish gate’ and the ‘gate of Ephraim,’ and is possibly the same as the ‘corner gate’ (2 Kings 14:13) which Zechariah calls ‘the first gate’ (Zechariah 14:10). On the N. side the ground being more level the city would naturally extend itself in this direction. The gate possibly derived its name from being the entrance to the old city. Prof. Robertson Smith (Art. Jerusalem, Enc. Brit.) says: ‘For obvious engineering reasons the eminence at the N.W. of the Haram area must always have been a principal point in the fortifications, and here the old gate may very well have been placed.’ The ‘gate of the old wall’ is a less likely appellation. In one sense every gate that was restored was a gate of the old wall. If ‘the old wall’ was a part of an ancient or disused rampart, it would not have been a portion included in this description. When the fortifications coincided with an earlier and thicker wall, it was called ‘the broad wall’ (Nehemiah 3:8).

Jehoiada] R.V. Joiada.

they laid the beams, &c.] See on Nehemiah 3:3.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - The old gate must either have corresponded to the modern "Damascus gate" or have been in its near neighbourhood. It is not mentioned elsewhere. Nehemiah 3:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

From the gate of the old wall to the valley gate. - Nehemiah 3:6 הישׁנה שׁער does not mean the old gate, for הישׁנה is genitive. Schultz (Jerus. p. 90), Thenius, and Bertheau supply העיר, gate of the old town, and explain the name from the fact that Bezetha, the new town, already existed as a suburb or village in front of the gate, which was named after the contrast. To this Arnold rightly objects (in Herzog's Realencycl. xviii. p. 628) that it is by no means proved that there was at that time any contrast between the old and new towns, and as well as Hupfeld (die topograph. Streitfragen ber Jerus., in the morgenl. Zeitschrift, xv. p. 231) supplies חומה: gate of the old wall. He does not, however, derive this designation from the remark (vv. Nehemiah 3:8), "They fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall," as though this old wall received its name from having been left undestroyed by the Chaldeans, which is irreconcilable with the fact (4-8) that both the gate of the old wall and the portions of wall adjoining it on each side were now built, but understands the term "old wall" as used in contrast to the "broad wall," which had indeed been rebuilt after the destruction by Joash (2 Kings 14:13). This view we esteem to be correct. The individuals specified as the builders of this gate are not further known. That two principes were employed in the rebuilding of this gate is explained by Ramb. as arising vel quod penitus disturbata a Chaldaeis, vel quod magnis sumtibus reparanda fuit, quos unus princeps ferre non potuit.