NEHEMIAH 3 — THE WORKERS ON THE WALL

This chapter reads like a work assignment list, and it is probably drawn from an official record kept by Nehemiah. It names about forty-two work groups and ten gates, in a clockwise or counterclockwise circuit that begins and ends at the Sheep Gate in the north-east of the city. The language of the chapter is repetitive, using the phrases next to him and after him again and again, which gives the sense of a continuous line of workers. The structure shows several principles: shared responsibility, each person working near his own home, and the integration of different classes and professions. Archaeological work in Jerusalem has uncovered stretches of the wall on the eastern ridge and traces of gates that fit the general description, though the exact identification of some gates and towers is debated. The wall that Nehemiah rebuilt followed a smaller circuit than the earlier city, because the population of the returned community was small.

Archaeological work has identified several features that match this chapter. The Broad Wall in the Jewish Quarter dates to the late eighth century BC and is about seven meters thick. A stepped stone structure in the City of David may correspond to the stairs mentioned in verse 15. Excavations on the eastern ridge by Kathleen Kenyon, Yigal Shiloh, and Eilat Mazar have uncovered remains of the wall that some date to the Persian period. The contraction of the city in the Persian period to the eastern ridge, with a narrow wall, is supported by the archaeological evidence of a small settlement at that time. The names of the families in the list are consistent with those in the lists of Ezra, which suggests historical consistency. Seal impressions from the Persian period have been found in Jerusalem that bear names and titles of the period. The work was completed in fifty-two days (6:15), a rapid pace that is plausible given the organization described here, in which each group worked on its own section simultaneously.