Nehemiah 3:29

After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(29) Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah.—The name in 1Chronicles 3:22 of a descendant of David.

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 horse gate" was on the east side of the city, overlooking the Kidron valley. It seems to have been a gate by which horses approached and left the old palace, that of David, which lay north of the temple Nehemiah 3:25.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. the Nethinims—Not only the priests and the Levites, but the common persons that belonged to the house of God, contributed to the work. The names of those who repaired the walls of Jerusalem are commemorated because it was a work of piety and patriotism to repair the holy city. It was an instance of religion and courage to defend the true worshippers of God, that they might serve Him in quietness and safety, and, in the midst of so many enemies, go on with this work, piously confiding in the power of God to support them [Bishop Patrick].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

To wit, of the city, or of the temple; which being the chief gate, was committed to his particular care and custody.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer, over against his house,.... After the last of the priests, this begun where they ended, and repaired as far as his house reached; and being, perhaps, a person of some note, his house might be a large one:

after him repaired also Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate; that is, of the temple; for the gates of the city having been burnt so long, it cannot be thought there should be a keeper of any of them.

Geneva Study Bible

After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. After them] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. him’. See note on Nehemiah 3:3.

Zadok the son of Immer] The head of the priestly family of Immer. See Ezra 2:37.

After him] R.V. And after him.

the keeper of the east gate] This has sometimes been identified with ‘the water gate’ of Nehemiah 3:26. But it is very improbable that, in a topographical chapter such as this, the same gate should be mentioned by two different names without any word of explanation.

Considering that the previous name is that of a priest, it is natural to suppose that Shemaiah, ‘the keeper of the east gate,’ was a Levite, and the east gate was the eastern approach to the Temple precincts.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 29. - Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah is very possibly the descendant of David mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:22. He must have been an old man, as his son, Hattush, had returned to Jerusalem with Ezra (Ezra 8:2, 3); but still he may have taken part in the work. That he was keeper of the east gate does not militate against this hypothesis, for that post was an honourable one, and it is not to be supposed that all the descendants of David were in flourishing circumstances. By "the east gate"we are perhaps to understand "the water gate towards the east" of ver. 26. Nehemiah 3:29

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Zadok ben Immer (Ezra 2:37) was probably the head of the priestly order of Immer. Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate, can hardly be the same as the Shemaiah of the sons of Shecaniah entered among the descendants of David in 1 Chronicles 3:22. He might rather be regarded as a descendant of the Shemaiah of 1 Chronicles 26:6., if the latter had not been enumerated among the sons of Obed-Edom, whose duty was to guard the south side of the temple. The east gate is undoubtedly the east gate of the temple, and not to be identified, as by Bertheau, with the water-gate towards the east (Nehemiah 3:26). The place where Shemaiah repaired is not more precisely defined; nor can we infer, with Bertheau, from the circumstance of his being the keeper of the east gate, that he, together with his subordinate keepers, laboured at the fortification of this gate and its adjoining section of wall. Such a view is opposed to the order of the description, which passes on to a portion of the wall of Ophel; see rem. on Nehemiah 3:31.