5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.
And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments, I pray, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath a long time mourned for the dead;
After him the Tekoites repaired a second piece, over against the great tower which lies out, as far as the wall of Ophel.
And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.
Thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck;
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I visit, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more reduce him to servitude. But they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls;
Now therefore why tempt ye God, by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
Enjoin on those rich in the present age not to be high-minded, nor to trust on the uncertainty of riches; but in the God who affords us all things richly for [our] enjoyment; to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal in distributing, disposed to communicate [of their substance],
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 3
Commentary on Nehemiah 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
Saying and doing are often two things: many are ready to say, "Let us rise up and build,' who sit still and do nothing, like that fair-spoken son who said,"I go, Sir, but went not.' The undertakers here were none of those. As soon as they had resolved to build the wall about Jerusalem they lost no time, but set about it presently, as we find in this chapter. Let it never be said that we left that good work to be done to-morrow which we might as well have done to-day. This chapter gives an account of two things:-
Neh 3:1-32
The best way to know how to divide this chapter is to observe how the work was divided among the undertakers, that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it accordingly with a holy emulation, and desire to excel, yet without any contention, animosity, or separate interest. No strife appears among them but which should do most for the public good. Several things are observable in the account here given of the building of the wall about Jerusalem:-