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Nehemiah 7

Neh. 7:3 KJV (With Strong’s)

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And I said
'amar (Hebrew #559)
to say (used with great latitude)
KJV usage: answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.
Pronounce: aw-mar'
Origin: a primitive root
unto them, Let not the gates
sha`ar (Hebrew #8179)
an opening, i.e. door or gate
KJV usage: city, door, gate, port (X -er).
Pronounce: shah'-ar
Origin: from 8176 in its original sense
of Jerusalem
Yruwshalaim (Hebrew #3389)
a dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of 3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) 3384 and 7999; founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine
KJV usage: Jerusalem.
Pronounce: yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im
Origin: rarely Yruwshalayim {yer-oo- shaw-lah'-yim}
be opened
pathach (Hebrew #6605)
to open wide (literally or figuratively); specifically, to loosen, begin, plough, carve
KJV usage: appear, break forth, draw (out), let go free, (en-)grave(-n), loose (self), (be, be set) open(-ing), put off, ungird, unstop, have vent.
Pronounce: paw-thakh'
Origin: a primitive root
until the sun
shemesh (Hebrew #8121)
the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement
KJV usage: + east side(-ward), sun ((rising)), + west(-ward), window. See also 1053.
Pronounce: sheh'-mesh
Origin: from an unused root meaning to be brilliant
be hot
chom (Hebrew #2527)
heat
KJV usage: heat, to be hot (warm).
Pronounce: khome
Origin: from 2552
; and while they stand by
`amad (Hebrew #5975)
to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)
KJV usage: abide (behind), appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, be employed, endure, establish, leave, make, ordain, be (over), place, (be) present (self), raise up, remain, repair, + serve, set (forth, over, -tle, up), (make to, make to be at a, with-)stand (by, fast, firm, still, up), (be at a) stay (up), tarry.
Pronounce: aw-mad'
Origin: a primitive root
, let them shut
guwph (Hebrew #1479)
properly, to hollow or arch, i.e. (figuratively) close; to shut
KJV usage: shut.
Pronounce: goof
Origin: a primitive root
the doors
deleth (Hebrew #1817)
something swinging, i.e. the valve of a door
KJV usage: door (two-leaved), gate, leaf, lid. (In Psa. 141:3, dal, irreg.).
Pronounce: deh'-leth
Origin: from 1802
, and bar
'achaz (Hebrew #270)
to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in possession)
KJV usage: + be affrighted, bar, (catch, lay, take) hold (back), come upon, fasten, handle, portion, (get, have or take) possess(-ion).
Pronounce: aw-khaz'
Origin: a primitive root
them: and appoint
`amad (Hebrew #5975)
to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)
KJV usage: abide (behind), appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, be employed, endure, establish, leave, make, ordain, be (over), place, (be) present (self), raise up, remain, repair, + serve, set (forth, over, -tle, up), (make to, make to be at a, with-)stand (by, fast, firm, still, up), (be at a) stay (up), tarry.
Pronounce: aw-mad'
Origin: a primitive root
watches
mishmereth (Hebrew #4931)
watch, i.e. the act (custody), or (concr.) the sentry, the post; obj. preservation, or (concr.) safe; fig. observance, i.e. (abstr.) duty or (obj.) a usage or party
KJV usage: charge, keep, or to be kept, office, ordinace, safeguard, ward, watch.
Pronounce: mish-mer'-reth
Origin: fem. of 4929
of the inhabitants
yashab (Hebrew #3427)
properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
KJV usage: (make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, X marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(- tle), (down-)sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.
Pronounce: yaw-shab'
Origin: a primitive root
of Jerusalem
Yruwshalaim (Hebrew #3389)
a dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of 3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) 3384 and 7999; founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine
KJV usage: Jerusalem.
Pronounce: yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im
Origin: rarely Yruwshalayim {yer-oo- shaw-lah'-yim}
, every one
'iysh (Hebrew #376)
a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
KJV usage: also, another, any (man), a certain, + champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-)man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), + none, one, people, person, + steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy. Compare 802.
Pronounce: eesh
Origin: contracted for 582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant)
in his watch
mishmar (Hebrew #4929)
a guard (the man, the post or the prison); a deposit (fig.); also (as observed) a usage (abstr.), or an example (concr.)
KJV usage: diligence, guard, office, prison, ward, watch.
Pronounce: mish-mawr'
Origin: from 8104
, and every one
'iysh (Hebrew #376)
a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
KJV usage: also, another, any (man), a certain, + champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-)man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), + none, one, people, person, + steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy. Compare 802.
Pronounce: eesh
Origin: contracted for 582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant)
to be over against his house
bayith (Hebrew #1004)
a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
KJV usage: court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter)house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).
Pronounce: bah'-yith
Origin: probably from 1129 abbreviated
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More on:

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Gate,
House,
Jerusalem,
Sun

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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Let not the gates.This is, the gates were not to be opened till sun-rise, and to be shut at sun-set; which is still the custom in many cities of the East.
If a traveller arrives after sun-set, he finds the gates shut, and on no consideration will they open them till morning.
Neh. 13:19• 19And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. (Neh. 13:19)
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Psa. 127:1• 1<<A Song of degrees for Solomon.>> Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. (Psa. 127:1)
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Matt. 10:16• 16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt. 10:16)
every one to be.
Neh. 3:23,28‑30• 23After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.
 28From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.
 29After 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.
 30After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber. (Neh. 3:23,28‑30)
• It wasn’t, however, just the responsibility of the porters. To draw the parallel, it is not simply the responsibility of the overseers to guard against the things that come into the assembly, but there remains a responsibility with each one of us. “Every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house” (Neh. 7:3). Weakness in the assembly doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. The things we permit in our own homes are ultimately reflected in our attitudes in the assembly. (“Doors Shut and Barred - Neh. 7:3” by N. Simon)
• First, the gates were not to be opened until the sun was hot. As long as darkness reigned, or any semblance of it, the gates were to be shut against "the rulers of the darkness of this world" (Eph. 6), for the night is ever the time of their greatest activity. As a contrast, we read of the heavenly Jerusalem, that "The gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there" (Rev. 21:25); that is, they shall stand perpetually open, because evil and the powers of evil will have forever passed away. (“Exposition on Nehemiah: Nehemiah 7” by E. Dennett)
• It was not enough therefore, since the enemy was in question, that the doors of the gates of Jerusalem should be shut; they must also be barred if the enemy was to be kept outside. We learn from this the imperative necessity of guarding the doors, whether of the soul or of the assembly. (“Exposition on Nehemiah: Nehemiah 7” by E. Dennett)
• The safety of the city was ensured if each kept watch over against his own house. This is evident, for if the head of every household kept the enemy—evil—out of his house, Jerusalem would be preserved in separation to God. The whole city was necessarily what its several inhabitants made it. Would that this truth were apprehended in the Church of God! (“Exposition on Nehemiah: Nehemiah 7” by E. Dennett)

J. N. Darby Translation

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And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.