What Does Nehemiah 3:30 Mean in the King James?
After 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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “repaired” carries the sense of taking hold and strengthening, so the wall rises as one worker after another lays hold of a particular piece.
THE MEANING
The damaged whole is met through specific work, with named builders succeeding one another. One portion is repaired, then another opposite a worker’s own chamber: restoration reaches both the shared wall and the place where a person lives. Wholeness appears through connected acts, not an abstract intention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that a partial contribution is not real repair gives way here: the work advances one piece at a time.
THE ROOT
הֶחֱזִיק
heḥĕzîq
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong, take hold, or strengthen.
“Repaired” carries the sense of taking hold and making strong. The wall is restored as builders strengthen what is there, each taking up a particular portion.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Be strong; take hold.
חָזַק
This core sense makes repair an act of grasping and strengthening, not merely applying a patch.
ḥizzēq: Strengthen; make firm.
חִזֵּק
This form shows the active force in the verse: the builders make a section firm.
מִדָּה
middah
GROWS FROM
מדד
To measure or measure out.
“another piece” in this verse is middah. The “piece” is described with a word for measure or extent. The repair has a boundary: each person takes up a measured portion that can join the next.
ALSO GROWS
middah: Measure, extent, or portion.
מִדָּה
This is the word used for the section, giving the work a definite span.
madad: Measure out; measure.
מָדַד
The root’s measuring sense draws attention to the bounded sections through which the wall is restored.
נֶגֶד
neged
GROWS FROM
נגד
To be in front of or opposite; in a related verb form, to declare.
“over against” in this verse is neged. The section is located in relation to Meshullam’s chamber: it stands opposite, within view of the place where he lives. The word’s spatial sense makes the work feel close to home, not detached from ordinary life.
ALSO GROWS
neged: Opposite; in front of.
נֶגֶד
It places the repair in a face-to-face relation with Meshullam’s chamber.
higgid: Tell; declare.
הִגִּיד
This related form carries the sense of bringing something before another, echoing the root’s idea of what is set in front.
THE PATTERN
A shared whole is restored as distinct people strengthen their connected portions.
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.THE THREAD
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.“Strengthened” and “repaired” both come from חזק (chazaq), meaning to take hold or make strong. Here hands find strength for the work; in the verse you are reading, that strength takes up a measured section of the wall.
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