What Does Nehemiah 3:30 Mean?
After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, strengthened another measured length. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah strengthened, facing his chamber.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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 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.
“strengthened” in this verse is heḥĕzîq. “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 measured length” 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.
“facing his chamber” 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 good wages for their toil.For we are fellow workers with God. You are God's field; you are God's building.from whom the whole body, joined together and knit by every joint that supplies, according to the working in the measure of each part, makes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.THE THREAD
Then I told them of the good hand of my God upon me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise 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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