Many hands join the work though some are reluctant to do their part.

I like that the names of the folk who worked on the wall are recorded.  It reminds me of something I happened upon on JSH-Online.  I entered "Marie K Fox" (looking for my daughter’s writings) and the first thing that came up was –

March 1892 Journal

Building Fund, Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston. Mass.

Receipts, November 2 1891, to January 1892, inclusive.

There followed a list of all the people who had contributed to the building of The Original Mother Church in those months.  Perhaps there are other lists in other Journals.

In verse 5 of Chapter 3 we read that the “Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.”  In our language we might say that the high-born people wouldn’t stick their necks out in this dangerous situation.  Even if it was the work of the Lord!  I may be way off with this explanation, but it satisfies me.

It is of interest that the men who worked were often classified as “rulers”, so there was still order and governance among these people.

No doubt we could build up a drawing of the wall from these entries.

Joyce Voysey

Ed. What an interesting passage!

The Living Bible says (Neh 3:5) "Next were the men from Tekoa, but their leaders were lazy and didn't help."

Nehemiah 3:5English Standard Version (ESV)
⁵ And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.^[a]


Nehemiah 3:5New Living Translation (NLT)
⁵ Next were the people from Tekoa, though their leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors.