And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.
Nehemiah 3:22 belongs to Nehemiah's royally commissioned mission to Jerusalem to rebuild the city's walls. That mission carried letters from the Persian king securing honorable reception and prompt help from provincial governors, along with a military escort showing it was an important mission. Nehemiah's arrival excited the jealousy of the heathen tribes near the city, foremost Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, who watched him with critical eyes from the first and endeavored by every means to thwart his plans and hinder the work. The wall-rebuilding account provides imagery for the need to rebuild Zion's spiritual defenses. Its specific detail identifying the builders as the priests, the men of the plain, stands without further explanation.
Nehemiah 3:22 belongs to Nehemiah's royally commissioned mission to Jerusalem to rebuild the city's walls. That mission carried letters from the Persian king securing honorable reception and prompt help from provincial governors, along with a military escort showing it was an important mission. Nehemiah's arrival excited the jealousy of the heathen tribes near the city, foremost Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, who watched him with critical eyes from the first and endeavored by every means to thwart his plans and hinder the work. The wall-rebuilding account provides imagery for the need to rebuild Zion's spiritual defenses. Its specific detail identifying the builders as the priests, the men of the plain, stands without further explanation.