Ne. 3: Repairing Walls n' Gates

Nehemiah 3:20 "Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib the high priest."

This is really just a list of the sections of the wall and the gates, and who repaired them. That may be all I really need to say, but what do I think of this?

I think it's good to see Israel working as a team. Each section of the wall basically had a different group of people working on it. They worked together toward a common goal. Except the nobles of Tekoa, who refused to roll up their sleeves and get busy on the Fish Gate. Why not? Sheer laziness? Was manual labor beneath them? At any rate, here they are recorded for the rest of time as some blouse-wearing poodlewalkers who refused to contribute. Would they be punished? We'll see.

Contrast that with how Baruch repairs the wall next to the home of Eliashib, the high priest. With zeal! When I think of that, I think of someone working hard, working strong, and giving his absolute best. I'm sure the walls built by the others were acceptable, but Baruch is the only one notably recorded as working zealously. He was into this. He was a company man. He wasn't going to stand around thinking himself better than the work that needed to be done. I can't remember the last time I worked at something with zeal. I should inject more zeal into my work. Can you be described as zealous for anything?

This is the first I've read about all these gates. I assume they were named for their functions. The sheep gate probably opened to a pasture or a pen or something. The fish gate...probably along the river? The Jeshanah Gate...named for a guy named Jeshanah? The Valley Gate probably opened to a valley somewhere. The Dung Gate was probably at the dump. Fountain Gate? Maybe a well or drinking water or something? The Horse Gate I would guess led to stables or the military base or something. We'll find out.