31. Malchiah the goldsmith’s son] R.V. Malchijah one of the goldsmiths. See note on Nehemiah 3:8. Malchiah belonged to the guild of the goldsmiths.

unto the place of the Nethinims] R.V. unto the house of the Nethinim. The Nethinim were stated (Nehemiah 3:26) to have their dwelling ‘in Ophel.’ Here a house belonging to their number is described as on the wall, probably N.E. of the Temple precincts. This we may presume was the official residence of those engaged in the service of the Temple.

and of the merchants] LXX. οἱ ῥωποπῶλαι. The tradesmen of the same class generally lived near to one another, cf. Jeremiah 37:21.

It is at first sight strange to find a house belonging to a mixed body of Nethinim and merchants. But the needs and equipment of the Temple services and of those who took part in them were sufficiently varied to account for this combination. We should think of an Oriental bazaar rather than of a modern house. The open spaces near the Temple would be thronged with money-changers and sellers of animals for sacrifice and of articles for offerings. On the later abuse of this custom cf. Matthew 21:12; John 2:14. Some who have found a difficulty in this combination disregard the tradition of the accents, and divide the verse differently, stopping at ‘Nethinim,’ and making a new clause of which ‘the merchants’ are the subject, i.e. ‘and the merchants repaired, &c.’ We should however certainly expect the phrase ‘after him’ at the beginning of such a clause.

over against the gate Miphkad] R.V. over against the gate of Hammiphkad. The word ‘Miphkad’ occurs in Ezekiel 43:21, ‘Thou shalt also take the bullock of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place (miphkad) of the house, without the sanctuary.’ It has hence been often supposed to be the gate through which the bullock of the sin offering was led ‘without the sanctuary.’

The words ‘over against’ seem to imply that the gate of Hammiphkad was not on but opposite the city wall. Some identify it with the modern ‘golden gate.’

The LXX. Μαφεκάδ and the Vulg. ‘porta judicialis’ fail to throw light upon its position or purpose.

and to the going up of the corner] R.V. and to the ascent (marg. ‘Or, upper chamber’) of the corner. We seem here to have the junction point of two walls, where the elevation was greater than elsewhere, or where there was a well-known ‘upper chamber’ used for look-out purposes or as a place of public gathering.

Verse 31. - Malchiah the goldsmith's son. Or "the son of Hazzorephi." But the mention of goldsmiths (zorephim) in ver. 32 lends support to the rendering of the A. V., which is accepted by most critics. Unto the place of the Nethinims. Rather, "the house." The exact position cannot be fixed; but the gate Miphkad must have been situated in the east wall, a little to the south of the sheep gate. The going up of the corner may have been an "ascent," like Solomon's (2 Chronicles 9:4), which was probably a flight of steps; or the word translated "going up" may mean "an upper chamber" (ὑπερῷον) - a chamber situated over the gate. Nehemiah 3:31הצּרפי is not a proper name, but an appellative, son of the goldsmith, or perhaps better, member of the goldsmiths' guild, according to which הצּרפי does not stand for hatsoreep, but designates those belonging to the goldsmiths. The statements, (he repaired) unto the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants opposite the gate המּפקד, and to the upper chamber of the corner, are obscure. This rendering is according to the Masoretic punctuation; while the lxx, on the contrary, translate according to a different division of the words: Malchiah repaired as far as the house of the Nethinim, and the spice-merchants (repaired) opposite the gate Miphkad, and as far as the ascent of the corner. This translation is preferred by Bertheau, but upon questionable grounds. For the objection made by him, that if the other be adopted, either the same termination would be stated twice in different forms, or that two different terminations are intended, in which case it does not appear why one only should first be mentioned, and then the other also, is not of much importance. In Nehemiah 3:24 also two terminations are mentioned, while in Nehemiah 3:16 we have even three together. And why should not this occur here also? Of more weight is the consideration, that to follow the Masoretic punctuation is to make the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants but one building. Since, however, we know nothing further concerning the edifice in question, the subject is not one for discussion. The rendering of the lxx, on the other hand, is opposed by the weighty objection that there is a total absence of analogy for supplying החזיקוּ ואחריו; for throughout this long enumeration of forty-two sections of wall, the verb החזיק or החזיקוּ, or some corresponding verb, always stands either before or after every name of the builders, and even the אחריו is omitted only once (Nehemiah 3:25). To the statement, "as far as the house of the Nethinim and the merchants," is appended the further definition: before (opposite) the gate המּפקד. This word is reproduced in the lxx as a proper name (τοῦ Μαφεκάδ), as is also הנּתינים בּית, ἕως Βετηὰν Νατηινίμ); in the Vulgate it is rendered appellatively: contra portam judicialem; and hence by Luther, Rathsthor. Thenius translates (Stadt, p. 9): the muster or punishment gate. מפקד does not, however, signify punishment, although the view may be correct that the gate took the name המּפקד from the הבּית מפקד mentioned Ezekiel 43:21, where the bullock of the sin-offering was to be burnt without the sanctuary; and it may be inferred from this passage that near the temple of Solomon also there was an appointed place for burning the flesh of the sin-offering without the sanctuary. In Ezekiel's temple vision, this הבּית מפקד is probably to be sought in the space behind the sanctuary, i.e., at the western end of the great square of five hundred cubits, set apart for the temple, and designated the Gizra, or separate place. In the temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel, however, the place in question could not have been situate at the west side of the temple, between the temple and the city, which lay opposite, but only on the south side of the temple area, outside the court, upon Ophel, where Thenius has delineated it in his plan of Jerusalem before the captivity. Whether it lay, however, at the south-western corner of the temple space (Thenius), or in the middle, or near the east end of the southern side of the external wall of the temple or temple court, can be determined neither from the present passage nor from Ezekiel's vision. Not from Ezekiel 43:21, because the temple vision of this prophet is of an ideal character, differing in many points from the actual temple; not from the present passage, because the position of the house of the Nethinim and the merchants is unknown, and the definition נגד, (before) opposite the gate Miphkad, admits of several explanations. Thus much only is certain concerning this Miphkad gate, - on the one hand, from the circumstance that the wall was built before (נגד) or opposite this gate, on the other, from its omission in Nehemiah 12:39, where the prison-gate is mentioned as being in this neighbourhood in its stead, - that it was not a gate of the city, but a gate through which the מפקד was reached. Again, it is evident that the עליּה of the corner which is mentioned as the length of wall next following, must be sought for at the south-eastern corner of the temple area. Hence the house of the temple servants and the merchants must have been situate south of this, on the eastern side of Ophel, where it descends into the valley of Kidron. הפּנּה עליּת, the upper chamber of the corner, was perhaps a ὑπερῷον of a corner tower, not at the north-eastern corner of the external circumvallation of the temple area (Bertheau), but at the south-eastern corner, which was formed by the junction at this point of the wall of Ophel with the eastern wall of the temple area. If these views are correct, all the sections mentioned from Nehemiah 3:28 to Nehemiah 3:31 belong to the wall surrounding Ophel. This must have been of considerable length, for Ophel extended almost to the pool of Siloam, and was walled round on its western, southern, and eastern sides.Nehemiah 3:31 Interlinear
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