Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool: From the Dung Gate Nehemiah went 150 meters (490 feet) along the Kidron Valley to the southeast corner of the city to the Fountain Gate. This is possibly En-Rogel or Job’s Well at the place where the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley meet. The King’s Pool was outside the wall in the Kidron Valley near the Fountain Gate. This pool was probably a reservoir of water from a spring, possibly the Gihon Spring. It has been identified with the Pool of Shelah or Shiloah (see Isa 8.6).

There was no place for the beast that was under me to pass: At this point Nehemiah encountered massive ruins left from when the Babylonians destroyed the city. The buildings on the east side of the city had been terraced down into the Kidron Valley. So when the wall was destroyed, all the buildings fell down the slope. Good News Translation makes explicit that the donkey Nehemiah was riding was unable to pass because of the rubble from the walls. Contemporary English Version says that the path became too narrow for the donkey to pass without explaining why it was narrow. However, it is not necessary for the translator to offer an explanation. The translator can simply say “there was no way for the animal that I was riding on to pass.”

The beast that was under me means “the animal I was mounted on” or “the animal I was riding.”

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .