At about this point along the wall Nehemiah had to dismount his animal when he inspected the wall at night (see Neh 2.14). It was no longer possible to follow the line of the old wall that had been buried at the bottom of the slope. From here on a new wall was built along the top of the slope. The route of the new wall is no longer identified by gates, but by other landmarks that are unknown today. This route has been established by archeological evidence.

From this point in the text the description of the repair of the wall proceeds to the north and each person is described as being After (literally “behind”) the person before rather than “Next to” (literally “at hand”). This may indicate the direction being described.

Nehemiah the son of Azbuk is another Nehemiah, not the governor.

Beth-zur was a town that was located about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) south of Jerusalem and 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) north of Hebron in the hill country of Judea. Revised Standard Version writes this name with a hyphen, while Good News Translation writes it as a single word. Translators should follow the model they have adopted for writing compound names.

Repaired to a point opposite the sepulchres of David, to the artificial pool, and to the house of the mighty men: For sepulchres see Neh 2.3. The location of the sepulchres of David is not known today, but on the basis of 1 Kgs 2.10 it is generally thought that they were in the City of David. The Hebrew noun rendered sepulchres is plural, and most translations render it in the plural. This place may be called “the royal burial place” or “the royal cemetery” (similarly Parole de Vie). This is not a reference to “David’s tomb” (as in Good News Translation, which follows the Septuagint), but to tombs in the City of David. The locations of the artificial pool (literally “the pool that is made”) and the house of the mighty men also are not known. The house of the mighty men could refer either to military barracks as in Good News Translation, or to a place associated with the heroes of David (2 Sam 23.8-39.). Mighty men should be rendered by words that are associated with prowess in battle, for example, “Heroes” (New International Version) and “Valiant men” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It is not clear where these three locations were situated in relation to each other in the rebuilding of the wall. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall up to a point that was across from the tombs, or up to a location that faced the tombs. He also rebuilt the wall up to the pool of water and up to the house of the great warriors. Translators should not try to identify exactly how Nehemiah rebuilt the wall as far as these three points.

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 .