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Nehemiah 3 · a question people ask

Is this the sheep gate of John 5?

In the text

The Bible doesn't say. The name is the same: here "they built the sheep gate" (3:1), and in John, "Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool" (John 5:2). John doesn't mention Nehemiah, and Nehemiah doesn't mention a pool at the sheep gate. So the two are set side by side for the name they share, and nothing more is claimed.

The verses

“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up its doors. They sanctified it even to the tower of Hammeah, to the tower of Hananel.”
Nehemiah 3:1 · World English Bible
“Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches.”
John 5:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah 3: Next to him

Nehemiah 3 isn't a dull list: it walks the wall from the sheep gate round to the sheep gate, priests, goldsmiths, a perfumer, district rulers and Shallum's daughters side by side, and under almost every "made repairs" is chazaq, "be strong", 35 times in the chapter; one line of holding back, and Nehemiah himself isn't named once.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions