Nehemiah 3:26 - Exposition

The Nethinims dwelt in Ophel . Ophel was "the long, narrowish, rounded spur or promontory which intervenes between the central valley of Jerusalem (the Tyropoeon) and the Kidron, or Valley of Jehoshaphat" (Grove). The Nethinims, who had their dwellings on this spur, were set to fortify a portion of the eastern circuit, but apparently restored not so much their own wall as that which lay north of it, at the edge of the present Haram area. Here must have been the water gate , which carried off the superfluous water from the temple reservoirs; and here was the great tower that lieth out , whose foundations have been recently discovered. It stood at the southeastern angle of the great platform on which the temple was built.