Nehemiah 3:5

The Tekoites. The people of Tekoa, a small town about 5 mi. south of Bethlehem now called Tequ‘. From Tekoa came the “wise woman” whom Joab sent to influence David to bring Absalom home (2 Sam. 14:2, 3). Its small size seems to have been responsible for the fact that it does not appear either in the city and town list of those who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:20-35) or the census list of Neh. 11:25-36.

Repaired. Few in number, the Tekoites were assigned a wall section that needed repair but not thorough rebuilding. Nevertheless, they seem to have been so full of zeal that they assumed responsibility for repairing also a second section of the wall (v. 27).

The nobles. The upper classes, ’adirim, literally, “exalted ones,” withdrew from the work, as oxen withdraw their necks from the yoke (see Jer. 27:11, 12). They stood aloof, leaving the work to the common people. This is the first case of passive opposition recorded by Nehemiah. Later, other cases are found in his report.