Melatiah was from the town of Gibeon and Jadon was from Meronoth (see 1 Chr 27.30), a town that was near to Gibeon. Neither of these two men is mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures.

The relationship of the phrase the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah to the rest of the verse is a problem. It may be 1) a reference to Melatiah and Jadon as men of Gibeon and Mizpah (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible); 2) a statement that the people of these towns were under the jurisdiction of the governor; or 3) a statement that Melatiah and Jadon were joined by the other men of these towns in rebuilding the wall. This third possibility follows the Syriac version, which has “together with the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah.” This seems to be the most likely interpretation and it should be followed by the translator (see Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant).

Under the jurisdiction of the governor of the province Beyond the River: The Hebrew word rendered jurisdiction is literally “seat”, and it may mean either “jurisdiction” or “residence.” There are several possibilities for its meaning in this verse:
1) It could mean that Gibeon, which was a town 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Jerusalem, and Mizpah, which was a town 13 kilometers (8 miles) north of Jerusalem and the administrative center of the province after the destruction of Jerusalem, were under the jurisdiction of the governor of the province Beyond the River (so Revised Standard Version, New International Version). However, all the places mentioned in this chapter were under his jurisdiction. It would be strange if this information is given only about the people living in these two towns.
2) It could mean that Melatiah and Jadon were officials under the jurisdiction of the governor (so New Revised Standard Version).
3) It could mean that repairs were made on the wall up to the residence used by the governor when he visited Jerusalem (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version; compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). This interpretation is based on translating the Hebrew preposition rendered under as “up to” or “as far as” the residence of the governor, but this is not the word used in the rest of the section with this meaning and does not ordinarily have this sense.
4) Finally, it could mean that Mizpah was the residence of the governor. This interpretation takes the last phrase as describing only Mizpah and providing information about its status.

This fourth of the above options seems to be the best possibility. The translation according to this interpretation would read: “… Mizpah, the residence of the governor of the province Beyond the River.”

For governor see Ezra 5.3, and for the province Beyond the River, see Ezra 4.10.

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 .