Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section: Ezer, another Levite, repaired the next section. His father was Jeshua, who is referred to in Ezra 2.40 and 3.9. He was the ruler of the town of Mizpah. The ruler of the district of Mizpah was named in verse 15 above.

Opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle: An armory is a building where weapons or “tools for war” are kept. This was probably a tower or guardhouse in the City of David to protect the royal building. The ascent could refer to steps or a path going up to the armory.

The Angle would normally mean a sharp turn in the wall, but another word is used for “corner” along with this word in the Hebrew of verse 24 (Revised Standard Version with “Angle” at the end of verse 24 and “corner” at the beginning of verse 25). It does not seem to refer to a specific point since it occurs in verses 19, 20, and 25 in connection with different features. Williamson (1985) has suggested that it means “a place where something is cut off or ends abruptly” such as an “ ‘escarpment’ (New English Bible) if it is a natural feature” or a “ ‘Buttress’… if it is an architectural feature.” According to this suggestion, the translation would be “opposite the ascent to the armory by the buttress [or, escarpment].” The Septuagint has translated the word for armory as “meeting point” and this is the basis of the Revised English Bible translation “opposite the point at which the ascent meets the escarpment.” This is a good model to follow here. For Angle see also 2 Chr 26.9.

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 .