A shared endeavour

James Cathcart March 11, 2024 5 4

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Nehemiah 3: 9-14 (NRSVA)

9 Next to them Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 Next to them Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house; and next to him Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

NEHEMIAH: “Look there goes Rephaiah, Hur’s son. Wee Reph — boy speaks so fast I’ve never got any idea what he’s saying. But no one can work like him. I feel like someone told Reph that if he doesn’t speak at least 10,000 words in a day his heid will explode. And who knows, maybe it would, he certainly has a way of turning red when he’s concentrating.

Meanwhile Jedaiah, Harumaph’s wean, is just quietly and steadily making repairs. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him speak. It’s a challenge for anybody to get a word in when Wee Reph gets going, but Jed doesn’t even try to interrupt. He just cracks on with the work, only smiling a few times to acknowledge when a new section is finished. I’ve seen Hattush having to actually lead Jed away at the end of the shift. Hattush reckons that if he didn’t Jed would just carry on through the night. Hattush is like that though, a thoughtful lad, Hashabneiah brought him up right.

And let’s see, ah yes Malchijah, Harim’s boy of course, and Hasshub, who looks spookily like his da Pahath-moab, are putting a shift in on the Tower of the Ovens. Malchijah and Hasshub are just a double act, pure got us in stitches over that thing with the frog and the sandal.

Ah and then Shallum and his daughters, I wish I could remember their names, those girls are somehow mischief, mayhem and insanely gifted at construction. They leave a crazy mess in their wake but they build faster, and more skilfully, than men twice their age.

Over there is Hanun and the Zanoah lot repairing the Valley gate. Hanun’s an odd duck alright. Cranky, moany, pedantic, longwinded, blinkered — but also the most generous man I’ve ever met.

And then there’s the other Malchijah, Rechab’s son, ‘Manky Malkie’. I’d feel bad about the nickname, but he came up with it himself. He said it was confusing there being two Malchijahs, and seeing that he was working on the Dung Gate, he figured it fit. Good old Manky Malkie, he’s not the fastest worker, or the hardest, or the neatest, or the most thorough, but the sun shines right out of him. It really does.”

Prayer:

Dear God,

Names to you are not beside the point,

Belonging is not beside the point,

being involved,

having buy-in,

having agency,

having dignity,

having respect,

none of it is beside the point.

Thank you that you bind us together

so that we can leap together.

Amen.