Khomah: The WALL Pt.1

Wall- khomah, feminine noun (Strong’s 2346)

Root: חוֹמָה

Sounds like: khoh’maw

I lived for a year in York, England. It is a stunning medieval city with intact city walls. You can still walk along almost the entire medieval walls which are the longest medieval town walls in England, at 3.4 kms. It was one of my favourite things to do… walk the walls of York… and I highly recommend it, if you ever get the chance. 

Having a wall around the city was not just a medieval thing, it was a much older architectural practice. Wars with your neighbours was a common occurrence in the bronze age and iron age, so ancient cities needed to be fortified with thick walls and near–impenetrable gates.

There are at least two Hebrew words used to describe a wall: khomah and qir. This week we will look at the more prevalent khomah. The Bible, not surprisingly, included descriptions of many walled cities, but the first thing to be described as a khomah had nothing to do with cities or architecture. The first Biblical wall was the wall of the sea, created when YHWH parted the waters of the Reed (not Red) Sea. It was between these sea walls that the people departed from the tyranny of Egypt and left for the promised land. God parted the waters and created walls so that the people could safely cross the sea (Exodus 14:22, 29). The walls collapsed when the Egyptians followed on the dry sea-bed and tried to stop them from leaving.

After this miraculous moment, walls were most often associated with cities. Well fortified cities had a surrounding wall. Many of the foreign nations that surrounded Israel had walled cities, including Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:5, 1 Kings 4:13), Aphek (1 Kings 20:30), Tyre (Ezekiel 26:7-13, Amos 1:10), Gath (2 Chr 26:6), Jabneh (2 Chr 26:6), Ashdod (2 Chr 26:6), Gaza (Amos 1:7), Rabbah (Amos 1:14), and, of course, the most famous walls in the Bible, the walls Jericho (Joshua 2, 6). If asked anybody about Biblical walls, the story of the tumbling walls of Jericho would probably be at the top of the list.

David, as the founding king of Jerusalem prayed for the walls of God’s protection:

Psalm 51:14-19

[David to YHWH:] Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

Lord, open my lips, do that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.

By Your favour do good to Zion; build the walls [khomoht חוֹמ֥וֹת] of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Jerusalem eventually constructed a wall around the city under the leadership of king Solomon (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 9:15, 2 Chronicles 8:5) and it had various renovations. After the kingdom was split, Israel attacked Jerusalem and tore down a portion of the walls of Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:13, 2 Chronicles 25:23).

We are told that king Jotham of Judah extensively built the walls around the Ophel in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 27:3) and that King Hezekiah rebuilt and fortified the walls around Jerusalem in anticipation of Assyria’s attack (2 Chronicles 32:5).

When the Assyrians’ messenger, Rabshakeh, threatened the people on the walls of Jerusalem he hoped they would give up and surrender, but they were prepared under king Hezekiah’s leadership (2 Kings 18:26-27, 2 Chr 32:18, Isaiah 36:11-12). The people did not surrender and God stepped in and saved the walled city. 

Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, built an outer wall to enhance the fortress:

2 Chronicles 33:14

Now after this he [Manasseh] built the outer wall [khomah חוֹמָ֣ה] of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, up to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.

King Asa supported the building of more walled cities in Judah:

2 Chronicles 14:7

For he [king Asa] said to Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls [khomah חוֹמָ֣ה] and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought YHWH our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

However, the prosperity of Judah fell because of their continual rejection of YHWH:

Deuteronomy 28:49-50, 52

“YHWH will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation with a defiant attitude, who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young…

…And it will besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls [khomoteka חֹמֹתֶ֙יךָ֙] in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which YHWH your God has given you.”

Isaiah 30:12- 13

Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“Since you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and crookedness, and have relied on them, therefore this wrongdoing will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall [b-khomah בְּחוֹמָ֣ה], whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant…”

The Israelite had turned their backs on YHWH and followed the gods of their pagan neighbours, and because of this they found themselves under the dominion of the enemy neighbours that they had admired. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, built a siege wall around and then shattered the walls of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-12, Jeremiah 52:14).

2 Chronicles 36:19

Then they [the Babylonians] burned the house of God and broke down the wall [khomat חוֹמַ֣ת] of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. 

Judah was decimated. The walls fell down, and the people were escorted out of Jerusalem to become Babylonian slaves:

Lamentations 2:7-10

The Lord has rejected His altar, He has repudiated His sanctuary; He has handed over the walls [khomoht חוֹמֹ֖ת] of her palaces to the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of YHWH as on the day of an appointed feast.

YHWH determined to destroy the wall [khomat חוֹמַ֣ת] of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, and He has caused rampart and wall [w-khomat וְחוֹמָ֖ה] to mourn; they have languished together.

Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her leaders are among the nations; the Law is gone. Her prophets, too, find no vision from YHWH.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads; they have put on sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

YHWH, however, would not abandon them. He would find a way to rescue and redeem them:

Jeremiah 15:20-21 (see also Jeremiah 1:14-19)

“Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall [l-khomat לְחוֹמַ֤ת] of bronze; and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you; for I am with you to save you and rescue you,” declares YHWH. “So I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

Jeremiah prophesied that Babylon would be paid back for its own destructive nature. Their walls would fall (Jeremiah 50:15, 44, 58; 51:12) to the might of the Persians and the Jewish people would find their way home.

After a seventy year captivity, a portion of the people returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the walls, under the direction of Nehemiah, the newly appointed Governor of Judah. We read about Nehemiah’s lament for Jerusalem (Neh. 1:3), his plans to rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 2:8, 17), the inspection of the damaged walls (Neh. 2:11-15 ), and the verbal abuse they received while constructing the wall (Neh. 4:1-3). They worked continuously on the building project (Neh. 4:6-20) and even Nehemiah joined in the work (Neh. 5:16 ). Eventually the wall was finished (Neh. 6:15) and there was a dedication celebration for the rebuilt walls:

Nehemiah 12:27-30

Now at the dedication of the wall [khomat חוֹמַ֣ת] of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres. So the sons of the singers were assembled from the territory around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites, from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates, and the wall [ha-khomah הַחוֹמָֽה].

Wall Similes

In the Tanakh, the wall was a symbol of protection. We read that David and his soldiers were like a protective wall to Nabal’s shepherds (1 Sam 25:16), and that a person with no self-control was like a city without a wall  (Proverbs 25:28). In other words, they were at risk of destruction. Wealthy people, who used their riches like a wall, were under false protection:

Proverbs 18:10-11

The name of YHWH is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall [u-k-khomah וּכְחוֹמָ֥ה] in his own imagination.

We need to be careful of the walls we build around us. What, or who, is protecting you?

Walls of the New Jerusalem

Walls were there for protection, but sometimes they fell down, exposing the people. But YHWH would not abandon His people. He would find a way to bring them home and protect them. At the end of this great story there would be a New Jerusalem and the prophet Isaiah continually looked forward to God’s justice, where the walls of the wicked would fall and YHWH’s eternal walled city of salvation would rise up:

Isaiah 2:12-18

For YHWH of armies will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is arrogant and haughty, and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be brought low.

And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every high tower, against every fortified wall [khomah חוֹמָ֥ה], against all the ships of Tarshish and against all the delightful ships.

And the pride of humanity will be humbled and the arrogance of people will be brought low; and YHWH alone will be exalted on that day, and the idols will completely vanish.

Isaiah 26:1-4

On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city; He sets up walls [khomoht חוֹמ֥וֹת] and ramparts for security. Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful. The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.

Trust in YHWH forever, for in Yah YHWH, we have an everlasting Rock.”

Isaiah 49:14-16

But Zion said, “YHWH has abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”

[YHWH:] “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls [khomotayik חוֹמֹתַ֥יִךְ]  are continually before Me.”

Isaiah 60:17b-19

[YHWH:] And I will make peace your administrators, and righteousness your overseers. Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls [khomotayik חוֹמֹתַ֔יִךְ]  salvation, and your gates praise.

No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor will the moon give you light for brightness; but you will have YHWH as an everlasting light, and your God as your glory.”

Isaiah 62:6-7

On your walls [khomotayik חוֹמֹתַ֣יִךְ], Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who profess YHWH, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem an object of praise on the earth.

In the final book of the New Testament (B’rit Chadashah) John gives us a picture of the New Jerusalem that awaits:

Rev 21:10-14, 18-27

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall [Greek: teichos], with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. And the wall [Greek: teichos] of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb…

…The material of the wall [Greek: teichous] was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall [Greek: teichous] were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

This new walled city is YHWH’s Kingdom and our place of rest. I look forward to seeing the Jasper Walls of God’s Salvation. What a beautiful image of heaven… a glorious protected gathering place of love and community. 

Next week: Qir (the Wall Pt.2)