Where the number comes from
The figure is stated plainly in the account: the wall was completed on the 25th day of the month Elul, in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15). Elul is the sixth month of the Jewish sacred calendar, falling around August and September.
The story begins earlier. In the 20th year of King Artaxerxes of Persia (455 BCE), Nehemiah, the king's cupbearer, heard that Jerusalem's wall was broken down and its gates burned (Nehemiah 1:1-3). A few months later he asked the king for permission to go and rebuild, and received it (Nehemiah 2:1-8). After arriving, he inspected the ruins by night before telling anyone his plan (Nehemiah 2:12-16).
How the work was organized
Nehemiah chapter 3 reads like a work roster. Starting at the Sheep Gate, which the high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests rebuilt, it goes around the city section by section and names who worked where (Nehemiah 3:1).
- Whole towns took a stretch, such as the men of Jericho and of Tekoa (Nehemiah 3:2, 5).
- Tradespeople built too: goldsmiths, ointment makers and merchants (Nehemiah 3:8, 32).
- Shallum worked alongside his daughters (Nehemiah 3:12).
- Many repaired the part of the wall in front of their own houses (Nehemiah 3:10, 23, 28).
Splitting the circuit into many short sections meant everyone could work at the same time, and people building near their own homes had every reason to do it well. Not everyone joined in. The account notes that the prominent men of Tekoa would not humble themselves to do the work (Nehemiah 3:5).
What the builders were up against
The opposition was led by Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. It came in stages:
- Ridicule. Sanballat mocked the builders in front of the army of Samaria, and Tobiah said that a fox climbing on their wall would knock it down (Nehemiah 4:1-3).
- Threat of attack. When the wall reached half its height, the enemies plotted to fight against Jerusalem and throw the work into confusion (Nehemiah 4:6-8).
- Schemes against Nehemiah. They invited him four times to a meeting on the plain of Ono, intending to harm him. Then they sent an open letter accusing him of planning a revolt, and hired a man to frighten him into hiding in the temple (Nehemiah 6:1-13).
Why it went so fast anyway
The people worked with all their heart (Nehemiah 4:6). Nehemiah responded to each threat with prayer and practical steps together. When the attack was planned, they prayed to God and posted a guard day and night (Nehemiah 4:9). He stationed families with swords, spears and bows behind the lowest, most exposed parts of the wall, and told them not to be afraid but to remember Yahweh (Nehemiah 4:13-14).
From then on, half of his young men did the work and half stood guard. Those carrying loads worked with one hand and kept a weapon in the other, every builder wore a sword, and a trumpeter stayed at Nehemiah's side to rally everyone to wherever an attack came (Nehemiah 4:16-20). They worked from dawn until the stars came out (Nehemiah 4:21).
When the wall was finished, the surrounding nations were afraid, because they realized the work had been accomplished with the help of God (Nehemiah 6:16). The gate doors were set in place afterwards (Nehemiah 7:1).
How the game uses the account
Nehemiah, the game is built on this record. The campaign lasts 52 days and goes around the city in 12 sections, starting from the Sheep Gate. Each day, the crew carries wood, stone and mortar to the wall and works it up by hand, while raiders try to break through. Builders have their hands full, so someone always has to stand guard, just as in Nehemiah 4:16-18. See how a day plays.