Nehemiah 3:11 (Among those rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem) 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. 

When the Jews were finally allowed to go back home to Israel after being captive in Babylon for 70 years, a group of them began rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. In this third chapter of Nehemiah we read a lengthy breakdown of who built which sections of the wall, and city gates, and so on. In every case but one there is mention of the “son” of so-and-so who worked on the project. And then we have v.12:

Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

This is the only instance in a long list of persons that includes any females. Good on ya Shallum! The fact that Shallum was a person of some note (ruler of half the district of Jerusalem) only adds to the significance. It may be that because Shallum was a ruler of sorts people may not have said anything to his face about this, but I’m guessing there may have been some snickers behind his back.

Whatever.

There is something special about a bond between a daddy and his daughters. I’m grateful to God for both of mine. And I’d like to think, if I were in the same position,  I would do what Shallum did. I would invite my two daughters to participate, sharing in the experience with me and my son Nick. That said, I’m not sure how enthusiastic they would be because they could, you know, break a nail or something. 🙂 My daughters are girlie girls for sure, but I would’t have it any other way.

Lord thank you for daddies and daughters. Amen.