Nehemiah 11:35

Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftes-men. Nehemiah 11:35 (KJV)

In the book of Nehemiah the surrounding verses provide a detailed list of the towns and cities inhabited by the returned exiles of Judah after the restoration of Jerusalem. Nehemiah, who had served as cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I, played a significant role in overseeing the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and in encouraging the spiritual renewal of the people.

Nehemian 11:35 records the names Lod, Ono, and the valley of craftsmen. The verse itself lists these place‑names, while the phrase “valley of the craftsmen” also appears in Nehemiah 12:44 where temple workers and artisans were said to reside. Lod, also known as Lydda, lay roughly eight miles (about 13 km) east of ancient Joppa. It is mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 9:32‑35, where Peter heals a crippled man at Lydda, and it later became a notable early Christian community.

Ono was a town situated within the tribal territory of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. It is not on the border of Benjamin and Dan, and it is not referenced in Nehemiah 6:2 as a site of opposition to the wall‑building effort; that opposition involved Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem.

The expression “valley of craftsmen” refers to a specific area mentioned in Nehemiah 12:44, where skilled artisans lived and worked. The text does not link this valley directly to Lod or Ono, and its exact geographical location remains uncertain.

While Nehemiah’s lists serve to document the restoration of Judah’s towns and to emphasize the re‑establishment of the people’s connection to their ancestral lands, they also illustrate the broader effort of the returning exiles to rebuild and repopulate the region. These efforts revitalized the community and reaffirmed their covenant relationship with God, providing valuable geographical and historical context for the post‑exilic rebuilding undertaken under Nehemiah’s leadership.