Text -- Nehemiah 12:1-27 (NET)

The Priests and the Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem

12:1 These are the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 12:2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 12:3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 12:4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah, 12:5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, 12:6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 12:7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and their colleagues in the days of Jeshua. 12:8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who together with his colleagues was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 12:9 Bakbukiah and Unni, their colleagues, stood opposite them in the services. 12:10 Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada, 12:11 Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua. 12:12 In the days of Joiakim, these were the priests who were leaders of the families: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 12:13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 12:14 of Malluch, Jonathan; of Shecaniah, Joseph; 12:15 of Harim, Adna; of Meremoth, Helkai; 12:16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 12:17 of Abijah, Zicri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai; 12:18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 12:19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 12:20 of Sallu, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 12:21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel. 12:22 As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua the heads of families were recorded, as were the priests during the reign of Darius the Persian. 12:23 The descendants of Levi were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles as heads of families up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. 12:24 And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by David the man of God. 12:25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who were guarding the storerooms at the gates. 12:26 These all served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priestly scribe.

The Wall of Jerusalem is Dedicated

12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Neh 12:1

The chief of the priests, the heads of those twenty four courses which David appointed by divine direction, 1Ch. 24:1-19. And whereas there were twenty four, and here but twenty - two, and Neh 12:12, &c. only twenty, the reason of this difference may be, because two of the twenty four courses were extinct in Babylon, and two of the persons here named, Neh 12:2, Neh 12:5, Hattush, and Maadiah, may be omitted in the account of the posterity of these, Neh 12:12, &c. because they had no posterity.

Wesley: Neh 12:1

Either this was another Ezra, or if it were the same mentioned Ezr 7:1, he lived to a great age; which may well be supposed, considering his great sobriety, and his great piety to which God promised long life, and withal the special providence of God continuing him so long in such a season, wherein the church of God did greatly need his help and counsel.

Wesley: Neh 12:8

_He was to see, that the psalms of thanksgiving were continually sung in the temple, in due time and manner.

Wesley: Neh 12:10

Here follows a catalogue of the Jewish high-priests; which was the more necessary, because their times were now to be measured, not by the years of their kings as formerly, but by their high-priests.

Wesley: Neh 12:12

As their fathers were priests in the days of Joshua, so in the days of Joiakim the son of Joshua, the sons of those persons executed the priesthood in their father's steads, some of their fathers probably being yet living, and many of them dead.

Wesley: Neh 12:22

Darius Noehus; and so this Jaddua might be father to him who was in the days of Darius Codomanus, and of Alexander the Great.

Wesley: Neh 12:27

Of the city itself, which is here dedicated to God, and to his honour and service, not only upon a general account, by which we ought to devote ourselves, and all that is ours, to God; but upon a more special ground, because this was a place which God himself had chosen, and sanctified by his temple and gracious presence, and therefore did of right belong to him; whence it is often called the holy city. And they restored it to God by this dedication, withal imploring the presence, and favour, and blessing of to this city by solemn prayers, and praises, and sacrifices, wherewith this dedication was accompanied.

Wesley: Neh 12:27

To which they were now retired after that great and general assembly, chap. 8, 9, & 10. Neh 8:1 &c.

JFB: Neh 12:1

According to Neh 12:7, "the chief of the priests," the heads of the twenty-four courses into which the priesthood was divided (1Ch. 24:1-20). Only four of the courses returned from the captivity (Neh 7:39-42; Ezr 2:36-39). But these were divided by Zerubbabel, or Jeshua, into the original number of twenty-four. Twenty-two only are enumerated here, and no more than twenty in Neh 12:12-21. The discrepancy is due to the extremely probable circumstance that two of the twenty-four courses had become extinct in Babylon; for none belonging to them are reported as having returned (Neh 12:2-5). Hattush and Maadiah may be omitted in the account of those persons' families (Neh 12:12), for these had no sons.

JFB: Neh 12:1

Or Salathiel.

JFB: Neh 12:1

This was most likely a different person from the pious and patriotic leader. If he were the same person, he would now have reached a very patriarchal age--and this longevity would doubtless be due to his eminent piety and temperance, which are greatly conducive to the prolongation of life, but, above all, to the special blessing of God, who had preserved and strengthened him for the accomplishment of the important work he was called upon to undertake in that critical period of the Church's history.

JFB: Neh 12:4

One of the ancestors of John the Baptist (Luk 1:5).

JFB: Neh 12:9

That is, according to some, their stations--the places where they stood when officiating--"ward over against ward" (Neh 12:24); or, according to others, in alternate watches, in course of rotation.

JFB: Neh 12:10

This enumeration was of great importance, not only as establishing their individual purity of descent, but because the chronology of the Jews was henceforth to be reckoned, not as formerly by the reigns of their kings, but by the successions of their high priests.

JFB: Neh 12:11

It is an opinion entertained by many commentators that this person was the high priest whose dignified appearance, solemn manner, and splendid costume overawed and interested so strongly the proud mind of Alexander the Great; and if he were not this person (as some object that this Jaddua was not in office till a considerable period after the death of Nehemiah), it might probably be his father, called by the same name.

JFB: Neh 12:12

As there had been priests in the days of Jeshua, so in the time of Joiakim, the son and successor of Jeshua, the sons of those persons filled the priestly office in the place of their fathers, some of whom were still alive, though many were dead.

JFB: Neh 12:23

That is, the public registers in which the genealogies were kept with great regularity and exactness.|| 12652||1||17||0||@at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem==--This ceremony of consecrating the wall and gates of the city was an act of piety on the part of Nehemiah, not merely to thank God in a general way for having been enabled to bring the building to a happy completion, but especially because that city was the place which He had chosen. It also contained the temple which was hallowed by the manifestation of His presence, and anew set apart to His service. It was on these accounts that Jerusalem was called "the holy city," and by this public and solemn act of religious observance, after a long period of neglect and desecration, it was, as it were, restored to its rightful proprietor. The dedication consisted in a solemn ceremonial, in which the leading authorities, accompanied by the Levitical singers, summoned from all parts of the country, and by a vast concourse of people, marched in imposing procession round the city walls, and, pausing at intervals to engage in united praises, prayer, and sacrifices, supplicated the continued presence, favor, and blessing on "the holy city." "The assembly convened near Jaffa Gate, where the procession commences. Then (Neh 12:31) I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall (near the Valley Gate), and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung gate (through Bethzo). And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah. And (Neh 12:37) at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they (descending by the Tower of Siloam on the interior, and then reascending) went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward (by the staircase of the rampart, having descended to dedicate the fountain structures). And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them (both parties having started from the junction of the first and second walls), and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall (beyond the corner gate). And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate (and the gate of Benjamin), and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate; and they stood still in the prison gate (or high gate, at the east end of the bridge). So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and half of the rulers with me (having thus performed the circuit of the investing walls), and arrived in the courts of the temple" [BARCLAY, City of the Great King].

Clarke: Neh 12:1

Now these are the priests - Not the whole, but the chief of them, as we are informed, Neh 12:7, Neh 12:22, Neh 12:23, and Neh 12:24. The Septuagint omit Neh 12:3, except the word Shechaniah; as also Neh 12:4, Neh 12:5,Neh 12:6, Neh 12:9,Neh 12:37, Neh 12:38, Neh 12:39, Neh 12:40, and Neh 12:41. The Arabic omits the first twenty-six verses, and Neh 12:29. Mention is made of Ezra in this verse; and he is generally allowed to be that Ezra whose book the reader has already passed over, and who came to Jerusalem in the time of Cyrus, with Zerubbabel. If this were the same, he must have been at this time upward of a hundred years of age: and this case is not improbable, as an especial providence might preserve such a very useful man beyond the ordinary age of men. See what has been said on the case of Nehemiah, Neh 1:1 (note).

Clarke: Neh 12:7

The chief of the priests - They were twenty-four orders or courses in number, all subordinate to each other; as established by David, 1Ch 24:18. And these orders or courses were continued till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. See Calmet.

Clarke: Neh 12:8

Over the thanksgiving - The principal singers: See on Neh 11:17 (note).

Clarke: Neh 12:22

Jaddua - This was probably the high priest who went in his pontifical robes, accompanied by his brethren, to meet Alexander the Great, when he was advancing towards Jerusalem, with the purpose to destroy it, after having conquered Tyre and Gaza. Alexander was so struck with the appearance of the priest, that he forbore all hostilities against Jerusalem, prostrated himself before Jaddua, worshipped the Lord at the temple, and granted many privileges to the Jews. See Josephus, Ant. lib. xi., c. 3, and Prideaux’ s Connections, lib. 7, p. 695

Clarke: Neh 12:22

To the reign of Darius the Persian - Calmet maintains that this must have been Darius Codomanus, who was defeated by Alexander the Great: but Archbishop Usher understands it of Darius Nothus, in whose reign he thinks Jaddua was born, who was high priest under Darius Codomanus.

Clarke: Neh 12:23

The book of the chronicles - This is not the book of Chronicles which we have now, no such list being found in it; but some other book or register, which is lost.

Clarke: Neh 12:25

The thresholds of the gates - Some understand this of a sort of porticoes at the gates, and are puzzled about it, because they find no mention of porticoes elsewhere: but why may we not suppose these to resemble our watch-boxes or some temporary moveable shelters for those who took care of the gates? That there must have been some such conveniences, common sense dictates.

Clarke: Neh 12:27

At the dedication of the wall - They sent for the Levites from all quarters, that this dedication might be as solemn and majestic as possible; and it is likely that this was done as soon as convenient after the walls were finished. The dedication seems to have consisted in processions of the most eminent persons around the walls, and thanksgivings to God, who had enabled them to bring the work to so happy a conclusion: and no doubt to all this were added a particular consecration of the city to God, and the most earnest invocation that he would take it under his guardian care, and defend it and its inhabitants against all their enemies

The ancients consecrated their cities to the gods, and the very walls were considered as sacred. Ovid gives us an account of the ceremonies used in laying the foundations of the walls of the city of Rome, by Romulus. After having consulted together who should give name to the city, and have the direction of the wall by which it was necessary to surround it, they agreed to let the case be decided by the flight of birds. One brother went to the top of the Mons Palatinus, the other to that of Mount Aventine. Romulus saw twelve birds, Remus saw but six; the former, therefore, according to agreement, took the command. The poet thus describes the ceremonies used on the occasion: -

Apta dies legitur, qua moenia signet aratro

Sacra Palis suberant; inde movetur opus

Fossa fit ad solidum: fruges jaciuntur in ima

Et de vicino terra petita sol

Fossa repletur humo, plenaeque imponitur ara

Et novus accenso finditur igne focus

Inde, premens stivam, designat moenia sulco

Alba jugum niveo cum bove vacca tulit

Vox tuit haec regis; Condenti Jupiter urbem

Et genitor Mavors, Vestaque mater ades

Quosque pium est adhibere deos, advertite cuncti

Auspicibus vobis hoc mihi surgat opus

Longa sit huic aetas, dominaeque potentia terrae

Sitque sub hac oriens occiduusque dies! Ille precabatur

Ovid, Fast. lib. iv., ver. 819

"A proper day is chosen in which he may mark out the walls with the plough: the festival of Pales was at hand when the work was begun. A ditch is dug down to the solid clay, into which they cast the fruits of the season; and bring earth from the neighboring ground, with which they fill up the trench; and on it build an altar, by whose flames the newly made hearth is cleft asunder. Then Romulus, seizing the plough, which a white heifer yoked with a snowy bull drew along, marked out the walls with a furrow. And thus spoke the king: ‘ O Jupiter, and Father Mars, with Matron Vesta, prosper me in founding this city! And all ye gods, approach, whomsoever it is right to invoke! Under your auspices may the work arise; may it endure for countless ages, and be the mistress of the world; and may the East and the West be under its control!’ Thus he prayed.

The above is a literal version, and the account is not a little curious.

Defender: Neh 12:1

In Neh 12:1-7 are listed twenty-two "chief of the priests" that went to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, whereas only four groups of priests are listed in Ezr 2:36-39. Evidently the four original families of priests were divided into twenty-two groups after arrival in Jerusalem."

Defender: Neh 12:22

According to Josephus, Jaddua was high priest at the time Alexander the Great defeated the Persians, and Greece became the dominant empire in the world. He is said to have dissuaded Alexander from his intention to destroy Jerusalem.

Defender: Neh 12:22

This Darius is not Darius the Great, but probably Darius III, or possibly Darius II. Nehemiah is said by Josephus to have lived to a great age, so he could well have known Jaddua, at least in the early years of his priestly ministry."

Defender: Neh 12:23

Johanan (same as the Jonathan of Neh 12:11) is mentioned by name in the Elephantine papyri as being high priest in about 408 b.c."

TSK: Neh 12:1

We have in this chapter a record of little more than the names of a great many priests and Levites, that were eminent in their day among the returned Jews. It is good to know what our godly ancestors and predecessors were, that we may learn thereby what we should be.

the priests : Neh 7:7; Ezr 2:1, Ezr 2:2

Zerubbabel : 1Ch 3:17-19; Ezr 3:8, Ezr 4:2, Ezr 5:2; Hag 1:1, Hag 1:12, Hag 1:14, Hag 2:2, Hag 2:21-23; Zec 4:6-10; Mat 1:12, Mat 1:13, Zorobabel, Salathiel

Jeshua : Neh 12:10; Zec 3:1-9, Zec 6:11, Joshua

Seraiah : Neh 12:12-21, Neh 10:2-8; Ezr 2:2

TSK: Neh 12:2

Malluch : Neh 12:14, Melicu

TSK: Neh 12:3

Shechaniah : Neh 12:14, Shebaniah

Rehum : Neh 12:15, Harim

Meremoth : Neh 12:15, Meraioth

TSK: Neh 12:4

Ginnetho : Instead of Ginnetho , many manuscripts, and Vulgate have Ginnethon . Neh 12:16, Ginnethon

Abijah : Luk 1:5, Abia

TSK: Neh 12:5

Miamin : Neh 12:17, Miniamin

Maadiah : The variation between Moadiah , מועדיה [Strong’ s H4153], and Maadiah , מעדיה [Strong’ s H4573], merely arises from the elision of ו , wav ; the LXX, however, in Neh 12:17, have Μααδαι . Neh 12:17, Moadiah

TSK: Neh 12:6

Joiarib : Neh 11:10; 1Ch 9:10, Jehoiarib

TSK: Neh 12:7

Sallu : The variation of סלו [Strong’ s H5543], Sallu , and סלי [Strong’ s H5543], Sallai , is simply caused by the mutation of ו , wav and י , yood . Neh 12:20, Sallai

the chief : ""The chief of the priests""seem to have been the heads of the courses established by David. 1Ch 24:18

of Jeshua : Neh 12:1; Ezr 3:2; Hag 1:1; Zec 3:1

TSK: Neh 12:8

Jeshua : Neh 7:48, Neh 9:4, Neh 10:9-13

Mattaniah : Neh 11:17, Neh 11:22

the thanksgiving : that is, The psalms of thanksgiving, Neh 12:24; 1Ch 9:33

TSK: Neh 12:9

over against : Psa 134:1-3

TSK: Neh 12:10

Jeshua : Neh 12:26; 1Ch 6:3-15

Eliashib : Neh 3:1, Neh 13:4, Neh 13:7, Neh 13:28

TSK: Neh 12:11

Jonathan : Jaddua is supposed to be Jaddus the high priest, who went in his pontifical robes to meet Alexander the Great, when advancing to destroy Jerusalem; who was so struck with his appearance, that he forbore all hostilities, and granted many privileges to the Jews. According to Eusebius, he was high priest from am 3665 to 3982. Neh 12:11

TSK: Neh 12:12

the chief : Neh 12:22; 1Ch 9:33, 1Ch 9:34, 1Ch 15:12, 24:6-31

Seraiah : Neh 12:1

TSK: Neh 12:14

Melicu : Neh 12:2, Malluch.

Shebaniah : Two manuscripts, and Vulgate in Neh 12:3, have Shebaniah ; and here many manuscripts have Shechaniah . Neh 12:3, Shechaniah

TSK: Neh 12:15

Harim : Neh 12:3, Rehum

Meraioth : Neh 12:3, Meremoth

TSK: Neh 12:16

Iddo : Neh 12:4

Ginnethon : Neh 12:4, Ginnetho

TSK: Neh 12:17

Miniamin : The LXX, and Vulgate have here Μιαμιν , Miamin . Neh 12:5, Miamin

Moadiah : Neh 12:5, Maadiah

TSK: Neh 12:18

Shemaiah : Neh 12:6

TSK: Neh 12:20

Sallai : Neh 12:7, Sallu

TSK: Neh 12:22

Eliashib : Neh 12:10, Neh 12:11

recorded : Neh 12:12, Neh 12:13

TSK: Neh 12:23

the book : 1Chr. 9:14-44

TSK: Neh 12:24

Hashabiah : Neh 12:8, Neh 8:7, Neh 9:4, Neh 10:9-13

according : 1Chr. 23:1-32, 25:1-26:32

the man : Deu 33:1; Jos 14:6; 1Ki 17:24; 2Ch 8:14; 1Ti 6:11; 2Ti 3:17

ward : Neh 12:9; Ezr 3:10, Ezr 3:11

TSK: Neh 12:25

Mattaniah : Neh 12:8, Neh 12:9, Neh 11:17-19; 1Ch 9:14-17

keeping : 1Ch 23:32, 1Ch 26:12; Isa 21:8

thresholds : or, treasuries, or assemblies

TSK: Neh 12:26

Joiakim : Neh 12:10

Nehemiah : Neh 8:9; Ezr 7:6, Ezr 7:11

TSK: Neh 12:27

am 3559, bc 445

the dedication : Jerusalem was the holy city, and the wall was built under the immediate superintendence and blessing of Jehovahcaps1 . icaps0 t was therefore proper that it should be dedicated to that God who was there worshipped by solemn praises, prayers, and sacrifices. The dedication seems to have consisted in processions of the most eminent persons around the walls, with thanksgivings to God, who had enabled them to bring the work to so happy a conclusion; and, no doubt, to all this were added a particular consecration of the city to God, and the most earnest invocation that He would take it under His guardianship, and defend it and its inhabitants against their enemies. Deu 20:5; Psa 30:1 *title

out : Neh 11:20; 1Ch 15:4, 1Ch 15:12, 1Ch 25:6, 1Ch 26:31; 2Ch 5:13, 2Ch 29:4-11, 2Ch 29:30; Ezr 8:15-20

gladness : Neh 8:17; Deu 16:11; 2Sa 6:12; 2Ch 29:30; Ezr 6:16; Psa 98:4-6, Psa 100:1, Psa 100:2; Phi 4:4

thanksgivings : 1Ch 13:8, 1Ch 15:16, 1Ch 15:28, 1Ch 16:5, 1Ch 16:42, 1Ch 23:5, 1Ch 25:1-6; 2Ch 5:13, 2Ch 7:6; Ezr 3:10, Ezr 3:11; Psa 81:1-4, Psa 92:1-3, Psa 149:3, Psa 150:2-5; Rev 5:8

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Neh 12:1

The priests - The number of the names here given, which is 22, is probably to be connected with that of the Davidic "courses,"which was 24 1Ch 24:7-18. Eight names are identical with those of the heads in David’ s time. On comparing the present list with that of the families who sealed to Nehemiah’ s covenant Neh 10:2-8, we shall find that the first sixteen recur in that document nearly in the same order; but that the last six are absent from it. It would seem that as these six declined to seal to Nehemiah’ s covenant, they were placed below the rest here in a sort of supplementary list. Note especially the "and"which connects the second part of the lists with the earlier part, both in Neh 12:6 and in Neh 12:19.

Barnes: Neh 12:8

Of the Levitical houses here mentioned, three only returned at first, those of Jeshua, Kadmiel, and Judah or Hodevah Neh 7:43. The others must have returned subsequently.

Barnes: Neh 12:10-11

The six generations of high priests covered a little more than two centuries (538-333 B.C.), or a little under thirty-five years to a generation. Jaddua was the high priest who (according to Josephus) had an interview with Alexander shortly after the battle of Issus.

Barnes: Neh 12:22-23

These verses interrupt the account of the church officers in the time of Joiakim, resumed in Neh 12:24. They appear to be an addition to the original text, made about the time of Alexander the Great, when the Books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah would seem to have first taken their existing shape. The same writer who introduced these verses, probably also added Neh 12:11 to the original text.

Darius the Persian - Probably Darius Codomannus (336-331 B.C.), the antagonist of Alexander the Great. See the introduction of the Book of Nehemiah.

This passage shows that the practice of keeping a record of public events in state archives was continued after the return from the captivity, at least to the time of Johanan, the son, i. e., "the grandson,"of Eliasbib.

Barnes: Neh 12:24

Jeshua the son of Kadmiel - If the reading be sound, this Jeshua must have been the head of the Levitical family of Kadmiel in the time of Joiakim; but (compare Neh 8:7; Neh 9:4), some read "Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel,"etc.

Ward over against ward - i. e., "alternately,"one part of the choir corresponding the other.

Barnes: Neh 12:25

In 1Ch 9:17, 1Ch 9:24, 1Ch 9:26, four families of porters only are mentioned; six are implied here, in Neh 7:45, and in Ezr 2:42. From 1Ch 26:14-19 it appears that the temple had four chief gates, fronting the cardinal points, and two minor ones, "toward Asuppim,"and "at Parbar."

Barnes: Neh 12:27

The dedication of the wall - The ceremony had been deferred for the space of nearly 12 years Neh 13:6. Perhaps Nehemiah required an express permission from the Persian king before he could venture on a solemnity which might have been liable to misrepresentation.

Out of all their places - i. e., out of the various cities of Judah and Benjamin in which they dwelt Neh 11:36.

Poole: Neh 12:1

The priests i.e. the chief of the priests , as they are called here, Neh 12:7 , to wit, the heads of those twenty-four courses which David appointed by Divine direction, 1Ch 24 . And whereas there are twenty-four, and here but twenty-two, and Neh 12:12 , &c. only twenty, the reason of this difference may possibly be this, because two of the twenty-four courses were extinct in Babylon, or at least none of them was then returned; and two of the persons here named, Neh 12:2,5 , to wit, Hattush and Mandish, may be omitted in the account of the posterity of these persons, Neh 12:12 , &c., because they had no posterity. Possibly these were not the same courses which David had appointed, but others which Zerubbabel and Joshua had constituted in imitation of that order as far as they could.

Ezra : either this was another Ezra, or if it were the same mentioned Ezr 7 , he lived to a great age; which may well be supposed, considering his great sobriety, and abstinence from those evil practices which shorten men’ s lives, and his great piety, to which God promised long life, and withal the special providence of God confirming him so long in such a season wherein the church of God did greatly need his help and counsel.

Poole: Neh 12:2

In the repetition of Malluch’ s and some other men’ s names hereafter, Neh 12:14 , &c., there are some small variations, which are very frequent in that language.

Poole: Neh 12:4

The progenitor of John the Baptist, Luk 1:5 .

Poole: Neh 12:7

Of their brethren i.e. of the priests, who were their brethren.

Poole: Neh 12:9

i.e. In the places where they were appointed to stand, and wait, and perform their office, one standing over against another, as it is explained, Neh 12:24 , ward over against ward; for the Hebrew word is the same there and here. Others, according to their turns , or courses , of which see 1Ch 25:9 .

Poole: Neh 12:10

Here follows a catalogue of the Jewish high priests; which was the more necessary, because their times were now to be measured, not by the years of their kings, as formerly, but by their high priests.

Eliashib of whom see Neh 3:1 13:4,5 .

Poole: Neh 12:11

Generally supposed to be the same man who was high priest in the days of Alexander the Great, as Josephus mentions; whence a great difficulty ariseth, how Nehemiah could mention this man, who seems not to have been high priest till many years after Nehemiah’ s death. But it seems not necessary that this

Jaddua should be the same person, for he might be the father of that Jaddua , both being called by the same name; or, if he were the same, the blessing of a very long life might be given to this great and excellent governor, as it was to Ezra, that famous scribe, as was noted on Neh 12:1 , and that for the very same reason. He might also live to see Jaddua, though not to see him high priest, which might be many years after. Or this passage might be put into this book by some sacred or inspired penman, there being some, though but few, such passages in the foregoing books of Scripture, which were added by succeeding men of God in after-times.

Poole: Neh 12:12

As their fathers were priests in the days of Joshua, so in the days of Joiakim, the son of Joshua, the sons of those persons executed the priesthood in their fathers’ steads, some of their fathers probably being yet living, and many of them now dead.

Poole: Neh 12:22

Either Darius Codomanus , and then what was said concerning Jaddua, Neh 12:11 , must be in part repeated and applied here: or Darius Nothus ; and so this Jaddua might be father to him who was in the days of Darius Codomanus, and of Alexander the Great.

Poole: Neh 12:23

In the book of the chronicles i.e. in the public annals or registers, in which the genealogies of the several families were set down by the Jews with great exactness, as all persons agree.

Poole: Neh 12:24

Of which See Poole "Neh 12:9" .

Poole: Neh 12:25

To wit, of the temple, their watching-place being close by the thresholds of the gates, as it now is.

Poole: Neh 12:27

At the dedication of the wall and of the gates, which are mentioned Neh 12:30 ; and of the city itself within the gates; which is here dedicated to God, and to his honour and service, not only upon a general account, by which we ought to devote ourselves, and all that is ours, to God; but upon a more special ground, because this was a place which God himself had chosen, and sanctified by his temple and gracious presence, and therefore did of right belong to him; whence it is oft called the holy city , as hath been observed before. And they restored it to God by this dedication, withal imploring the presence, and favour, and blessing of God to this city by solemn prayers, and praises, and sacrifices, wherewith this dedication was accompanied. See Deu 20:5 1Ki 8:63 Ezr 6:17 Psa 30:1 .

Out of all their places to which they were now retired after that great and general assembly, Ne 8 Ne 9 Ne 10 .

Haydock: Neh 12:1

Priests. But not all, as some are omitted. See ver. 7, 22, &c. ---

Josue, or Jesus, the high priest. ---

Esdras, the famous scribe, who is supposed to have returned to Babylon, and to have been living under Nehemias, who came to Jerusalem 81 years after Zorobabel. If, therefore, Esdras was only 20 years old at the former period, he must have lived above 100 years, (Calmet) which is not improbable. (Lyranus; Tirinus, &c.) ---

He returned again with many of his countrymen, by the king's leave. (Worthington)

Haydock: Neh 12:7

Chief. Heads of the 24 great families, 1 Paralipomenon xxiv. 18.

Haydock: Neh 12:8

Hymns. To preside over the bands, chap. xi. 17. (Calmet)

Haydock: Neh 12:9

Office. Hebrew, "in the watches," each in his turn, (Vatable) "daily." (Septuagint) (Menochius)

Haydock: Neh 12:10

Joacim. These are some of the successors of Josue, (Menochius) who were high priests till the time of Jeddoa, or Jaddus. (Worthington)

Haydock: Neh 12:11

Jonathan, is called Johanan by St. Jerome, (in Daniel) Josephus, &c. ---

Jeddoa. The Jaddus, who went to meet Alexander, in his pontifical attire, and was graciously received by him; as the monarch revered in his person the God of the Hebrews, who had formerly appeared to him in this manner, to encourage him to undertake the conquests of Asia. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] xi. 8.) ---

Some think that the names of Jonathan and Jeddoa, and the ver. 22, 23, and 24, have been inserted since the time of Nehemias; as he must have lived 140 years, to see the conquests of Alexander. (Tirinus; Petau; N. Alex. T. 2 Dis. 7.) ---

He could not be less than 20, when he returned in [the year of the world] 3550. Jaddus met Alexander in 3672; consequently, at that time, Nehemias was 142 years old. But if he died at the commencement of the reign of Darius Codomannus 3668, he would still be 138. (Calmet) ---

Yet this longevity is by no means incredible, ver. 1., and chap. xiii. 28. (Haydock) ---

Usher (the year of the world 3602) maintains that Johanan was pontiff under Memnon.

Haydock: Neh 12:12

Saraia had given his name to one of the principal families, at the head of which was Maraia, at this time. The Latin manuscripts, Septuagint, and Syriac style him Amaria.

Haydock: Neh 12:17

Phelti was chief of two families, (Calmet) or perhaps the name of the head of Miamin (Haydock) is lost. (Vatable) ---

And, is not in Hebrew, "of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Pittai," (Protestants) (Haydock)

Haydock: Neh 12:19

Jodaia. The same name is written Idaia, ver. 6, and 21.

Haydock: Neh 12:22

Persian. Surnamed Codomannus, (Haydock) Condomanus, (Grotius; Calmet) or Natus, under whom Jaddus was born, though he was pontiff under the former. (Usher, the year of the world 3553.)

Haydock: Neh 12:23

Chronicles. Not those which are now extant: but some records which regarded the families of the priests. See 1 Esdras ii. 61. ---

The son, or grandson of Eliasib. The author refers to others records, ver. 26. (Calmet)

Haydock: Neh 12:24

Order. Hebrew, "ward over-against ward." One company kept guard while another retired. (Menochius)

Haydock: Neh 12:25

Entrances. These are not distinctly mentioned before. See 1 Paralipomenon xxvi. 15, 17., and Ezechiel xl. 8. (Calmet) ---

Septuagint have only, after order, or him, ver. 25. "When I assembled the door-keepers, (ver. 26,) in the days of Joakeim." (Haydock)

Haydock: Neh 12:26

Scribe. Could these records have any greater authority than Nehemias himself? It seems, therefore, that this had been added by a later hand, whose testimony is perfectly authentic and inspired. (Calmet) ---

Nehemias might also refer to some records which he, or some other, had drawn up. (Haydock)

Haydock: Neh 12:27

Wall. Some time before, (Usher; Calmet) or now, when the houses were completed. (Ven. Bede) (Tirinus) ---

Places, for greater solemnity. The ancients deemed "the walls and gates sacred things, the property of no man." (Justinian, l. sacra loca.) ---

Ovid describes the superstitious rites, with which the Romans laid the foundations of their cities, on some lucky day. Fossa fit ad solidum, fruges jaciuntur in ima, &c. (Fast. iv.)

Gill: Neh 12:1

Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua,.... Who went up from the captivity in Babylon to Jerusalem with them; the one was the prince, the other the high priest, the same with Joshua the high priest, Zec 3:1, the names of the priests are given in this and the six following verses:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra; not Jeremiah the prophet, who cannot be thought to live so long as through the captivity; but Ezra may be Ezra the priest and scribe, who might come up with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem, and return to Babylon again, and from thence come again as he did, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, Ezr 7:1, though this by some ^m is not thought very probable.

Gill: Neh 12:2-7

Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,.... Whose names are among the sealers of the covenant, Neh 10:3. Malluch is afterwards called Melicu, Neh 12:14,

Shechaniah, called Shebaniah, Neh 12:14 and so in Neh 10:4

Rehum, who, by transposition of letters, is Harim, Neh 12:15, and so in Neh 10:5.

Meremoth, called Meraioth, Neh 12:15,

Iddo, Ginnetho, read Ginnethon, Neh 12:16 so in Neh 10:6.

Abijah; there was a course of a priest of this name, of which Zechariah the father of John the Baptist was, Luk 1:5.

Miamin, Maadiah, Bilgah; the first two are called Miniamin and Moadiah, Neh 12:17.

Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu; called Sallai, Neh 12:20.

Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah these were the chief of the priests, and of their brethren, in the days of Jeshua; heads of courses; or, however, priests of the greatest note in the times of Jeshua the high priest.

Gill: Neh 12:8

Moreover the Levites,.... Who lived in the same times: were

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah; most of these are made mention of in Neh 8:7, the last of them is said to be

over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren; he was the precentor, or had the directing and conducting of the songs of the temple, particularly the thanksgiving song at the daily sacrifices; Jarchi takes the word here used to be the name of a musical instrument.

Gill: Neh 12:9

Also Bakbukiah and Unni,.... Two other Levites; the first is mentioned in Neh 11:17,

their brethren, were over against them in the watches; the Levites were divided into twenty four wards, and these were placed one against another, 1Ch 23:6.

Gill: Neh 12:10-11

And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begot Joiada, and Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua. This is an account of the high priests in succession in the second temple, the first six of them; and if Jaddua, the last mentioned, is the same with Jaddus, as Josephus ⁿ supposes, who went forth in his pontifical robes to meet Alexander the great returning from his conquests of Tyre and Gaza, from whom he obtained many favours, and whom he had into the temple, and showed him the prophecy of Daniel concerning himself; this paragraph must be written by another hand, and not Nehemiah, since it can hardly be thought he should live so long; and as to his times, this account of him, or the history of his own times, seems not to have gone through the priesthood of Eliashib, the third of those high priests, see Neh 13:28, and to reach no further than to the thirty second of Darius Hystaspis, Neh 13:6 this fragment therefore might be inserted by some godly man under a divine direction in later times, as we have several insertions in the books of Moses and Joshua of the like kind; and particularly in 1Ch 3:19 where the genealogy of Zerubbabel is carried down beyond the times of the Maccabees, and so could not be placed there by Ezra.

Gill: Neh 12:12-21

And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers,.... This was the son and successor of Jeshua, or Joshua, the first high priest of the second temple; the principal men of the priesthood in his time were as follow, and who were the sons, or however the descendants of the priests in the time of his father before mentioned: these were Meraiah, Hananiah, Meshullam, Jehohanan, Jonathan, Joseph, Adna, Helkai, Zechariah, (the prophet of that name,) Meshullam, Zichri, Piltai, Shammua, Jehonathan, Mattenai, Uzzi, Kallai, Eber, Hashabiah, Nethaneel; in all twenty, whereas there are twenty two named, as in his father's days, there being no sons or descendants from two of them, namely, Hattush and Miamin.

Gill: Neh 12:22

The Levites, in the days of Eliashib,.... The third priest of the second temple:

Joiada; he was the son of Eliashib, and the fourth high priest:

and Johanan; the same with Jonathan, Neh 12:11 and whom Josephus ^o also calls Joannes:

and Jaddua; the same as in Neh 12:10 in the days of each of these were

recorded chief of the fathers; the principal men among the Levites:

also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian; thought to be Darius Codomannus, the last king of the Persian monarchy, whom Alexander conquered; and if so, this verse must be inserted after the death of Nehemiah, and as the next verse also seems to be; for these two verses interrupt the natural order of the relation: an account is given of the priests in the times of Joiakim, Neh 12:12, these verses being inserted, the account goes on, Neh 12:24, &c. of the chief of the Levites in the times of Joiakim only.

Gill: Neh 12:23

The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of the chronicles,.... Some think this refers to 1Ch 9:14, &c.

until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib; from whence Dr. Lightfoot ^p concludes, that the Chronicles were written by Ezra in the times of this Johanan.

Gill: Neh 12:24

And the chief of the Levites,.... Here the thread of the history of Nehemiah, interrupted by the insertion of the two preceding verses, is carried from the priests to the Levites in the times of the third high priest:

Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel; these were singers, since it follows:

with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward; which office of theirs they performed by turns in courses, as David under a divine direction ordered, see 1Ch 23:5.

Gill: Neh 12:25

Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters,.... At the gates of the temple, see 1Ch 9:15,

keeping the ward, at the thresholds of the gates; of the temple, where they stood and watched; or "at the collection of the gates", meaning either where the people were gathered together, or where money gathered was laid up; and so some render it, "the treasuries of the gates": unless a place called Asuppim should be meant, 1Ch 26:15.

Gill: Neh 12:26

These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak,.... Who was high priest in Babylon, and whose grandson was now high priest in the time referred to:

and in the days of Nehemiah the governor; the writer of this book:

and of Ezra the priest, the scribe; who was contemporary with him.

Gill: Neh 12:27

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem,.... In which many priests and Levites assisted, and seems to be the reason of the above account of them; the dedication of the wall takes in the whole city, gates, and houses, Neh 12:30, and if a new house was to be dedicated, much more a new city, and especially the holy city, in which stood the temple of the Lord, see Deu 20:5, this dedication was made by prayer and songs of praise, as follow, and no doubt by sacrifices, and was kept as a festival; and indeed, according to the Jewish writers ^q, it was annually observed on the seventh of Elul, or August; it was on the twenty fifth of that month that the wall was finished, Neh 6:15, but the gates were not set up, and all things for the dedication were not ready till Elul, or August, following; and then all being finished, they made and served the seventh of that month as a festival:

they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness; to assist in the solemnity of the day both with vocal and instrumental music, as follows:

both with thanksgiving and with singing; with songs of praise and thankfulness vocally, that they had been able, notwithstanding all the malice of their enemies, to build the wall in so short a time; or with a song, perhaps the thirtieth psalm was sung on this occasion:

with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps; some playing on one, and some on another, which were the three principal instruments of music used by them, see 1Ch 15:16.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Neh 12:1

¹ tn Heb “who went up.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:4

¹ tc Most Hebrew MSS read “Ginnethoi”; the present translation follows a number of Hebrew MSS and the Vulgate (cf. Neh 12:16 and NIV, NCV, NLT).

NET Notes: Neh 12:7

¹ tn Heb “heads” (so also in v. 12).

² tn Heb “brothers” (also in vv. 8, 9, 24, 36).

NET Notes: Neh 12:8

¹ tn Heb “he and his brothers.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:9

¹ tc The translation reads וְעֻנִּי (vÿ’unni) with the Qere rather than וְעֻנּוֹ (vÿ’uno) of the MT Kethib.

NET Notes: Neh 12:10

¹ tn Heb “begat.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:14

¹ tc The present translation reads with the LXX לְמַלּוּךְ (lÿmallukh) rather than לִמְלוּכִי (limlukhi) of the Kethib (by dittography) or לִמְלִיכוּ (limlikhu) of the Qere.

² tc Most Hebrew MSS read “Shebaniah” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV); the present translation follows the reading of some Hebrew MSS, some LXX MSS, and the Syriac (cf. Neh 12:3 and NIV, NCV, NLT).

NET Notes: Neh 12:15

¹ tc The present translation reads with the Lucianic Greek recension and the Syriac Peshitta לִמְרֵמוֹת (limremot, cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT “Meremoth”) rather than the MT reading לִמְרָיוֹת (limrayot, cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV “Meraioth”). Cf. v. 3.

NET Notes: Neh 12:16

¹ tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere and the Syriac Peshitta לְעִדּוֹא (lÿ’iddo’, “Iddo”) rather than the MT reading לַעֲדָיָא (la’adaya’) which probably arose through graphic confusion. Cf. v. 4.

NET Notes: Neh 12:17

¹ tn Or “of Miniamin, …; of Moadiah, Piltai,” where the name of the leader of the family of Miniamin has dropped out of the text due to a problem in transmission.

NET Notes: Neh 12:20

¹ tc The present translation reads סַלּוּ (sallu, cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT “Sallu”) rather than the MT reading סַלַּי (sallai, cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV “Sallai” ). Cf. v. 7.

NET Notes: Neh 12:22

¹ tn Some scholars delete these words, regarding them as a later scribal addition to the text.

NET Notes: Neh 12:23

¹ tn Or “the Book of the Annals” (so NRSV); NLT “The Book of History.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:24

¹ tn Heb “in [accord with] the commandment of.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:26

¹ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

NET Notes: Neh 12:27

¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

² tn Heb “from all their places.” The words “they lived” are implied.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:1

Now these [are] the priests and the Levites that ^{( a )} went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

^{( a )} From Babylon to Jerusalem.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:7

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These [were] the ^{( b )} chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.

^{( b )} Next in dignity to the high priests and who were of the stock of Aaron.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:8

Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and] Mattaniah, ^{( c )} [which was] over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.

^{( c )} Had charge of them who sang the psalms.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:9

Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, [were] over against them in the ^{( d )} watches.

^{( d )} They kept the wards and watches according to their turns, (2Ch 23:6).

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:12

And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers: of ^{( e )} Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

^{( e )} That is, next to Seraiah or rather of the order, who was called after the name of Seraiah.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:17

Of ^{( f )} Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;

^{( f )} Of which was Zachariah, John the Baptist's father.

Geneva Bible: Neh 12:24

And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise [and] to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over ^{( g )} against ward.

^{( g )} That is, one after another and every one in his course.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Neh 12:1-47

1 The priests and the Levites which came up with Zerubbabel.

10 The succession of high priests.

22 Certain chief Levites.

27 The solemnity of the dedication of the walls.

44 The offices of priests and Levites appointed in the temple. We have in this chapter a record of little more than the names of a great many priests and Levites, that were eminent in their day among the returned Jews. It is good to know what our godly ance

MHCC: Neh 12:1-26

It is a debt we owe to faithful ministers, to remember our guides, who have spoken to us the word of God. It is good to know what our godly predecessors were, that we may learn what we should be.

MHCC: Neh 12:27-43

All our cities, all our houses, must have holiness to the Lord written upon them. The believer should undertake nothing which he does not dedicate to the Lord. We are concerned to cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts, when any work for God is to pass through them. Those that would be employed to sanctify others, must sanctify themselves, and set themselves apart for God. To those who are sanctified, all their creature-comforts and enjoyments are made holy. The people greatly rejoiced. All that share in public mercies, ought to join in public thanksgivings.

Matthew Henry: Neh 12:1-26

We have here the names, and little more than the names, of a great many priests and Levites, that were eminent in their day among the returned Jews. Why this register should be here inserted by Nehemiah does not appear, perhaps to keep in remembrance those good men, that posterity might know to whom they were beholden, under God, for the happy revival and re-establishment of their religion among them. Thus must we contribute towards the performance of that promise, Psa 112:6, The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. Let the memory of the just be blessed, be perpetuated. It is a debt we still owe to faithful ministers to remember our guides, who have spoken to us the word of God, Heb 13:7. Perhaps it is intended to stir up their posterity, who succeeded them in the priest's office and inherited their dignities and preferments, to imitate their courage and fidelity. It is good to know what our godly ancestors and predecessors were, that we may learn thereby what we should be. We have here, 1. The names of the priests and Levites that came up with the first out of Babylon, when Jeshua was high priest. Jeremiah and Ezra are mentioned with the first (Neh 12:1), but, it is supposed, not Jeremiah the prophet nor Ezra the scribe; the fame of the one was long before and that of the other some time after, though both of them were priests. Of one of the Levites it is said (Neh 12:8) that he was over the thanksgiving, that is, he was entrusted to see that the psalms, the thanksgiving psalms, were constantly sung in the temple in due time and manner. The Levites kept their turns in their watches, reliving one another as becomes brethren, fellow-labourers, and fellow-soldiers. 2. The succession of high priests during the Persian monarchy, from Jeshua (or Jesus), who was high priest at the time of the restoration, to Jaddua (or Jaddus), who was high priest when Alexander the Great, after the conquest of Tyre, came to Jerusalem, and paid great respect to this Jaddus, who met him in his pontifical habit, and showed him the prophecy of Daniel, which foretold his conquests. 3. The next generation of priests, who were chief men, and active in the days of Joiakim, sons of the first set. Note, We have reason to acknowledge God's favour to his church, and care of it, in that, as one generation of ministers passes away, another comes. All those who are mentioned Neh 12:1, etc., as eminent in their generation, are again mentioned, though with some variation in several of the names, Neh 12:12, etc., except two, as having sons that were likewise eminent in their generation - a rare instance, that twenty good fathers should leave behind them twenty good sons (for so many here are) that filled up their places. 4. The next generation of Levites, or rather a latter generation; for those priests who are mentioned flourished in the days of Joiakim the high priest, these Levites in the days of Eliashib, Neh 12:22. Perhaps then the forementioned families of the priests began to degenerate, and the third generation of them came short of the first two; but the work of God shall never fail for want of instruments. Then a generation of Levites was raised up, who were recorded chief of the fathers (Neh 12:22), and were eminently serviceable to the interests of the church, and their service not the less acceptable either to God or to his people for their being Levites only, of the lower rank of ministers. Eliashib the high priest being allied to Tobiah (Neh 13:4), the other priests grew remiss; but then the Levites appeared the more zealous, as appears by this, that those who were now employed in expounding (Neh 8:7) and in praying (Neh 9:4, Neh 9:5) were all Levites, not priests, regard being had to their personal qualifications more than to their order. These Levites were some of them singers (Neh 12:24), to praise and give thanks, others of them porters (Neh 12:25), keeping the ward at the thresholds of the gates, and both according to the command of David.

Matthew Henry: Neh 12:27-43

We have read of the building of the wall of Jerusalem with a great deal of fear and trembling; we have here an account of the dedicating of it with a great deal of joy and triumph. Those that sow in tears shall thus reap.

I. We must enquire what was the meaning of this dedication of the wall; we will suppose it to include the dedication of the city too ( continens pro contentothe thing containing for the thing contained ), and therefore it was not done till the city was pretty well replenished, Neh 11:1. It was a solemn thanksgiving to God for his great mercy to them in the perfecting of this undertaking, of which they were the more sensible because of the difficulty and opposition they had met with in it. 2. They hereby devoted the city in a peculiar manner to God and to his honour, and took possession of it for him and in his name. All our cities, all our houses, must have holiness to the Lord written upon them; but this city was (so as never any other was) a holy city, the city of the great King (Psa 48:2 and Mat 5:35): it had been so ever since God chose it to put his name there, and as such, it being now refitted, it was afresh dedicated to God by the builders and inhabitants, in token of their acknowledgment that they were his tenants, and their desire that it might still be is and that the property of it might never be altered. Whatever is done for their safety, ease, and comfort, must be designed for God's honour and glory. 3. They hereby put the city and its walls under the divine protection, owning that unless the Lord kept the city the walls were built in vain. When this city was in possession of the Jebusites, they committed the guardianship of it to their gods, though they were blind and lame ones, 2Sa 5:6. With much more reason do the people of God commit it to his keeping who is all-wise and almighty. The superstitious founders of cities had an eye to the lucky position of the heavens (see Mr. Gregory's works, p. 29, etc.); but these pious founders had an eye to God only, to his providence, and not to fortune.

II. We must observe with what solemnity it was performed, under the direction of Neh 1:1-11. The Levites from all parts of the country were summoned to attend. The city must be dedicated to God, and therefore his ministers must be employed in the dedicating of it, and the surrender must pass through their hands. When those solemn feasts were over (ch. 8 and 9) they went home to their respective posts, to mind their cures in the country; but now their presence and assistance were again called for. 2. Pursuant to this summons, there was a general rendezvous of all the Levites, Neh 12:28, Neh 12:29. Observe in what method they proceeded. (1.) They purified themselves, Neh 12:30. We are concerned to cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts, when any work for God is to pass through them. They purified themselves and then the people. Those that would be instrumental to sanctify others must sanctify themselves, and set themselves apart for God, with purity of mind and sincerity of intention. Then they purified the gates and the wall. Then may we expect comfort when we are prepared to receive it. To the pure all things are pure (Tit 1:15); and, to those who are sanctified, houses and tables, and all their creature comforts and enjoyments, are sanctified, 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5. This purification was performed, it is probable, by sprinkling the water of purifying (or of separation, as it is called, Num 19:9) on themselves and the people, the walls and the gates - a type of the blood of Christ, with which our consciences being purged from dead works, we become fit to serve the living God (Heb 9:14) and to be his care. (2.) The princes, priests, and Levites, walked round upon the wall in two companies, with musical instruments, to signify the dedication of it all to God, the whole circuit of it (Neh 12:36); so that it is likely they sung psalms as they went along, to the praise and glory of God. This procession is here largely described. They had a rendezvous at one certain lace, where they divided themselves into two companies. Half of the princes, with several priests and Levites, went on the right hand, Ezra leading their van, Neh 12:36. The other half of the princes and priests, who gave thanks likewise, went to the left hand, Nehemiah bringing up the rear, Neh 12:38. At length both companies met in the temple, where they joined their thanksgivings, Neh 12:40. The crowd of people, it is likely, walked on the ground, some within the wall and others without, one end of this ceremony being to affect them with the mercy they were giving thanks for, and to perpetuate the remembrance of it among them. Processions, for such purposes, have their use. (3.) The people greatly rejoiced, Neh 12:43. While the princes, priests, and Levites, testified their joy and thankfulness by great sacrifices, sound of trumpet, musical instruments, and songs of praise, the common people testified theirs by loud shouts, which were heard afar off, further than the more harmonious sound of their songs and music: and these shouts, coming from a sincere and hearty joy, are here taken notice of; for God overlooks not, but graciously accepts, the honest zealous services of mean people, though there is in them little of art and they are far from being fine. It is observed that the women and children rejoiced; and their hosannas were not despised, but recorded to their praise. All that share in public mercies ought to join in public thanksgivings. The reason given is that God had made them rejoice with great joy. He had given them both matter for joy and hearts to rejoice; his providence had made them safe and easy, and then his grace made them cheerful and thankful. The baffled opposition of their enemies, no doubt, added to their joy and mixed triumph with it. Great mercies call for the most solemn returns of praise, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem!

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:1-9

Neh 12:1-7

Neh 12:1 contains the title of the first list , Neh 12:1-9. "These are thepriests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel ... and Joshua;"comp. Ezr 2:1-2. Then follow, Neh 12:1, the names of the priests, with thesubscription: "These are the heads of the priests and of their brethren, inthe days of Joshua." ואחיהם still depends on ראשׁי . The brethren of the priests are the Levites, as being their fellow-tribesmen and assistants. Two-and-twenty names of such heads areenumerated, and these reappear, with but slight variations attributable toclerical errors, as names of priestly houses in Neh 12:12-21, where they aregiven in conjunction with the names of those priests who, in the days ofJoiakim, either represented these houses, or occupied as heads the firstposition in them. The greater number, viz., 15, of these have already beenmentioned as among those who, together with Nehemiah, sealed as headsof their respective houses the agreement to observe the law, Neh 10. Hencethe present chapter appears to be the most appropriate place forcomparing with each other the several statements given in the books ofNehemiah and Ezra, concerning the divisions or orders of priests in theperiod immediately following the return from the captivity, and fordiscussing the question how the heads and houses of priests enumerated inNeh 10 and 12 stand related on the one hand to the list of the priestlyraces who returned with Zerubbabel and Joshua, and on the other to thetwenty-four orders of priests instituted by David. For the purpose ofgiving an intelligible answer to this question, we first place in juxtapositionthe three lists given in Nehemiah, chs. 10 and 12.

Neh 10:3-9	Neh 12:1-7	Neh 12:12-21
Priests who sealed the Covenant	Priests who were Heads of their Houses	Priestly Houses	andtheir respective Heads
1. Seraiah	1. Seraiah*	SeraiahMeraiah
2. Azariah	2. Jeremiah*	Jeremiah	Hananiah
3. Jeremiah	3. Ezra*	Ezra	Meshullam
4. Pashur	4. Amariah*	Amariah	Jehohanan
5. Amariah	5. Malluch*	Meluchi	Jonathan
6. Malchijah	6. Hattush*
7. Hattush	7. Shecaniah*	Shebaniah	Joseph
8. Shebaniah	8. Rehum*	Harim	Adna
9. Malluch	9. Meremoth*	Meraioth	Helkai
10. Harim	10. Iddo	Idiah	Zecariah
11. Meremoth	11. Ginnethon*	Ginnethon	Meshullam
12. Obadiah	12. Abijah*	Abijah	Zichri
13. Daniel	13. Miamin*	Miniamin
14. Ginnethon	14. Maadiah*	Moadiah	Piltai
15. Baruch	15. Bilgah*	Bilgah	Shammua
16. Meshullam	16. Shemaiah*	Shemaiah	Jehonathan
17. Abijah	17. Joiarib	Joiarib	Mathnai
18. Mijamin	18. Jedaiah	Jedaiah	Uzzi
19. Maaziah	19. Sallu	Sallai	Kallai
20. Bilgai	20. Amok	Amok	Eber
21. Shemaiah	21. Hilkiah	Hilkiah	Hashabiah
	22. Jedaiah	22. Jedaiah	Nethaneel

When, in the first place, we compare the two series in Neh 12, we find thename of the head of the house of Minjamin, and the names both of thehouse and the head, Hattush, between Meluchi and Shebaniah, omitted. Inother respects the two lists agree both in the order and number of thenames, with the exception of unimportant variations in the names, as מלוּכי ( Chethiv , Neh 12:14) for מלּוּך (Neh 12:2); שׁכניה (Neh 12:3) for שׁבניה (Neh 12:14, Neh 10:6); רחם (Neh 12:3), atransposition of חרם (Neh 12:15, Neh 10:6); מריות (Neh 12:15)instead of מרמות (Neh 12:3, Neh 10:6); עדיא ( Chethiv , Neh 12:16) instead of עדּוא (Neh 12:4); מיּמין (Neh 12:5) for מנימין (Neh 12:17); מועדיה (Neh 12:17) for מעדיה (Neh 12:4), or, accordingto a different pronunciation, מעזיה (Neh 10:9); סלּי (Neh 12:20)for סלּוּ (Neh 12:7). - If we next compare the two lists in Neh 12 withthat in Neh 10, we find that of the twenty-two names given (Neh 12), thefifteen marked thus * occur also in Neh 10; עזריה , Neh 10:4, beingevidently a clerical error, or another form of עזרא , Neh 12:2, Neh 12:13. Of the names enumerated in Neh 10, Pashur, Malchiah, Obadiah, Daniel,Baruch, and Meshullam are wanting in Neh 12, and are replaced by Iddoand the six last: Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. Thename of Eliashib the high priest being also absent, Bertheau seeks toexplain this difference by supposing that a portion of the priests refusedtheir signatures because they did not concur in the strict measures of Ezraand Nehemiah. This conjecture would be conceivable, if we found in Neh 10that only thirteen orders or heads of priests had signed instead of twenty-two. Since, however, instead of the seven missing names, six others signedthe covenant, this cannot be the reason for the difference between thenames in the two documents (Neh 10, 12), which is probably to be found inthe time that elapsed between the making of these lists. The date of thelist, Neh 12:1-7, is that of Zerubbabel and Joshua (b.c. 536); that of theother in Neh 12, the times of the high priest Joiakim the son of Joshua, i.e.,at the earliest, the latter part of the reign of Darius Hystaspis, perhapseven the reign of Xerxes.

How, then, are the two lists in Neh 12 and that in Neh 10, agreeing as theydo in names, related to the list of the priests who, according to Ezr 2:36-39 and Neh 7:39-42, returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Joshua?The traditional view, founded on the statements of the Talmud,

(Note: In Hieros. Taanith, f. 68 a ; Tosafta Taanith, c. 11, in Babyl. Erachin, f. 12 b . The last statement is, according to Herzfeld, Gesch . i. p. 393, as follows: "Four divisions of priests returned from captivity,viz., Jedaiah, Charim, Paschur, and Immer. These the prophets of thereturned captives again divided into twenty-four; whereupon theirnames were written upon tickets and put in an urn, from whichJedaiah drew five, and each of the other three before-named divisionsas many: it was then ordained by those prophets, that even if thedivision Joiarib (probably the first division before the captivity)should return, Jedaiah should nevertheless retain his position, andJoiarib should be טפל לו (associated with him, belonging to him)."Comp. Bertheau on Neh. p. 230, and Oehler in Herzog's Realencycl . xii. p. 185, who, though refusing this tradition the value ofindependent historical testimony, still give it more weight than itdeserves.)

is, that the four divisions given in Ezra 2 and Neh 7, "thesons of Jedaiah, the sons of Immer, the sons of Pashur and Harim,"were the priests of the four (Davidic) orders of Jedaiah, Immer,Malchijah, and Harim (the second, sixteenth, fifth, and third orders of1 Chron 24). For the sake of restoring, according to the ancient institution, a greaternumber of priestly orders, the twenty-two orders enumerated in Neh 12were formed from these four divisions; and the full number of twenty-fourwas not immediately completed, only because, according to Ezr 2:61 andNeh 7:63., three families of priests who could not find their registersreturned, as well as those before named, and room was therefore left fortheir insertion in the twenty-four orders: the first of these three families,viz., Habaiah, being probably identical with the eighth class, Abia; thesecond, Hakkoz, with the seventh class of the same name. See Oehler'sbefore-cited work. p. 184f. But this view is decidedly erroneous, and theerror lies in the identification of the four races of Ezr 2:36, on account ofthe similarity of the names Jedaiah, Immer, and Harim, with those of thesecond, sixteenth, and third classes of the Davidic division, - thus regardingpriestly races as Davidic priestly classes, through mere similarity of name,without reflecting that even the number 4487, given in Ezr 2:36., isincompatible with this assumption. For if these four races were only four orders of priests, each order musthave numbered about 1120 males, and the twenty-four orders of thepriesthood before the captivity would have yielded the colossal sum offrom 24,000 to 26,000 priests. It is true that we have no statement of thenumbers of the priesthood; but if the numbering of the Levites in David'stimes gave the amount of 38,000 males, the priests of that time could atthe most have been 3800, and each of the twenty-four orders would haveincluded in all 150 persons, or at most seventy-five priests of the properage for officiating. Now, if this number had doubled in the interval of timeextending to the close of the captivity, the 4487 who returned withZerubbabel would have formed more than half of the whole number ofpriests then living, and not merely the amount of four classes. Hence wecannot but regard Jedaiah, Immer, Pashur, and Harim, of Ezr 2:36, asnames not of priestly orders, but of great priestly races, and explain theoccurrence of three of these names as those of certain of the orders ofpriests formed by David, by the consideration, that the Davidic orderswere names after heads of priestly families of the days of David, and thatseveral of these heads, according to the custom of bestowing upon sons,grandsons, etc., the names of renowned ancestors, bore the names of thefounders and heads of the greater races and houses. The classification of the priests in Ezr 2:36. is genealogical, i.e., itfollows not the division into orders made by David for the service of thetemple, but the genealogical ramification into races and houses. The sonsof Jedaiah, Immer, etc., are not the priests belonging to the official ordersof Jedaiah, Immer, etc., but the priestly races descended from Jedaiah, etc. The four races (mentioned Ezr 2:36, etc.), each of which averagedupwards of 1000 men, were, as appears from Neh 12:1-7 and Neh 12:12, dividedinto twenty-two houses. From this number of houses, it was easy torestore the old division into twenty-four official orders. That it was not,however, considered necessary to make this artificial restoration of thetwenty-four classes immediately, is seen from the circumstances that bothunder Joiakim, i.e., a generation after Zerubbabel's return (Neh 12:12-21), onlytwenty-two houses are enumerated, and under Nehemiah, i.e., after Ezra'sreturn (in Neh 10), only twenty-one heads of priestly houses sealed thedocument. Whether, and how the full number of twenty-four wascompleted, cannot, for want of information, be determined. The statementof Joseph. Ant . vii. 14. 7, that David's division into orders continues tothis day, affords no sufficient testimony to the fact.

According, then, to what has been said, the difference between the namesin the two lists of Neh 10 and 12 is to be explained simply by the fact, thatthe names of those who sealed the covenant, Neh 10, are names neither oforders nor houses, but of heads of houses living in the days of Ezra andNehemiah. Of these names, a portion coincides indeed with the names ofthe orders and houses, while the rest are different. The coincidence orsameness of the names does not, however, prove that the individualsbelonged to the house whose name they bore. On the contrary, it appearsfrom Neh 12:13 and Neh 12:16, that of two Meshullams, one was the head of thehouse of Ezra, the other of the house of Ginnethon; and hence, in Neh 10,Amariah may have belonged to the house of Malluch, Hattush to thehouse of Shebaniah, Malluch to the house of Meremoth, etc. In thismanner, both the variation and coincidence of the names in Neh 10 and 12may be easily explained; the only remaining difficulty being, that in Neh 10only twenty-one, not twenty-two, heads of houses are said to have sealed. This discrepancy seems, indeed, to have arisen from the omission of aname in transcription. For the other possible explanation, viz., that in theinterval between Joiakim and Nehemiah, the contemporary of Eliashib, onehouse had died out, is very far-fetched.

Neh 12:8-9

The heads of Levitical houses in the time of Jeshua the highpriest . - Of these names we meet, Neh 10:10., with those of Jeshua,Binnui, Kadmiel, and Sherebiah, as of heads who sealed the covenant;while those of Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son (?) of Kadmiel, are again citedin Neh 12:24 as heads of Levites, i.e., of Levitical divisions. The name יהוּדה does not occur in the other lists of Levites in the booksof Ezra and Nehemiah, and is perhaps miswritten for הודיּה (Neh 10:10; Neh 13:7). Mattaniah is probably Mattaniah the Asaphite, the son ofMicah, the son of Zabdi, head of the first band of singers (Neh 11:17); for hewas היּדות על , over the singing of praise. The form היּדות , which should probably be read according to the Keri היּדוּת , is a peculiar formation of an abstract noun; comp. Ewald, §165, b .

Neh 12:9

Bakbukiah and Unni ( Chethiv ענּו ), their brethren, were beforethem (opposite them) למשׁמרות , at the posts of service, i.e.,forming in service the opposite choir. Neh 12:24 forbids us to understand משׁמרות as watch-posts, though the omission of thedoorkeepers (comp. Ezr 2:42) is remarkable. Bakbukiah recurs Neh 12:24; thename Unni is not again met with, though there is no occasion, on thisaccount, for the inapt conjecture of Bertheau, that the reading should be וענוּ or ויּענוּ .

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:10-11

A note on the genealogy of the high-priestly line from Jeshua to Jaddua isinserted, so to speak, as a connecting link between the lists of Levites, toexplain the statements concerning the dates of their composition, - datesdefined by the name of the respective high priests. The lists given Neh 12:1were of the time of Jeshua; those from Neh 12:12 and onwards, of the days ofJoiakim and his successors. The name יונתן , as is obviousfrom Neh 12:22 and Neh 12:23, is a clerical error for יוחנן , Johanan,Greek Ἰωάννης , of whom we are told, Joseph. Ant . xi. 7. 1, that hemurdered his brother Jesus, and thus gave Bagoses, the general ofArtaxerxes Mnemon, an opportunity for taking severe measures againstthe Jews.

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:12-21

Neh 12:12-21 contains the list of the priestly houses and their heads, whichhas been already explained in conjunction with that in Neh 12:1-7. Neh 12:22-26. The list of the heads of the Levites, Neh 12:22 and Neh 12:24, is, according to Neh 12:26,that of the days of Joiakim, and of the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. Whence it follows, that it does not apply only to the time of Joiakim; forthough Ezra might indeed have come to Jerusalem in the latter days ofJoiakim's high-priesthood, yet Nehemiah's arrival found his successorEliashib already in office, and the statements of Neh 12:22 and Neh 12:23 must beunderstood accordingly.

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:22-23

"With respect to the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, andJaddua were recorded the heads of the houses, and also (those) of thepriests during the reign of Darius the Persian."To judge from the הלויּם with which it commences, this verse seems to be the titleof the list of Levites following, while the rest of its contents rather seemsadapted for the subscription of the preceding list of priests (Neh 12:12-21). מלכוּת על , under the reign. The use of על withreference to time is to be explained by the circumstance that the time, andhere therefore the reign of Darius, is regarded as the ground and soil of thatwhich is done in it, as e.g., ἐπὶ νυκτί , upon night = at night-time. Darius is Darius Nothus, the second Persian monarch of that name; where also the meaning of this verse has been alreadydiscussed. In Neh 12:23, the original document in which the list of Levites wasoriginally included, is alluded to as the book of the daily occurrences orevents of the time, i.e., the public chronicle, a continuation of the formerannals of the kingdom. ימי ועד , and also to the days ofJohanan, the son of Eliashib. So far did the official records of the chronicleextend. That Nehemiah may have been still living in the days of Johanan,i.e., in the time of his high-priesthood, has been already shown, p. 95. Thestatements in Neh 12:22 and Neh 12:23 are aphoristic, and of the nature ofsupplementary and occasional remarks.

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:24-25

The names Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, frequently occur asthose of heads of Levitical orders: the two first in Neh 10:12., Ezr 8:18.;the two last in Neh 12:8, Neh 10:10, and Ezr 2:40; and the comparison of thesepassages obliges us to regard and expunge as a gloss the בּן beforeKadmiel. Opposite to these four are placed their brethren, whose office itwas "to praise (and) to give thanks according to the commandment ofDavid,"etc.: comp. 1Ch 16:4; 1Ch 23:30; 2Ch 5:13; and בּמצות ד , 2Ch 29:25. משׁמר לעמּת משׁמר ,ward opposite ward, elsewhere used of the gatekeepers, 1Ch 26:16, ishere applied to the position of the companies of singers in divine worship. The names of the brethren, i.e., of the Levitical singers, follow, Neh 12:25,where the first three names must be separated from those which follow,and combined with Neh 12:24. This is obvious from the consideration, that Mattaniah and Bakbukiah arementioned in Neh 11:17 as presidents of two companies of singers, andwith them Abda the Jeduthunite, whence we are constrained to supposethat עבדיה is only another form for עבדּא of Neh 11:17. According, then, to what has been said, the division into verses must bechanged, and Neh 12:25 should begin with the name משׁלּם . Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub are chiefs of the doorkeepers; the twolast names occur as such both in Neh 11:19 and Ezr 2:42, and even so early as1Ch 9:17, whence we perceive that these were ancient names of racesof Levitical doorkeepers. In Ezr 2:42 and 1Ch 9:17, שׁלוּם ,answering to משׁלּם of the present verse, is also named withthem. The combination משׁמר שׁוערים שׁמרים is striking: we should at least have expected משׁמר שׁמרים שׁוערים , because, while שׁוערים cannot be combined with משׁמר , שׁמרים may well beso; hence we must either transpose the words as above, or read accordingto Neh 11:19, בּשּׁערים שׁמרים . In the latter case, בּשּׁערים is more closely defined by the apposition השּׁערים בּאספּי : at the doors, viz., at the treasure-chambers of the doors. On 'acupiym, see rem. on 1Ch 26:15, 1Ch 26:17.

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:26

Neh 12:26 is the final subscription of the two lists in Neh 12:12-21 and Neh 12:24, Neh 12:25.

Keil-Delitzsch: Neh 12:27-43

The dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. - The measures proposed forincreasing the numbers of the inhabitants of Jerusalem having now beenexecuted (Neh 7:5 and Neh 11:1.), the restored wall of circumvallation wassolemnly dedicated. Neh 12:27-29 treat of the preparations for this solemnity.

Neh 12:27

At the dedication (i.e., at the time of, בּ denoting nearness oftime) they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them toJerusalem to keep the dedication. Only a portion of the Levites dwelt inJerusalem (Neh 11:15-18); the rest dwelt in places in the neighbourhood,as is more expressly stated in Neh 12:28 and Neh 12:29. ושׂמחה , to keepthe dedication and joy, is not suitable, chiefly on account of the following וּבתודות , and with songs of praise. We must either read בּשׂמחה , dedication with joy (comp. Ezr 6:16), or expunge,with the lxx and Vulgate, the ו before בּתודות . בּ must berepeated before מצלתּים from the preceding words. On thesubject, comp. 1Ch 13:8; 1Ch 15:16, and elsewhere.

Neh 12:28-29

And the sons of the singers, i.e., the members of the threeLevitical companies of singers (comp. Neh 12:25 and Neh 11:17), gatheredthemselves together, both out of the Jordan valley round about Jerusalem,and the villages (or fields, חצרים , comp. Lev 25:31) ofNetophathi, and from Beth-gilgal, etc. הכּכּר does not mean thedistrict round Jerusalem, the immediate neighbourhood of the city(Bertheau). For, according to established usage, הכּכּר is used todesignate the Jordan valley (see rem. on Neh 3:22); and ירוּשׁלים סביבות is here added to limit the כּכּר , - the wholeextent of the valley of the Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galileenot being intended, but only its southern portion in the neighbourhood ofJericho, where it widens considerably westward, and which might be saidto be round about Jerusalem. The villages of Netophathi (comp. 1Ch 9:16) are the villages or fields in the vicinity of Netopha, i.e., probably themodern village of Beit Nettif, about thirteen miles south-west ofJerusalem: comp. Rob. Palestine ; Tobler, dritte Wand . p. 117, etc.; and V. de Velde, Mem . p. 336. Bertheau regards Beth-gilgal as the present Jiljilia,also called Gilgal, situate somewhat to the west of the road from Jerusalemto Nablous (Sichem), about seventeen miles north of the former town. This view, is, however, questionable, Jiljilia being apparently too distantto be reckoned among the סביבות of Jerusalem. "And from thefields of Geba and Azmaveth."With respect to Geba, see rem. on Neh 11:31. The situation of Azmaveth is unknown; see rem. on Ezr 2:24. For the singers had built them villages in the neighbourhood ofJerusalem, and dwelt, therefore, not in the before-named towns, but invillages near them.

Neh 12:30

The dedication began with the purification of the people, thegates, and the wall, by the priests and Levites, after they had purifiedthemselves. This was probably done, judging from the analogy of 2Ch 29:20, by the offering of sin-offerings and burnt-offerings, according tosome special ritual unknown to us, as sacrifices of purification anddedication. This was followed by the central-point of the solemnity, aprocession of two bands of singers upon the wall (Neh 12:31-42).

Neh 12:31-34

Nehemiah brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall,and appointed two great companies of those who gave thanks, and twoprocessions. These went each upon the wall in different directions, andstopped opposite each other at the house of God. The princes of Judahare the princes of the whole community, - Judah being used in the sense of יהוּדים , Neh 4:2. לחומה מעל , upwards tothe wall, so that they stood upon the wall. העמיד , to place, i.e.,to cause to take up a position, so that those assembled formed twocompanies or processions. תודה , acknowledgement, praise,thanks, and then thankofferings, accompanied by the singing of psalms andthanksgivings. Hence is derived the meaning: companies of those who gavethanks, in Neh 12:31, Neh 12:38, Neh 12:40. ותהלכת , et processiones , solemnprocessions, is added more closely to define תודה . The company of those who gave thanks consisted of a number of Leviticalsingers, behind whom walked the princes of the people, the priests, andLevites. At the head of one procession went Ezra the scribe (Neh 12:36), withone half of the nobles; at the head of the second, Nehemiah with the otherhalf (Neh 12:38). The one company and procession went to the right upon thewall. Before ליּמין we must supply, "one band went"( הולכת האחת התּודה ), as is evident partly from the context of thepresent verse, partly from Neh 12:38. These words were probably omitted by aclerical error caused by the similarity of תּהלכת to הולכת . Thus the first procession went to the right, i.e., in a southerly direction,upon the wall towards the dung-gate (see rem. on Neh 3:14); the second, Neh 12:38, went over against the first ( למאל ), i.e., in an opposite direction,and therefore northwards, past the tower of the furnaces, etc. The starting-point of both companies and processions is not expresslystated, but may be easily inferred from the points mentioned, and can havebeen none other than the valley-gate, the present Jaffa gate (see rem. onNeh 2:13). Before a further description of the route taken by the firstcompany, the individuals composing the procession which followed it areenumerated in Neh 12:32-36. After them, i.e., after the first company of themthat gave thanks, went Hoshaiah and half of the princes of Judah. Hoshaiah was probably the chief of the one half of these princes. Theseven names in Neh 12:33 and Neh 12:34 are undoubtedly the names of the princes,and the ו before עזריה is explicative: even, namely. Bertheau'sremark, "After the princes came the orders of priests, Azariah,"etc., isincorrect. It is true that of these seven names, five occur as names ofpriests, and heads of priestly houses, viz.: Azariah, Neh 10:2; Neh 12:1;Meshullam, Neh 10:7; Shemaiah, Neh 10:8 and Neh 12:6; and Jeremiah, Neh 12:1. But even if these individuals were heads of priestly orders, their names donot here stand for their orders. Still less do Judah and Benjamin denote thehalf of the laity of Judah and Benjamin, as Bertheau supposes, and thenceinfers that first after the princes came two or three orders of priests, thenhalf of the laity of Judah and Benjamin, and then two more orders ofpriests. Neh 12:38, which is said to give rise to this view, by no meansconfirms it. It is true that in this verse העם חצי ,besides Nehemiah, are stated to have followed the company of those whogave thanks; but that העם in this verse is not used to designatethe people as such, but is only a general expression for the individualsfollowing the company of singers, is placed beyond doubt by Neh 12:40, where העם is replaced by הסּגנים חצי ; while,beside the half of the rulers, with Nehemiah, only priests with trumpetsand Levites with stringed instruments (Neh 12:41) are enumerated as composingthe second procession. Since, then, the priests with trumpets and Levites with musicalinstruments are mentioned in the first procession (Neh 12:35 and Neh 12:36), thenames enumerated in Neh 12:33 and Neh 12:34 can be only those of the one half of the סגנים of the people, i.e., the one half of the princes of Judah. The princes of Judah, i.e., of the Jewish community, consisted not only oflaymen, but included also the princes, i.e., heads of priestly and Leviticalorders; and hence priestly and Levitical princes might also be among theseven whose names are given in Neh 12:33 and Neh 12:34. A strict severance,moreover, between lay and priestly princes cannot be made by the namesalone; for these five names, which may designate priestly orders, pertain inother passages to laymen, viz.: Azariah, in Neh 3:23; Ezra, as of the tribeof Judah, 1Ch 4:17; Meshullam, Neh 3:4; Neh 10:21, and elsewhere;Shemaiah, Ezr 6:13; Ezr 10:31; 1Ch 3:22; 1Ch 4:37 (of Judah), 1Ch 5:4 (aReubenite), and other passages (this name being very usual; comp. Simonis Onomast . p. 546); Jeremiah, 1Ch 5:24 (a Manassite), Neh 12:4 (aBenjamite), Neh 12:10 (a Gadite). Even the name Judah is met with among thepriests (Neh 12:36), and among the Levites, Neh 12:8, comp. also Neh 11:9, and thatof Benjamin, Neh 3:23 and Ezr 10:32. In the present verses, the two names arenot those of tribes, but of individuals, nomina duorum principum (R. Sal.).

Neh 12:35-36

The princes of the congregation were followed by certain "ofthe sons of the priests"(seven in number, to judge from Neh 12:41) withtrumpets; also by Jonathan the son of Zechariah, who, as appears fromthe subsequent ואחיו , was at the head of the Leviticalmusicians, i.e., the section of them that followed this procession. Hisbrethren, i.e., the musicians of his section, are enumerated in Neh 12:36, - eightnames being given, among which are a Shemaiah and a Judah. "With themusical instruments of David, the man of God:"comp. 2Ch 29:26; 1Ch 15:16; 1Ch 23:5; Ezr 3:10. "And Ezra the scribe before them,"viz.,before the individuals enumerated from Neh 12:32, immediately after thecompany of those who gave thanks, and before the princes, like Nehemiah,Neh 12:38.

Neh 12:37-42

After this insertion of the names of the persons whocomposed the procession, the description of the route it took is continued. From "upon the wall, towards the dung-gate (Neh 12:31), it passed on"to thefountain-gate; and נגדּם , before them (i.e., going straightforwards; comp. Jos 6:5, Jos 6:20; Amo 4:3), they went up by the stairs ofthe city of David, the ascent of the wall, up over the house of David, evenunto the water-gate eastward. These statements are not quite intelligible tous. The stairs of the city of David are undoubtedly "the stairs that leaddown from the city of David"(Neh 3:15). These lay on the eastern slopeof Zion, above the fountain-gate and the Pool of Siloam. לחומה המּעלה might be literally translated "the ascent to the wall,"as byBertheau, who takes the sense as follows: (The procession) went up uponthe wall by the ascent formed by these steps at the northern part of theeastern side of Zion. According to this, the procession would have left thewall by the stairs at the eastern declivity of Zion, to go up upon the wallagain by this ascent. There is, however, no reason for this leaving of the wall, and that whichBertheau adduces is connected with his erroneous transposition of thefountain-gate to the place of the present dung-gate. לחומה המּעלה seems to be the part of the wall which, according to Neh 3:19, layopposite the המּקצוע הנּשׁק עלת , a place onthe eastern edge of Zion, where the wall was carried over an elevation ofthe ground, and where consequently was an ascent in the wall. Certainlythis cannot be insisted upon, because the further statement דויד לבית מעל is obscure, the preposition ל מעל admitting of various interpretations, and the situation of the houseof David being uncertain. Bertheau, indeed, says: " ועד in thefollowing words corresponds with מעל before דויד לבית : a wall over the house of David is not intended; and themeaning is rather, that after they were come as far as the wall, they thenpassed over the house of David, i.e., the place called the house of David,even to the water-gate."But the separation of מעל from דויד לבית isdecidedly incorrect, ל מעל being in the preceding and followingpassages always used in combination, and forming one idea: comp. Neh 12:31(twice) and Neh 12:38 and Neh 12:39. Hence it could scarcely be taken here in Neh 12:37 ina different sense from that which it has in Neh 12:31 and Neh 12:38. Not lessobjectionable is the notion that the house of David is here put for a placecalled the house of David, on which a palace of David formerly stood, andwhere perhaps the remains of an ancient royal building might still havebeen in existence. By the house of David is meant, either the royal palacebuilt (according to Thenius) by Solomon at the north-eastern corner ofZion, opposite the temple, or some other building of David, situate southof this palace, on the east side of Zion. The former view is more probablethan the latter. We translate לבית ד מעל , past the house of David. For,though לחומה מעל must undoubtedly be sounderstood as to express that the procession went upon the wall (whichmust be conceived of as tolerably broad), yet למגדּל מעל , Neh 12:38, can scarcely mean that the procession also went up over thetower which stood near the wall. In the case of the gates, too, ל מעל cannot mean over upon; for it is inconceivable that this solemnprocession should have gone over the roof of the gates; and we conclude,on the contrary, that it passed beside the gates and towers. Whether theroute taken by the procession from the house of David to the water-gate inthe east were straight over the ridge of Ophel, which ran from about thehorse-gate to the water-gate, or upon the wall round Ophel, cannot bedetermined, the description being incomplete. After the house of David, nofurther information as to its course is given; its halting-place, the water-gate, being alone mentioned.

The route taken by the second company is more particularly described. - Neh 12:38 and Neh 12:39. "And the second company of them that gave thanks, whichwent over against, and which I and the (other) half of the people followed,(went) upon the wall past the tower of the furnaces, as far as the broadwall; and past the gate of Ephraim, and past the gate of the old (wall), andpast the fish-gate, and past the tower Hananeel and the tower Hammeah,even to the sheep-gate: and then took up its station at the prison-gate." למואל (in the form with א only here; elsewhere מול , Deu 1:1, or מוּל ), over against, opposite, sc. the firstprocession, therefore towards the opposite side, i.e., to the left; the firsthaving gone to the right, viz., from the valley-gate northwards upon thenorthern wall. וגו אחריה ואני (and I behind them)is a circumstantial clause, which we may take relatively. The order of the towers, the lengths of wall, and the gates, exactly answerto the description in Neh 3:1-12, with these differences: - a . The descriptionproceeds from the sheep-gate in the east to the valley-gate in the west;while the procession moved in the opposite direction, viz., from thevalley-gate to the sheep-gate. b . In the description of the building of thewall, Neh 3, the gate of Ephraim is omitted (see rem. on Neh 3:8). c . Inthe description, the prison-gate at which the procession halted is alsounmentioned, undoubtedly for the same reason as that the gate of Ephraimis omitted, viz., that not having been destroyed, there was no need torebuild it. המּטּרה שׁער is translated, gate of theprison or watch: its position is disputed; but it can scarcely be doubtedthat המּטּרה is the court of the prison mentioned Neh 3:25( המּטּרה חצר ), by or near the king's house. Starting from the assumption that the two companies halted or took uppositions opposite each other, Hupfeld (in his before-cited work, p. 321)transposes both the court of the prison and the king's house to the northof the temple area, where the citadel. בּירה , βᾶρις , wassubsequently situated. But "this being forbidden,"as Arnold objects (inhis before-cited work, p. 628), "by the order in the description of thebuilding of the wall, Neh 3:25, which brings us absolutely to the southernside,"Bertheau supposes that the two processions which would arrive atthe same moment at the temple, - the one from the north-east, the otherfrom the south-east, - here passed each other, and afterwards haltedopposite each other in such wise, that the procession advancing from thesouth-west stood on the northern side, and that from the north-west at thesouthern side of the temple area. This notion, however, having not the slightest support from the text, norany reason appearing why the one procession should pass the other, itmust be regarded as a mere expedient. In Neh 12:40 it is merely said, the twocompanies stood in the house of God; and not even that they stoodopposite each other, the one on the north, the other on the south side ofthe temple. Thus they may have stood side by side, and together havepraised the Lord. Hence we place the prison-gate also on the south-easterncorner of the temple area, and explain the name from the circumstance thata street ran from this gate over Ophel to the court of the prison near theking's house upon Zion, which, together with the gate to which it led,received its name from the court of the prison. Not far from the prison-gate lay the water-gate in the east, near which was an open space in thedirection of the temple area (Neh 8:1). On this open space the two companies met, and took the directiontowards the temple, entering the temple area from this open space, thatthey might offer their thank-offerings before the altar of burnt-offering (Neh 12:43). Besides, the remark upon the position of the two companies (Neh 12:40)anticipates the course of events, the procession following the secondcompany being first described in Neh 12:40-42. At the end of Neh 12:40 thestatement of Neh 12:38 - I and the half of the people behind - is again taken up inthe words: I and the half of the rulers with me. The סגנים are,as in Neh 12:32, the princes of the congregation, who, with Nehemiah, headedthe procession that followed the company of those who gave thanks. Thenfollowed (Neh 12:41) seven priests with trumpets, whose names are given,answering to the sons of the priests with trumpets ( Neh 12:36 ) in the firstprocession. These names are all met with elsewhere of other persons. These were succeeded, as in Neh 12:36, by eight Levites - eight individuals, andnot eight divisions (Bertheau). And the singers gave forth sound, i.e., ofvoices and instruments, - whether during the circuit or after the twocompanies had take their places at the temple, is doubtful. The presidentof the Levitical singers was Jezrahiah.

Neh 12:43

The solemnity terminated with the offering of great sacrificesand a general festival of rejoicing. In the matter of sacrificing, the person ofNehemiah would necessarily recede; hence he relates the close of theproceedings objectively, and speaks in the third person, as he had donewhen speaking of the preparations for them, Neh 12:27, etc., only using thefirst (Neh 12:31, Neh 12:38, Neh 12:40) person when speaking of what was appointed byhimself, or of his own position. The זבהים were chieflythank-offerings which, terminating in feasting upon the sacrifices, - and thesefeasts in which the women and children participated, - contributed to theenhancement of the general joy, the joy which God had given them by thesuccess He had accorded to their work of building their wall. For adescription of their rejoicing, comp. 2Ch 20:27; Ezr 6:22, and Neh 3:13.

Constable: Neh 7:73--13:31

II. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS chs. 8--13

One writer viewed chapters 8-13 (really 7:73-13:37) as the third part of the tripartite structure of Ezra-Nehemiah. Ezra 1:1-4 deals with "potentiality," the decree to the community to build God's house. Ezra 1:5--Nehemiah 7:72 records the process of "actualization." The community builds God's house in response to the decree. Nehemiah 7:73-13:31 documents "success." The community celebrates the completion of God's house according to Torah.⁶¹

Constable: Neh 11:1--12:27

B. The Residents of the Land 11:1-12:26

When the exiles returned to the Promised Land, living in Jerusalem was not an attractive prospect because the city lay in ruins. However with the rebuilding of the temple and the walls the capital became a more desirable place to live. Nehemiah as governor saw the wisdom of populating Jerusalem with pure-blooded Jews and set about to encourage the people to live within the city walls.

Most of this section of the book (11:3-12:26) is a parenthetical interjection into the chronological progression of the narrative.

Constable: Neh 12:1-26

3. The priests and Levites 12:1-26

The priests and Levites were the most important people who returned from exile because they reestablished worship in the land. Verses 1-7 give the names of 22 leaders among them who had returned in 537 B.C. with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (cf. 1 Chron. 24:7-19). The writer also mentioned eight Levites by name (vv. 8-9; cf. Ezra 2:40-42).

The genealogy of the high priest was especially important. Five succeeding descendants of Jeshua appear in the text (vv. 10-11).⁸³ This list continues the one in 1 Chronicles 6:3-15 that ends with the Babylonian exile in 586 B.C.

The text also lists heads of 21 priestly families in the generation that followed Jeshua's (vv. 12-21).

The names of the heads of the nine Levitical families Nehemiah referred to in verse 22 appear in verses 24-26. The four high priests he mentioned in verse 22 evidently registered these names. Darius the Persian (v. 22) is probably Darius II (423-404 B.C.).⁸⁴ The "Book of the Chronicles" (v. 23) is not the canonical Book of Chronicles but another record of names.⁸⁵

Constable: Neh 12:27-47

C. The Dedication of the Wall 12:27-47

This portion of the book resumes the historical narrative in chronological order from 11:2 where it stopped. Probably the dedication took place soon after the covenant renewal ceremonies (chs. 8-10).

Constable: Neh 12:27-30

1. Preparations for the dedication 12:27-30

Nehemiah enlisted Levites from all over Judah to guarantee that the dedication service would be properly grand. The people separated from uncleanness as they anticipated the sacrifices and worship that would take place.

Guzik: Neh 12:1-47

Nehemiah 12 - Dedication of the Wall

A. Priestly and Levitical families.

1. (1-11) Priests and Levites in the days of Zerubbabel, the high priest.

Now these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of Jeshua. Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren. Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties. Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua.

2. (12-21) Priests in the days of Joiakim.

Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of the fathers' houses were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; of Melichu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; of Abijah, Zichri; the son of Minjamin; of Moadiah, Piltai; of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

3. (22-26) Levites during the reign of Darius the Persian.

During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been heads of their fathers' houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua. The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers' houses until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib, were written in the book of the chronicles. And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers across from them, to praise and give thanks, group alternating with group, according to the command of David the man of God. Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storerooms of the gates. These lived in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.

B. The dedication ceremony.

1. (27-29) Gathering the Levites for the dedication ceremony.

Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem.

a. The sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem: The Levites had many responsibilities in the life and worship of Israel, but one of the most important jobs they had was to lead the people in songs of worship and praise to God.

b. To celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing: Mostly, they did not sing without musical instruments. Here are specifically mentioned cymbals and stringed instruments and harps.

i. There are at least twenty-two different musical instruments mentioned in the Bible, including the harp, the lyre (an ancient guitar), horns, trumpets, flutes, tambourines, drums, cymbals, and bells.

ii. The Levites were specially appointed to use these instruments to lead the people in worshipping God through singing.

c. Sons of the singers . . . the singers had built themselves villages: There were also specially appointed singers. The singers in Nehemiah's day had a close-knit bond, both by families and living arrangements.

i. Since the job of these singers was to lead the people in worship of God, they had to be good singers; but more importantly, they had to be people of worship themselves.

ii. There is a huge difference between being a great singer and being a great leader of songs of worship to God. Worship should be excellent, but it isn't entertainment. The goal isn't to give the people a good feeling (though that may happen), but to give glory and honor to God.

2. (30) Purification.

Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

a. Then the priests and Levites purified themselves: They did this first. They could not effectively lead the people in worship of God unless they walked in purity before the Lord.

b. And purified the people: The next did this. They brought cleansing to the people the way the Bible said to, knowing that only a purified people could really worship and praise God.

i. Some might silently object here; they may say, "I know a person who goes to church and seems to be lost in beautiful praise and worship to God, and I also know their life is rather impure outside the church walls. It sure seems they are worshipping God, but are personally impure."

ii. Something is wrong there; probably, their worship is not a true worship of God in spirit and in truth, but instead a "soulish" experience. All that inwardly moves a person in a deep way is not necessarily of the spirit; it can be of the soul. One of the great works of the Word of God is to divide between that which is truly spiritual and that which is merely soulish (Hebrews 4:12).

iii. Without purity, we can't worship God in spirit and in truth, as Jesus commanded us to (John 4:24). Psalm 24:3-4 asks, Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, and it means it in the sense of bringing praise to God.

iv. We can be made pure and clean before God today, right now, by doing what the Bible says to do - not in following an Old Testament ceremony, but by receiving the word of the New Testament: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

c. The gates, and the wall: Third, their surroundings were purified. Purified surrounding help us to walk in purity consistently. The homes and offices of many Christians could use a good purification and cleansing.

3. (31-43) Two choirs lead Jerusalem in joyful praise.

So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right hand on the wall toward the Refuse Gate. After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, and some of the priests' sons with trumpets; Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. Ezra the scribe went before them. By the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up the stairs of the City of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as the Water Gate eastward. The other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the Tower of the Ovens as far as the Broad Wall, and above the Gate of Ephraim, above the Old Gate, above the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped by the Gate of the Prison. So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.

a. Appointed two large thanksgiving choirs: The two large choirs were called thanksgiving choirs for good reason. All praise and worship must have a strong element of thanksgiving to God for it to be genuine.

i. Notice that the singers sang loudly. They had to be heard, because as glorious as the instruments were, the people would follow the lead of the singers in worship.

b. God made them rejoice with great joy: God did this with the choirs assembled, and the people spread all about. They were then overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving, considering all God had done.

c. The women and the children also rejoiced: This tremendous experience of worship was for everyone. There weren't some who weren't able to worship.

d. The joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off: Their worship was a testimony to others, and what others heard was not so much the singing itself as the joy. We often worry about others hearing us sing; but what God wants to hear and what others should hear is not so much your singing, but your joy.

3. (44-47) Other aspects of this day of joy.

And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered. Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, according to the command of David and Solomon his son. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for each day. They also consecrated holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.

a. Some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings: This was a day of giving. People brought their offerings, firstfruits, tithes to the storehouse of the Levites, and they did it with joy because they enjoyed supporting the priests and Levites ministering on their behalf.

b. Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification: This was a day of purity. It was an ongoing concern, not a one-time ceremony.

c. They also consecrated holy things for the Levites: It was a day of consecration. Holy things were set apart for the Levites, speaking of the separation unto God.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

NEHEMIAH appears to have been the author of this book, from his usually writing in his own name, and indeed, except in those parts which are unmistakably later editions or borrowed from public documents, he usually employs the first person. The major portion of the book is occupied with a history of Nehemiah's twelve years' administration in Jerusalem, after which he returned to his duties in Shushan. At a later period he returned with new powers and commenced new and vigorous measures of reform, which are detailed in the later chapters of the book.

JFB: Nehemiah (Outline)

• NEHEMIAH, UNDERSTANDING BY HANANI THE AFFLICTED STATE OF JERUSALEM, MOURNS, FASTS, AND PRAYS. (Neh 1:1-3)
• HIS PRAYER. (Neh 1:4-11)
• ARTAXERXES, UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSE OF NEHEMIAH'S SADNESS, SENDS HIM WITH LETTERS AND A COMMISSION TO BUILD AGAIN THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. (Neh. 2:1-20)
• THE NAMES AND ORDER OF THEM THAT BUILDED THE WALL OF JERUSALEM. (Neh. 3:1-32)
• WHILE THE ENEMIES SCOFF, NEHEMIAH PRAYS TO GOD, AND CONTINUES THE WORK. (Neh 4:1-6)
• THE PEOPLE COMPLAIN OF THEIR DEBT, MORTGAGE, AND BONDAGE. (Neh 5:1-5)
• THE USURERS REBUKED. (Neh 5:6-19)
• SANBALLAT PRACTISES AGAINST NEHEMIAH BY INSIDIOUS ATTEMPTS. (Neh. 6:1-19)
• NEHEMIAH COMMITS THE CHARGE OF JERUSALEM TO HANANI AND HANANIAH. (Neh 7:1-4)
• GENEALOGY OF THOSE WHO CAME AT THE FIRST OUT OF BABYLON. (Neh. 7:5-38)
• OF THE PRIESTS. (Neh. 7:39-73)
• RELIGIOUS MANNER OF READING AND HEARING THE LAW. (Neh 8:1-8)
• THE PEOPLE COMFORTED. (Neh 8:9-15)
• THEY KEEP THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (Neh 8:16-18)
• A SOLEMN FAST AND REPENTANCE OF THE PEOPLE. (Neh 9:1-3)
• THE LEVITES CONFESS GOD'S MANIFOLD GOODNESS, AND THEIR OWN WICKEDNESS. (Neh. 9:4-38)
• THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO SEALED THE COVENANT. (Neh. 10:1-27)
• POINTS OF THE COVENANT. (Neh 10:29-39)
• THE RULERS, VOLUNTARY MEN, AND EVERY TENTH MAN CHOSEN BY LOT, DWELL AT JERUSALEM. (Neh 11:1-2)
• THEIR NAMES. (Neh. 11:3-36)
• PRIESTS AND LEVITES WHO CAME UP WITH ZERUBBABEL. (Neh 12:1-9)
• SUCCESSION OF THE HIGH PRIESTS. (Neh. 12:10-47)
• UPON THE READING OF THE LAW SEPARATION IS MADE FROM THE MIXED MULTITUDE. (Neh 13:1-9)
• NEHEMIAH REFORMS THE OFFICERS IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. (Neh 13:10-14)
• THE VIOLATION OF THE SABBATH. (Neh. 13:15-31)

TSK: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

Of Nehemiah, the author and principal actor in the events recorded in this book, the Jews speak as one of the greatest men of their nation. His concern for his country entitles him to the character of the first patriot that ever lived. Descended, according to some, of the family of Aaron, or according to others, of the tribe of Judah and allied to the royal family of David, in the course of Divine Providence, he was a captive in Babylon, but there his excellences were so apparent, that he was chosen by the Persian king to fill an office the most respectable and the most confidential in the whole court. Here he lived in ease and affluence. he lacked no good thing; and here he might have continued to live, in the same affluence, and in the same confidence; but he could enjoy neither, so long as he knew his people distressed, the sepulchres of his fathers trodden under foot, the altars of his God overturned, and his worship either totally neglected or corrupted. He sought the peace of Jerusalem; prayed for it; and was willing to sacrifice wealth, ease, safety, and even life itself, if he might be the instrument of restoring the desolations of Israel. And God, who saw the desire of his heart, and knew the excellences with which he had endowed him, granted his request, and gave him the high honour of restoring the desolated city of his ancestors, and the pure worship of their God. The opposition of Sanballat and the Samaritans, and the firmness and zeal with which he repelled their insults and ineffectual efforts cannot be read without the liveliest emotions; and will afford to the latest times, a noble and animating example of distinguished patriotism, united with the sincerest devotion to the interests of religion. The virtue and piety of this great and good man, appear with equal lustre in the numerous and important reformations he effected. He relieved the people from their hardships and oppressions, by abolishing the harsh and usurious practices of the nobles and rulers; gave up his own revenue, as governor of the province, for the benefit of the people; and, as a further means of conciliating their affections, exhibited an example of the most princely hospitality. As the best security for good morals, and the better observance of the laws of God, he re-established the offices of public worship, and prevented the profanation of the sabbath, which had arrived at a shameful excess; he furnished the returned captives with authentic registers, and enabled them, in the best manner possible, after so long and calamitous an interval, to trace the genealogies, and claim the inheritance of their respective families; and further, he accomplished the separation of the Jewish people from the mixed multitude, with which they had been incorporated, and annulled the numerous marriages which they had made with heathens and idolaters of every description. For disinterestedness, philanthropy, patriotism, prudence, courage, zeal, humanity, and every virtue that constitutes a great mind, and proves a soul in deep communion with God, Nehemiah will ever stand conspicuous among the greatest men of the Jewish nation; and an exemplar worthy of being copied by the first patriots in every nation under heaven.

TSK: Nehemiah 12 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Neh 12:1, The priests and the Levites which came up with Zerubbabel; Neh 12:10, The succession of high priests; Neh 12:22, Certain chief Levites; Neh 12:27, The solemnity of the dedication of the walls; Neh 12:44, The offices of priests and Levites appointed in the temple.

Poole: Nehemiah 12 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 12

The priests, Neh 12:1-7 , and Levites which came up with Zerubbabel, Neh 12:8,9 . The succession of high priests, Neh 12:10-21 . Certain chief Levites, Neh 12:22-26 . The manner of dedicating the wall, Neh 12:27-43 . The offices of priests and Levites, Neh 12:44 ; of singers and porters, Neh 12:45-47 .

MHCC: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

The Old Testament history closes with the book of Nehemiah, wherein is recorded the workings of his heart, in the management of public affairs; with many devout reflections.

MHCC: Nehemiah 12 (Chapter Introduction)

(v. 1-26) The priests and Levites that returned.

(v. 27-43) The dedication of the wall.

(Neh 12:44-47) The officers of the temple settled.

Matthew Henry: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Nehemiah

This book continues the history of the children of the captivity, the poor Jews, that had lately returned out of Babylon to their own land. At this time not only the Persian monarchy flourished in great pomp and power, but Greece and Rome began to be very great and to make a figure. Of the affairs of those high and mighty states we have authentic accounts extant; but the sacred and inspired history takes cognizance only of the state of the Jews, and makes no mention of other nations but as the Israel of God had dealings with them: for the Lord's portion is his people; they are his peculiar treasure, and, in comparison with them, the rest of the world is but as lumber. In my esteem, Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the tirshatha, though neither of them ever wore a crown, commanded an army, conquered any country, or was famed for philosophy or oratory, yet both of them, being pious praying men, and very serviceable in their day to the church of God and the interests of religion, were really greater men and more honourable, not only than any of the Roman consuls or dictators, but than Xenophon, or Demosthenes, or Plato himself, who lived at the same time, the bright ornaments of Greece. Nehemiah's agency for the advancing of the settlement of Israel we have a full account of in this book of his own commentaries or memoirs, wherein he records not only the works of his hands, but the workings of his heart, in the management of public affairs, inserting in the story many devout reflections and ejaculations, which discover in his mind a very deep tincture of serious piety and are peculiar to his writing. Twelve years, from his twentieth year (Neh 1:1) to his thirty-second year (Neh 13:6), he was governor of Judea, under Artaxerxes king of Persia, whom Dr. Lightfoot supposes to be the same Artaxerxes as Ezra has his commission from. This book relates, I. Nehemiah's concern for Jerusalem and the commission he obtained from the king to go thither, Neh 1:1-11, 2. II. His building the wall of Jerusalem notwithstanding the opposition he met with, ch. 3, 4. III. His redressing the grievances of the people, ch. 5. IV. His finishing the wall, ch. 6. V. The account he took of the people, ch. 7. VI. The religions solemnities of reading the law, fasting, and praying, and renewing their covenants, to which he called the people (ch. 8-10). VII. The care he took for the replenishing of the holy city and the settling of the holy tribe, ch. 11, 12. VIII. His zeal in reforming various abuses, ch. 13. Some call this the second book of Ezra, not because he was the penman of it, but because it is a continuation of the history of the foregoing book, with which it is connected (Neh 1:1). This was the last historical book that was written, as Malachi was the last prophetical book, of the Old Testament.

Matthew Henry: Nehemiah 12 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter are preserved upon record, I. The names of the chief of the priests and the Levites that came up with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:1-9). II. The succession of the high priests (Neh 12:10, Neh 12:11). III. The names of the next generation of the other chief priests (Neh 12:12-21). IV. The eminent Levites that were in Nehemiah's time (Neh 12:22-26). V. The solemnity of dedicating the wall of Jerusalem (v. 27-43). VI. The settling of the offices of the priests and Levites in the temple (Neh 12:44-47).

Constable: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

This book, like so many others in the Old Testament, received its title from its principle character. The Septuagint (Greek) translation also had the same title, as does the Hebrew Bible.

As I mentioned in my notes on Ezra, the Jews kept Ezra and Nehemiah together for many years. The reason was the historical continuity that flows from Ezra through Nehemiah.

Writer and Date

The use of the first person identifies the author as Nehemiah, the governor of the Persian province of Judah (1:1-2:20; 13:4-31). His name means "Yahweh has comforted."

The mention of Darius the Persian in 12:22 probably refers to Darius II, the successor of Artaxerxes I (Longimanus).¹ Darius ruled from 423-404 B.C. The text refers to an event that took place in Darius' reign (12:22). Therefore Nehemiah must have written the book sometime after that reign began. Since there are no references to Nehemiah's age in the text, it is hard to estimate how long he may have lived. When the book opens, he was second in command under King Artaxerxes (cf. Daniel). If he was 40 years old then and 41 when he reached Jerusalem in 444 B.C., he would have been 62 years old in 423 B.C. when Darius replaced Artaxerxes. Consequently he probably wrote the book not long after 423 B.C., most likely before 400 B.C.²

Scope

The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C. or perhaps a few years after that.

In 445 B.C. (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign, 1:1) Nehemiah learned of the conditions in Jerusalem that led him to request permission to return to Judah (2:5). He arrived in Jerusalem in 444 B.C. and within 52 days had completed the rebuilding of the city walls (6:15).

In 432 B.C. Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes (13:6). He came back to Jerusalem after that, probably in a year or so. The record of his reforms following that return is in the last chapter of this book. Apparently Nehemiah completed all of them in just a few weeks or months.

Even though the book spans about 15 years, most of the activity Nehemiah recorded took place in 445-444 B.C. (chs. 1-12) and in 432-431 B.C. (ch. 13).

Chronology of the Book of Nehemiah
445	Nehemiah learned of conditions in Jerusalem and requested a leave of absence from Artaxerxes.
444	He led the Jews to Jerusalem. Repairs on the wall of Jerusalem began. The Jews completed rebuilding the walls. Nehemiah promoted spiritual renewal among the returnees.
443
442
441
440
439
438
437
436
435
434
433
432	Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes ending his 12 years as governor of Judah. Malachi may have prophesied in Jerusalem.
431	Nehemiah may have returned to Jerusalem and began his second term as governor. More religious reforms apparently began.
430
429
428
427
426
425
424
423	Darius II began to reign.

Message³

For many years, believers regarded Ezra and Nehemiah as twin books. They called them 1 and 2 Ezra (or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of Ezra). Jerome, who lived in the fourth century A.D., gave 2 Ezra the name Nehemiah. This fact illustrates the close relationship that exists between these two books. A single story begins in Ezra and ends in Nehemiah. The history they record covers about 110 years (538-430 B.C.).

Let us notice three things about the returned exiles in this period, the restoration period, that God revealed in this Book of Nehemiah.

The people in view are the approximately 97,000 Israelites who returned from captivity, the remnant. They had no conscious national influence that arose from their purpose as a nation. They did not have much messianic hope either. There is no reference to this hope in Ezra, Nehemiah, or Esther.

The purpose of God was that His people should return to His Law. The civil reformation was secondary to the reading of the Law that took place in Jerusalem. The reading of the Law (ch. 8) led to the praying of the Levites (ch. 9), and that resulted in the making of a covenant (ch. 10). God's purpose was to put Israel back under the Law until Christ would come.

The Potter at work in this book continues the task of reshaping that He began in Ezra. His primary instrument at this time was Nehemiah. Nehemiah was not a king, a priest, or a prophet, but an ordinary citizen. He held a cabinet-level position under Artaxerxes, the Persian monarch. He became the governor of Judah later. Generally the kings of Israel had failed, the people had ignored the prophets, and the priests were corrupt. Therefore God chose a common man who built a wall around Jerusalem in a little over seven weeks so the people could give concentrated attention to the reading and exposition of God's Word. Nehemiah was a man like others God used before him, a man who lived and walked by faith. Joshua was such a person and was also neither king, prophet, nor priest. Nehemiah did for Israel in his day what Joshua had done in his.

Notice next three things about Nehemiah.

Nehemiah had an attitude of faith. He had remarkable confidence in God. This never wavered. He wanted to see God's purposes fulfilled (1:1-4). He expressed his concern in his inquiry and sorrow. His prayer and sorrow show his confidence in God's power (1:5-2:4; 4:9). Furthermore he purposed to cooperate with God so God's will would happen. He expressed this commitment in his activity.

Nehemiah also acted in faith. We can see his faith in three activities.

1. He acted cautiously (5:7). He examined the wall secretly and silently. Then he divided the work so every man built near his own house. This guaranteed the personal interest and diligence of the workers.

2. He acted courageously (13:11, 17). He started by himself, single-handedly. Then he stuck with the work determinedly until he finished it.

3. He acted without compromise.

He did not compromise with the enemies outside the wall. They tried to get him to compromise by using contempt (4:3), then conspiracy (4:8), and then cunning (6:2).

He did not compromise with the Jews inside the wall either. He did not allow the nobles to continue charging their poorer brothers interest (5:5). He did not allow a priest to give lodging to the enemy (13:4-5). Furthermore he did not permit mixed marriages with non-Jews (13:23).

Finally, Nehemiah achieved by faith. The workers built the walls in only 52 days. Nehemiah settled the people in the city and its suburbs. He expounded and enforced the Law of God. He also provided a place where the people could wait for God's salvation.

Combining Nehemiah's times with his character we get the message of this book. Nehemiah proves that seemingly impossible things are possible through prayer and hard work when people determine to trust and obey God, and when they put His interests first.

Like Nehemiah we live in dark times (cf. Isa. 50:10). We too have to deal with indifferent multitudes. As in his day, there is widespread disloyalty to God's truth today. As then, there is lack of enthusiasm for God's plans and purposes now. Not many Christians want to devote their every waking moment to the task God has commanded us to do.

Like Nehemiah we need to walk by faith in these dark times (cf. Hab. 2:4). We need to be as sure of God as he was. We need to act with God and for God even though it means strenuous effort. We also need to decline all compromise with those outside and inside the church. We need to trust God, to do our day's work faithfully, and leave the future to Him. May we all follow this great man's example of faith. May we live one day at a time (Matt. 6:11).

Constable: Nehemiah (Outline)

Outline

I. The fortification of Jerusalem chs. 1-7

A. The return under Nehemiah chs. 1-2

1. The news concerning Jerusalem 1:1-3

2. The response of Nehemiah 1:4-11

3. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-8

4. The return to Jerusalem 2:9-20

B. The rebuilding of the walls 3:1-7:4

1. The workers and their work ch. 3

2. The opposition to the workers ch. 4

3. The strife among the workers ch. 5

4. The attacks against Nehemiah 6:1-14

5. The completion of the work 6:15-7:4

C. The record of those who returned 7:5-72

II. The restoration of the Jews chs. 8-13

A. The renewal of the Mosaic Covenant chs. 8-10

1. The gathering of the people ch. 8

2. The prayer of the people ch. 9

3. The renewed commitment of the people ch. 10

B. The residents of the land 11:1-12:26

1. The residents of Jerusalem 11:1-24

2. The residents of the outlying towns 11:25-36

3. The priests and Levites 12:1-26

C. The dedication of the wall 12:27-47

1. Preparations for the dedication 12:27-30

2. The dedication ceremonies 12:31-47

D. The reforms instituted by Nehemiah ch. 13

1. The exclusion of foreigners 13:1-3

2. The expulsion of Tobiah 13:4-9

3. The revival of tithing 13:10-14

4. The observance of the Sabbath 13:15-22

5. The rebuke of mixed marriages 13:23-29

6. The summary of Nehemiah's reforms 13:30-31

Constable: Nehemiah

Nehemiah

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAS;

commonly called THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS.

INTRODUCTION.

This Book takes its name from the writer, who was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, (surnamed Longimanus ) king of Persia, and was sent by him with a commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also called the Second Book of Esdras, because it is a continuation of the history begun by Esdras, of the state of the people of God after their return from captivity. (Challoner) --- Genebrard believes that the latter wrote the work. But how long must he thus have lived? and how come the lists to vary so much? (Calmet) --- We may allow that these variations are owing to the mistakes of transcribers, (1 Esdras ii. 1.) for the writer of both works was certainly inspired. Esdras lived a long time along with Nehemias; (chap. xii. 35.) and he may have left memorials, as well as the latter, from which the present work seems to be compiled. (Haydock) --- Some additions have been made since the days of Nehemias, articularly chap. xii. to ver. 26, or at least (Calmet) the five last of these verses. (Capel.) (Chronicles) --- The passage cited from the commentaries of Nehemias, (2 Machabees ii. 13.) is not to be found here; which shews that we have not his entire work, but only an abridgment, in which the author has adopted his words, with some few alterations. The fifth chapter seems to be out of its place, and also the dedication of the walls, chap. xii. 27. Nehemias was a person in great favour at the court of Persia; and of high birth, probably of the royal family, (Eusebius; Isidore; Genebrard in Chron.) as most of the ancients believe that all who governed, till the time of the Asmoneans, were of the tribe of Juda. Hence he styles Hanani his brother, (chap. i. 2.) and declines entering into the temple, chap. vi. 11. His name never occurs among the priests; and though we read [in] 2 Machabees i. 18, 21, jussit sacerdos Nehemias, (Tirinus) the Greek has, "Nehemias order the priests;" Greek: iereis: (Calmet; Huet; Du Hamel) and the title of priest sometimes is given to laymen at the head of affairs. (Haydock) --- In this character Nehemias appeared, by order of Artaxerxes: and notwithstanding the obstructions of the enemies of Juda, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and returned after twelve years to court, making a second visit to his own country, a little before the death of the king, whom he probably survived only one year, dying the year of the world 3580, about thirty years after he had been appointed governor. (Calmet) --- In the two first chapters, we behold his solicitude for the welfare of his country, in the ten following his success, and in the last what abuses he corrected. (Worthington) --- He renewed the covenant with God, (chap. ix., and x.) sent for the sacred fire, and established a library at Jerusalem, 2 Machabees i. 19, 34., and ii. 13. (Haydock)

Gill: Nehemiah (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH

This book is, by the authors of the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, called the "Second" Book of Ezra, it being a continuation of the same history, and was by the Jews reckoned as one book with Ezra; Kimchi on Isa 9:7, calls it Ezra, so the Talmud ^a; and it has been quoted by Christian writers under his name; see the argument of the book of Ezra; but not as if it was written by him; for it is a clear case it was written by Nehemiah, whose name it bears, as appears from Neh 1:1 and throughout Nehemiah speaks of himself under the first person; and the style also is very different from that of Ezra, being plainer and easier than his. It has always had a place in the canon of Scriptures, both with Jews and Christians; and is of use to show the fulfilment of the prophecy of Zechariah, and especially of Daniel concerning the building of the wall of Jerusalem in troublesome times; to carry on the history of the Jews, and describe the state of the church in those times, what opposition was made to it, and what enemies it had, and what must be expected when any work of God is set about; it is the last of the historical books that was written, as is thought, and contains an history of the space of about twelve years, from the twentieth of Artaxerxes to the thirty second of his reign, see Neh 1:1.

Gill: Nehemiah 12 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 12

This chapter gives an account of the chief of the priests and Levites in the days of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Joiakim, Eliashib, and Nehemiah, Neh 12:1, of the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the joy expressed on that occasion, Neh 12:27, and of the appointment of some persons over the treasuries for the priests, Levites, singers, and porters, Neh 12:44.