Nehemiah 11:1-36

The Population of Jerusalem

11:1 So the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, ¹  while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to settle in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine ²  remained in other cities. 11:2 The people gave their blessing on all the men who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem.

11:3 These are the provincial leaders ³  who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities, 11:4 some of the descendants of Judah and some of the descendants of Benjamin settled in Jerusalem.)

Of the descendants of Judah:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, from the descendants of Perez; 11:5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, from the descendants of Shelah. ⁴  11:6 The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.

11:7 These are the descendants of Benjamin:

Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, 11:8 and his followers, ⁵  Gabbai and Sallai – 928 in all. 11:9 Joel son of Zicri was the officer in charge of them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second-in-command over the city.

11:10 From the priests:

Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jakin, 11:11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor in the temple of God, 11:12 and their colleagues ⁶  who were carrying out work for the temple – 822; and Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, 11:13 and his colleagues who were heads of families ⁷  – 242; and Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 11:14 and his colleagues ⁸  who were exceptional men – 128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

11:15 From the Levites:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 11:16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, leaders ⁹  of the Levites, were in charge of the external work for the temple of God; 11:17 Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the praise ¹⁰  leader who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his colleagues; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 11:18 The sum total of the Levites in the holy city was 284.

11:19 And the gatekeepers:

Akkub, Talmon and their colleagues who were guarding the gates – 172.

11:20 And the rest of the Israelites, with the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own property.

11:21 The temple attendants were living on Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over them. ¹¹ 

11:22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants who were the singers responsible for the service of the temple of God. 11:23 For they were under royal orders ¹²  which determined their activity day by day. ¹³ 

11:24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was an adviser to the king ¹⁴  in every matter pertaining to the people.

11:25 As for the settlements with their fields, some of the people of Judah settled in Kiriath Arba and its neighboring villages, ¹⁵  in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements, 11:26 in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet, 11:27 in Hazar Shual, in Beer Sheba and its villages, 11:28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 11:29 in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 11:30 Zanoah, Adullam and their settlements, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its villages. So they were encamped from Beer Sheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

11:31 Some of the descendants of ¹⁶  Benjamin settled in Geba, ¹⁷  Micmash, Aija, Bethel ¹⁸  and its villages, 11:32 in Anathoth, Nob, and Ananiah, 11:33 in Hazor, ¹⁹  Ramah, and Gittaim, 11:34 in Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat, 11:35 in Lod, Ono, and ²⁰  the Valley of the Craftsmen. ²¹  11:36 Some of the Judean divisions of the Levites settled in Benjamin.

[11:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:1]  ² tn Heb “nine of the hands.” The word “hand” is used here in the sense or a part or portion.

[11:3]  ³ tn Heb “the heads of the province.”

[11:5]  ⁴ tc The translation reads מִן־הַשֵּׁלָנִי (min hashelani, “from the Shelahite”) rather than the MT reading בֶּן־הַשִּׁלֹנִי (ben hashiloni, “the son of the Shilionite”). See 1 Chr 9:5.

[11:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “those behind him.” Some scholars emend the text to וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “his brothers”).

[11:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “brothers” (also in vv. 13, 14, 17, 19).

[11:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “heads of fathers.”

[11:14]  ⁸ tc The translation reads with the LXX וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brothers”) rather than the MT reading וַאֲחֵיהֶם (va’akhehem, “and their brothers”).

[11:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “who were of the heads.”

[11:17]  ¹⁰ tc The translation reads with the Lucianic Greek recension and Vulgate הַתְּהִלָה (hattÿhilah, “the praise”) rather than the MT reading הַתְּחִלָּה (hattÿkhillah, “the beginning”).

[11:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the temple attendants.” The pronoun “them” has been substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:23]  ¹² tn Heb “the commandment of the king was over them.”

[11:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[11:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to the hand of the king.”

[11:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.

[11:31]  ¹⁶ tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the Syriac Peshitta וּמִבְּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and some of the descendants of”; cf. NLT) rather than the MT reading וּבְנֵי (uvÿne, “and the sons of”).

[11:31]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “from Geba.” It is preferable to delete the preposition “from” read by the MT.

[11:31]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[11:33]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:35]  ²⁰ tc The translation reads וְגֵי (vÿgey, “and the valley”) rather than the MT reading גֵּי (gey, “the valley”). The original vav (ו) probably dropped out accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word.

[11:35]  ²¹ tn Heb “Ge-harashim,” which could be left untranslated as a place name.