Nehemiah 12:1-18

The Priests and the Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem

12:1 These are the priests and Levites who returned ¹  with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 12:2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 12:3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 12:4 Iddo, Ginnethon, ²  Abijah, 12:5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, 12:6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 12:7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders ³  of the priests and their colleagues ⁴  in the days of Jeshua.

12:8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who together with his colleagues ⁵  was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 12:9 Bakbukiah and Unni, ⁶  their colleagues, stood opposite them in the services.

12:10 Jeshua was the father of ⁷  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, ⁸  Jonathan; of Shecaniah, ⁹  Joseph; 12:15 of Harim, Adna; of Meremoth, ¹⁰  Helkai; 12:16 of Iddo, ¹¹  Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 12:17 of Abijah, Zicri; of Miniamin and ¹²  of Moadiah, Piltai; 12:18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;

[12:1]  ¹ tn Heb “who went up.”

[12:4]  ² 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).

[12:7]  ³ tn Heb “heads” (so also in v. 12).

[12:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers” (also in vv. 8, 9, 24, 36).

[12:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “he and his brothers.”

[12:9]  ⁶ tc The translation reads וְעֻנִּי (vÿ’unni) with the Qere rather than וְעֻנּוֹ (vÿ’uno) of the MT Kethib.

[12:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “begat.”

[12:14]  ⁸ 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.

[12:14]  ⁹ 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).

[12:15]  ¹⁰ 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.

[12:16]  ¹¹ 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.

[12:17]  ¹² 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.