Nehemiah 11:13

,11 Of the priests,.... Who dwelt in Jerusalem, of whom the same account is given in these two verses as in 1 Chronicles 9:10, only Seraiah here is called Azariah there. Nehemiah 11:11 Ver. 11 See Gill on "Nehemiah 11:10". Nehemiah 11:12 Ver. 12. And their brethren that did the work of the house were eight hundred twenty and two,.... That offered the sacrifices, burnt incense, set on the shewbread, lighted the lamps, &c. and Adaiah the son of Jeroham; see 1 Chronicles 9:12 whose genealogy is traced here through Pelaliah, Amzi, Zechariah, Pashur, to Malchiah. Nehemiah 11:13 Ver. 13. And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two,.... That is, the brethren or relations of Adaiah: and Amashai; called Maasiai, 1 Chronicles 9:12, whose lineage is traced here through Azareel, Ahasai, Meshillemoth, to Immer. Nehemiah 11:14 Ver. 14. And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred twenty and eight,.... The brethren of Adaiah and Amashai, who were able men to do the work of their office as priests, and men of courage to fight the enemy, and defend the city upon occasion: and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men; or the son of Hagedolim, or Gedolim, as some, who take it to be the proper name of a man. Nehemiah 11:15 Ver. 15. Also of the Levites,.... Who dwelt in Jerusalem: Shemaiah the son of Hashub: traced from him through Azrikam and Hashabiah to Bunni; these were of the sons of Merari, the third son of Levi, see 1 Chronicles 9:14.

11:1-36 The distribution of the people. - In all ages, men have preferred their own ease and advantage to the public good. Even the professors of religion too commonly seek their own, and not the things of Christ. Few have had such attachment to holy things and holy places, as to renounce pleasure for their sake. Yet surely, our souls should delight to dwell where holy persons and opportunities of spiritual improvement most abound. If we have not this love to the city of our God, and to every thing that assists our communion with the Saviour, how shall we be willing to depart hence; to be absent from the body, that we may be present with the Lord? To the carnal-minded, the perfect holiness of the New Jerusalem would be still harder to bear than the holiness of God's church on earth. Let us seek first the favour of God, and his glory; let us study to be patient, contented, and useful in our several stations, and wait, with cheerful hope, for admission into the holy city of God.

See the margin reference notes. Both accounts appear to be extracts from a public official register which Nehemiah caused to be made of his census. The census itself seems to have been confined to the dwellers at Jerusalem. The subjoined table exhibits the differences between the accounts of the entire population of Jerusalem as given in Nehemiah and in Chronicles: 1 Chron ehemiah Tribes of Judah Of Pharez 468 Of Zerah 690 Tribe of Benjamin 956 928 Tribe of Levi Priests 1760 1192 Levites 284 Porters 212 172 According to Nehemiah's numbers, supplemented from Chronicles, the entire adult male population of the city was 3,734, which would give a total population of 14,936. According to Chronicles, supplemented from Nehemiah, the adult males were 4,370, and consequently the entire population, would have been 17,480. As the Nethinims and the Israelites of Ephraim and Manasseh 1 Chronicles 9:3 are not included in either list, we may conclude that the actual number of the inhabitants, after the efforts recorded in Nehemiah 11:1-2, was not much short of 20,000.

13 . chief of the fathers ] R.V. chiefs of fathers’ houses. From the technical use of the term ‘chiefs of fathers’ houses,’ it is obvious that the figure 242 denotes the number of the retainers of Adaiah and ‘his brethren,’ who were ‘chiefs of fathers’ houses.’ Amashai (R.V. Amashsai ) the son of Azareel (R.V. Azarel ), the son of Ahasai (R.V. Ahzai ), the son of Meshillemoth ] In 1 Chronicles 9:12 , ‘Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith’ is clearly the same person. A comparison of the names here will illustrate the way in which proper names were liable to be confused and altered in the process of copying; it will also show how in one list some names are omitted from the full genealogy. Immer ] Cf. Nehemiah 7:40 ; Ezra 2:37 . Nehemiah 11:13

Of the priests: Jedaiah, Joiarib, and Jachin, three heads of houses, therefore of orders of priests (for בּן before Joiarib probably crept into the text by a clerical error; see rem. on 1 Chronicles 9:10 ); Seraiah, a descendant of Ahitub, as ruler of the house of God, and their brethren, i.e., the eight hundred and twenty-two ministering priests belonging to these three orders. Also Adaiah, of the house or order of Malchiah, and his brethren, two hundred and forty-two fathers of families; and lastly, Amashai, of the order of Immer, with one hundred and twenty-eight brethren, i.e., priests. And their chief was Zabdiel ben Haggedolim (lxx υἱὸς τῶν μεγάλων). עליהם refers to all the before-named priests. לעבות ראשׁים heads of fathers, i.e., of families, Nehemiah 11:13 , is striking, for the brethren of Adaiah (אחיו), in number two hundred and forty-two, could not be heads of houses, but only fathers of families. The words seem to have come into the text only by comparing it with 1 Chronicles 9:13 . If they were genuine, we should be obliged to understand לעבות ראשׁים of fathers of families, contrary to general usage.

NEHEMIAH 11: 12 and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, NEHEMIAH 11: 13 and his brothers, chiefs of fathers’ households, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, NEHEMIAH 11: 14 and their brothers, mighty men of valor, one hundred twenty-eight; and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim. Verse 14 Mighty men of valor - Noted for strength of body, and military courage. NEHEMIAH 11: 15 Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; NEHEMIAH 11: 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had the oversight of the outward business of God’s house; Verse 16 And Shabbethai - This verse, with Nehemiah 11:20, Nehemiah 11:21, Nehemiah 11:28, Nehemiah 11:29, Nehemiah 11:32, Nehemiah 11:33, Nehemiah 11:34, and Nehemiah 11:35, are all wanting in the Septuagint and the whole chapter is wanting in the Arabic, the translator not being concerned in Jewish genealogies. The outward business - Calmet supposes that he provided the victuals for the priests, victims for the sacrifices, the sacerdotal vestments, the sacred vessels, and other necessaries for the service of the temple.

6. Hast thou forsaken this house? These questions are of great importance; answer them as in the sight of God. [ Nehemiah 11 ] NEHEMIAH 11: 1 The princes of the people lived in Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities. Lots are cast that a tenth of the people may constantly dwell at Jerusalem, and the other nine parts in the other cities and villages, Nehemiah 11:1. Some willingly offer themselves to dwell in Jerusalem, and the people bless them, Nehemiah 11:2. An enumeration of the families that dwell in Jerusalem, of Judah, and Benjamin, Nehemiah 11:3-9; of those of the priests, Nehemiah 11:10-12; of the chiefs of the fathers, Nehemiah 11:13; of the mighty men, Nehemiah 11:14; of the Levites, Nehemiah 11:15-18; of the porters, Nehemiah 11:19; of the residue of Israel and the officers, Nehemiah 11:20-24. The villages at which they dwelt, Nehemiah 11:25-35. Certain divisions of the Levites were in Judah and Benjamin, Nehemiah 11:36. Verse 1 To bring one of ten - Jerusalem certainly had many inhabitants at this time; but not sufficient to preserve the city, which was now encompassed with a wall, and the rebuilding of which was going on fast. Nehemiah therefore obliged one tenth of the country people to come and dwell in it, that the population might be sufficient for the preservation and defense of the city.

Of the other names in our register only the following are identical: of the Benjamites, Sallu the son of Meshullam (1 Chronicles 9:7; Nehemiah 11:7); of the priests, Adaiah (1 Chronicles 9:12; Nehemiah 11:12), with almost the same ancestors; and of the Levites, Shemaiah and Mattaniah (1 Chronicles 9:10.; Nehemiah 11:15, Nehemiah 11:17). All the other names are different; and even if among the priests Maasiai (1 Chronicles 9:12) should be identical with Amashai (Nehemiah 11:13), and among the Levites Bakbakkar and Obadiah (1 Chronicles 9:16 and 1 Chronicles 9:15) with Bakbukiah and Abda (Nehemiah 11:17), we cannot identify the sons of Judah, Uthai and Azaiah (1 Chronicles 9:4.), with Athaiah and Maaseiah (Nehemiah 11:4.), for their ancestors are quite different. The similarity or even the identity of names, were it in two or three generations, cannot of itself prove the identity of the persons, as we have already seen, in the genealogy of the line of Aaron 1 Chronicles 6:3.), that, e.g., the series Amariah, Ahitub, and Zadok recurs at various times; cf. 1 Chronicles 6:11. and 1 Chronicles 6:12. Everywhere in the genealogical lines the same names very often recur, as it was the custom to give the children the names of their ancestors; cf. Tob. 1:9, Luke 1:59. Win. bibl. R. W. ii. S. 133; Hvern. Einl. ii. 1, S. 179f.