Nehemiah 11:26

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.

And for the villages, with their fields,.... The cities and villages in the country, an account of the inhabitants of them next follows: some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof; the same with Hebron, Joshua 15:54 and at Dibon; the same with Dimonah, Joshua 15:22 and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof; the same with Kabzeel, one of the uttermost cities of the tribe of Judah southward, Joshua 15:21, of which city was Benaiah, one of David's worthies, 2 Samuel 23:20, from hence to the end of Nehemiah 11:30 mention is made of various cities and towns, in the tribe of Judah, inhabited by the men of it, which are to be met with in Joshua 15:1 excepting Jeshua and Mekonah, Nehemiah 11:26, of which we nowhere else read.

25. some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjath-arba—The whole region in which the villages here mentioned were situated had been completely devastated by the Chaldean invasion; and, therefore, it must be assumed, that these villages had been rebuilt before "the children dwelt in them."

The inhabitants of the towns of Judah and Benjamin. - The heads who, with their houses, inhabited country districts are here no longer enumerated, but only the towns, with their adjacent neighbourhoods, which were inhabited by Jews and Benjamites; and even these are but summarily mentioned. Nehemiah 11:25-30 The districts inhabited by the children of Judah. "And with respect to the towns in their fields, there dwelt of the sons of Judah in Kirjath-arba and its daughters," etc. The use of אל as an introductory or emphatic particle is peculiar to this passage, ל ,egassap being elsewhere customary in this sense; comp. Ew. 310, a. אל denotes a respect to something. חצרים, properly enclosures, signifies, according to Leviticus 25:31, villages, towns, boroughs, without walls. שׂדות, fields, field boundaries. בּנותיה, the villages and estates belonging to a town; as frequently in the lists of towns in the book of Joshua. Kirjath-arba is Hebron, Genesis 23:2. Jekabzeel, like Kabzeel, Joshua 15:21. חצריה, its enclosed places, the estates belonging to a town, as in Joshua 15:45. Jeshua, mentioned only here, and unknown. Moladah and Beth-phelet, Joshua 15:26-27. Hazar-shual, i.e., Fox-court, probably to be sought for in the ruins of Thaly; see rem. on Joshua 15:28. Beersheba, now Bir es Seba; see rem. on Genesis 21:31. Ziklag, at the ancient Asluj, see Joshua 15:31. Mekonah, mentioned only here, and unknown. En-rimmon; see rem. on 1 Chronicles 4:32.

Zareah, Jarmuth, Zanoah, and Adullam in the plains (see Joshua 15:33-35), where were also Lachish and Azekah; see on 2 Chronicles 11:9. - In Nehemiah 11:30 the whole region then inhabited by Jews is comprised in the words: "And they dwelt from Beer-sheba (the south-western boundary of Canaan) to the valley of Hinnom, in Jerusalem," through which ran the boundaries of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Joshua 15:8).

It is most probable that it was the latter; who wished that a provision should be made for these, a part of whose office was to offer up prayers also, as well as praises. For we know that Darius made an ample provision for the priests, that they might offer sacrifices of sweet savor unto the God of heaven; and pray for the life of the king and of his sons, Ezra 6:10. Some have thought that they had been Jewish singers employed in the service of the Persian king, to whom he had given a salary, and to whom he wished still to continue the same. NEHEMIAH 11: 24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people. Verse 24 Pethahiah - was at the king's hand - He was the governor appointed by the Persian king over the Jewish nation in those matters in which the civil government interfered with Jewish concerns. He no doubt fixed, levied, and received the tribute. NEHEMIAH 11: 25 As for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its towns, and in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, NEHEMIAH 11: 26 and in Jeshua, and in Moladah, and Beth Pelet, Verse 26 And at Jeshua - This city is nowhere else mentioned. NEHEMIAH 11: 27 and in Hazar Shual, and in Beersheba and its towns, NEHEMIAH 11: 28 and in Ziklag, and in Meconah and in its towns, Verse 28 Mekonah - This city is also unknown.

17–27 (cp. Nehemiah 11:19 ; 1 Chronicles 26:1-19 ). Organisation and Duties of the Porters (Doorkeepers) 17 . porters ] Render, doorkeepers as in 1 Chronicles 16:38 and 1 Chronicles 26:1 (R.V.). In Solomon’s Temple there were “keepers of the threshold,” three in number ( 2 Kings 25:18 ), priests in rank ( ibid. 1 Chronicles 12:9 ). Shallum … Ahiman ] These two names are absent from Nehemiah 11:19 together with the clause Shallum was the chief . This omission of all reference to Shallum must be accidental. Shallum, Akkub and Talmon ] The three names represent families, not individuals; cp. Ezra 2:41 = Nehemiah 7:45 , where the fuller form is given, the children of Shallum, … the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub .… These names persist in the five lists of porters which refer to post-exilic times; Ezra 2:42 = Nehemiah 7:45 ; Nehemiah 11:19 = 1 Chronicles 9:17 ( Shallum is to be supplied in Neh. from Chron.); Nehemiah 12:5 ( Meshullam = Shallum ). When however the reference is to the days of David the prominent names are Meshelemiah = Shelemiah (= Shallum ?), Obed-edom , and Hosah ; 1 Chronicles 15:18 ; 1 Chronicles 15:24 ; 1 Chronicles 16:38 ; 1 Chronicles 26:1 ; 1 Chronicles 26:4 ; 1 Chronicles 26:10 . Ahiman ] Elsewhere in the O.T. this name occurs only among the names of the sons of Anak, and it is probable that the Chronicler (or some scribe) made here an error of transcription, and that Ahiman has arisen from the word aheihem “their brethren” which follows.