1 Now when the building of the wall was complete and I had put up the doors, and the door-keepers and the music-makers and the Levites had been given their places,
Now when word was given to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our haters, that I had done the building of the wall and that there were no more broken places in it (though even then I had not put up the doors in the doorways);
So the wall was complete on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
Then Hezekiah put in order the divisions of the priests and Levites, every man in his division, in relation to his work, for the burned offerings and peace-offerings, and for the ordering of worship and for giving praise at the doors of the Lord's house.
Now David was old and full of days; and he made his son Solomon king over Israel. And he got together all the chiefs of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority; Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise. And David put them into divisions under the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham and Joel, three. The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three; these were the heads of the families of Ladan. And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zizah and Jeush and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei. Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had only a small number of sons, so they were grouped together as one family. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever. And the sons of Moses, the man of God, were put into the list of the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first. And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the first; and Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had a great number. The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first. The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first, and Isshiah the second. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. And at his death Eleazar had no sons, but only daughters, and their relations, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. The sons of Mushi: Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth, three. These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was: Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur and Joseph and Nethaniah and Asharelah, sons of Asaph; under the direction of Asaph, acting as a prophet under the orders of the king; Of Jeduthun: the six sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah and Zeri and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah; under the direction of their father Jeduthun who, acting as a prophet, with corded instruments gave praise and glory to the Lord. Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth; All these were sons of Heman, the king's seer in the words of God. And to make great his power God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these, under the direction of their father, made music in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments, for the worship of the house of God; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the orders of the king. And the number of them, with their brothers who were trained and expert in making melody to the Lord, was two hundred and eighty-eight. And selection was made of them for their special work, all having equal chances, small as well as great, the teacher as the learner. Now of the group of Asaph, the first name to come out was Joseph; the second Gedaliah; he and his brothers and sons were twelve? The third Zaccur, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fourth Izri, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fifth Nethaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The sixth Bukkiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The seventh Jesharelah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eighth Jeshaiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The ninth Mattaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The tenth Shimei, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eleventh Azarel, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twelfth Hashabiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The thirteenth Shubael, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fourteenth Mattithiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fifteenth Jeremoth, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The sixteenth Hananiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The seventeenth Joshbekashah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eighteenth Hanani, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The nineteenth Mallothi, with his sons and his brothers, twelve;
Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work of the house of the Lord.
Then Eliashib, the chief priest, got up with his brothers the priests, and took in hand the building of the sheep doorway; they made it holy and put its doors in position; as far as the tower of Hammeah they made it holy, even to the tower of Hananel. And by his side the men of Jericho were building. And after them, Zaccur, the son of Imri. The sons of Hassenaah were the builders of the fish doorway; they put its boards in place and put up its doors, with their locks and rods. By their side Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, was making good the walls. Then Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel; and by him, Zadok, the son of Baana. Near them, the Tekoites were at work; but their chiefs did not put their necks to the work of their Lord. Joiada, the son of Paseah, and Meshullam, the son of Besodeiah, made good the old doorway; they put its boards in place and put up its doors, with their locks and rods. By their side were working Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah from the seat of the ruler across the river. Near them was working Uzziel, the son of Harhaiah, the gold-worker. And by him was Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, building up Jerusalem as far as the wide wall. Near them was working Rephaiah, the son of Hur, the ruler of half Jerusalem. By his side was Jedaiah, the son of Harumaph, opposite his house. And by him was Hattush, the son of Hashabneiah. Malchijah, the son of Harim, and Hasshub, the son of Pahath-moab, were working on another part, and the tower of the ovens. Near them was Shallum, the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half Jerusalem, with his daughters. Hanun and the people of Zanoah were working on the doorway of the valley; they put it up and put up its doors, with their locks and rods, and a thousand cubits of wall as far as the doorway where the waste material was placed. And Malchijah, the son of Rechab, the ruler of the division of Beth-haccherem, made good the doorway of the waste, building it up and putting up its doors, with their locks and rods. And Shallun, the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the division of Mizpah, made good the doorway of the fountain, building it up and covering it and putting up its doors, with their locks and rods, with the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, as far as the steps which go down from the town of David. By his side was working Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the division of Beth-zur, as far as the place opposite the last resting-places of David's family, and the pool which was made and the house of the men of war. Then came the Levites, Rehum, the son of Bani. By his side was working Hashabiah, ruler of half the division of Keilah, for his division. After him were working their brothers, Bavvai, the son of Henadad, ruler of half the division of Keilah. And by his side was working Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, making good another part opposite the way up to the store of arms at the turning of the wall. After him Baruch, the son of Zabbai, was hard at work on another part, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib, the chief priest. After him Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, was working on another part, from the door of the house of Eliashib as far as the end of his house. After him were working the priests, the men of the lowland. After them came Benjamin and Hasshub, opposite their house. After them Azariah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made good the wall by the house where he himself was living. After him Binnui, the son of Henadad, was working on another part, from the house of Azariah as far as the turning of the wall and the angle. Palal, the son of Uzai, made good the wall opposite the angle and the tower which comes out from the higher part of the king's house, by the open space of the watch. After him was Pedaiah, the son of Parosh. (Now the Nethinim were living in the Ophel, as far as the place facing the water doorway to the east, and the tower which comes out.) After him the Tekoites were making good another part, opposite the great tower which comes out, and up to the wall of the Ophel. Further on, past the horse doorway, the priests were at work, every one opposite his house. After them Zadok, the son of Immer, was working opposite his house. And after him Shemaiah, the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east door. After him Hananiah, the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, were making good another part. After him Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, made good the wall opposite his room. After him Malchijah, one of the gold-workers to the Nethinim and the traders, made good the wall opposite the doorway of Hammiphkad and as far as the way up to the angle. And between the way up to the angle and the sheep door, the gold-workers and the traders made good the wall.
For the children of Israel and the children of Levi are to take the lifted offering of the grain and wine and oil into the rooms where the vessels of the holy place are, together with the priests and the door-keepers and the makers of music: and we will not give up caring for the house of our God.
Now these are the chiefs of the divisions of the country who were living in Jerusalem: but in the towns of Judah everyone was living on his heritage in the towns, that is, Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Nehemiah 7
Commentary on Nehemiah 7 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 7
Nehemiah having built the wall, and set up the doors, appointed two persons to take the charge of the city, and set watches for the safety of it, and to take special care about opening and shutting the gates of it, Nehemiah 7:1, and concerned he was for the peopling of it, and having found a register of the first comers to it, gives their names, Nehemiah 7:4 and some account of the freewill offerings made for the work they came about, Nehemiah 7:70.
Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors,.... Which was not done when Sanballat sent his first letter, but now was, Nehemiah 6:1,
and the porters and the singers, and the Levites were appointed; not to attend the doors of the gates of the wall, but to return to their service in the temple, who had been employed in one thing or another, while the wall and gates were building and repairing; see Nehemiah 3:17.
That I gave my brother Hanani,.... Who first brought him the melancholy account of the state of Jerusalem, Nehemiah 1:2,
and Hananiah the ruler of the palace; the king's palace, in which the viceroy of the king of Persia dwelt, and now Nehemiah; to these two men he gave
charge over Jerusalem; committed it to their care during his absence, who may be supposed now to return to Persia, as he had promised, Nehemiah 2:6,
for he was a faithful man; this is said of Hananiah, and given as a reason why such a trust was committed to him; Hanani's character was well known, and his journey from Jerusalem to Shushan was a full proof of his hearty concern for the interest of it:
and feared God above many; Hananiah was exemplary in his fear of God, few were equal to him, and none exceeded him; or of many days, as Jarchi; of a long time he had feared the Lord, and served him many years.
And I said unto them, let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot,.... Or until the heat of the day, or near noon; at least not till the sun had been up some time, and shone out clearly, and caused much heat; that if any enemies were near, or lying in wait, they might be discovered, and the inhabitants also up and ready to defend themselves:
and while they stand by; according to Aben Ezra, Hanani and Hananiah were to be present at the opening and shutting of the gates, and so Grotius; but these being the chief rulers, it is not likely; but rather those whom they appointed to look after them, these were to stand by while their servants did it; they were not to leave it wholly to them, but to see it done themselves:
let them shut the doors, and bar them; or "lay hold"F1ואחזו "et tractate", Junius & Tremellius; "contrectate eas", Piscator. on them, handle them to see whether they are shut fast or not:
and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, and everyone to be over against his house; no foreigners were to be of the watch, only inhabitants, and those everyone in their turn, and to be placed over against where they dwelt; and so it might be thought would be the more careful and diligent in their watch.
Now the city was large and great,.... The circumference of it, all within the wall; for that was built on its old foundation, and enclosed as much ground as ever it did: HecataeusF2Apud Euseb. Praepar. par. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. & apud Joseph. contr. Apion, l. 1. c. 22. , an Heathen writer, says the circumference of Jerusalem was fifty furlongs, which was more than six miles; but JosephusF3De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 3. makes the circuit of it but thirty three furlongs or about six miles:
but the people were few therein; in comparison of the largeness of the place; for though there were 42,360 that came up at first with Zerubbabel, and many more with Ezra, yet a great number chose to settle in the towns and cities in the country, Jerusalem being in such a desolate condition:
and the houses were not builded; some were, but they were but few, many of them still lay in ruins.
And my God put into mine heart,.... Every good motion in him, and whatever he thought of that was conducive to the good and welfare of Jerusalem, Nehemiah always ascribed it to God; see 2 Corinthians 3:5
to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy; that their number might be known, and of what families they were, and in what cities they formerly dwelt; and this was not only of use for the present purpose of Nehemiah, but was of service hereafter to show the pedigree of families, and that it might be clearly known from whence the Messiah sprung:
and I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first; from Babylon to Jerusalem, along with Zerubbabel, as appears from Nehemiah 7:7, and this was of great use to him, whereby he would know not only their names and number, but to what city they belonged, and who to the city of Jerusalem, that they might be called upon to come, and rebuild their houses, and take up their residence there:
and found written therein; the names of the persons and families after mentioned.
These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity,.... Who were of the province of Judea, as it was now reduced, and came up out of the captivity of Babylon through the edict of Cyrus; see Ezra 2:1, where the same preface is given to the list of names as here; and from hence to the end of Nehemiah 7:69 the same account is given of persons and families as there, with some little difference of numbers and names; in some instances there are more in this list, in others fewer, which may be thus accounted for; that list was made in Babylon, when, upon the edict of Cyrus, the Jews, who intended to go up with Zerubbabel, gave in their names, and they were registered; but this was made when they came to Jerusalem; now some of those that gave in their names changed their minds, and tarried in Babylon, and some might die by the way, which makes the numbers fewer in some instances; and others who did not give in their names at first, but, being better disposed towards their own country, followed after and joined those which were returning, and increased the number of others; to which may be added what Abendana observes, that in Ezra an account is given of those that came out of the captivity by the companies, in which they came not genealogized, and had a mixture of persons of other families in them, and some that had no genealogy; but afterwards, when they were genealogized according to their families, a register of their genealogies was made, and is what Nehemiah now found, and here gives; and, as for difference of names, that may be owing to the carelessness of copiers, or to the different pronunciation of names, or some men might have two names; the matter is of no great moment.
And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work,.... Of building the city and the temple, and for that service, Ezra 2:68,
the Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drachms of gold; each of which was one pound sterling, and so amounted to so many pounds: of these "dracmons", or "darics", a Persian coin, mention is made in Ezra 2:69, they were golden staters, or shekels and had their name as is said, not from Darius, the father of Xerxes, though it is certain, from HerodotusF4Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 166. , that he coined golden money; but from some other king of the same name, more ancientF5Scholiast. in Aristoph. Eccles. p. 741, 742. So Harpocration. Lexic. in voce δαρδικος, and Suidas on the same word. , which must be Darius the Mede; and if they are the same with the Adarcon in Ezra 8:27 as they seem to be, then those in 1 Chronicles 29:7 were pieces of money not so called in the times of David, but of Ezra, the writer of that book: whether this Tirshatha was Zerubbabel, or Nehemiah, is not easy to say, since this donation is not the same with that in Ezra, not made at the same time nor are the gifts the same, nor the persons that gave them. Zerubbabel was Tirshatha when the Jews came out of Babylon, and Nehemiah now:
fifty basins; which were vessels, in the which the blood of the sacrifices was received and out of which it was sprinkled:
five hundred and thirty priests' garments; which were laid up in the wardrobe, and used on occasion.
And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work,.... To be put into the treasure, out of which the expenses of the temple, and service of it were defrayed:
twenty thousand drachms of gold; which were so many pounds of our money, and somewhat more: for, according to Bishop CumberlandF6Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 115. , a drachm of gold was of the value of twenty shillings and four pence: and 2200 pounds of silver; "the maneh", or pound, with the Jews, was of the value of sixty shekels, Ezekiel 45:12 and so is reckoned by our BrerewoodF7De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. to be of our money seven pounds and ten shillings; he reckoning a shekel at half a crown, whereas it was little more than two shillings and four pence; and so sixty of them, or a "maneh", came to about seven pounds; wherefore this sum here was seven times so many pounds of silver.
And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drachms of gold,.... Worth as many pounds of our money, and somewhat more:
and two thousand pound of silver; of which See Gill on Nehemiah 7:71,
and threescore and seven priests' garments; having been so long in Babylon, and no use of sacrifices, and so not of garments to minister in, no care was taken to provide any; which seems to be the reason why so many were given, when they returned to their own land, and sacrificed.
So the priests and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities,.... The same is said in Ezra 2:70; see Gill on Ezra 2:70,
and, when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities; the month Tisri, answering to part of September, in which month was the feast of tabernacles; at this time of the year they were in their cities when they came forth out of Babylon, and so they were now; see Ezra 3:1.