1 And it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that the doorkeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.
2 And I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the citadel, charge over Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.
3 And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.
4 Now the city was large and great; but the people in it were few, and no houses were built.
5 And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, for registration by genealogy. And I found a genealogical register of those that had come up at the first, and I found written in it:
6 These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city;
7 those who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
8 The children of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two.
9 The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.
10 The children of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two.
11 The children of Pahath-Moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen.
12 The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.
13 The children of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five.
14 The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty.
15 The children of Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight.
16 The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight.
17 The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two.
18 The children of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven.
19 The children of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven.
20 The children of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five.
21 The children of Ater of [the family of] Hezekiah, ninety-eight.
22 The children of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight.
23 The children of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four.
24 The children of Hariph, a hundred and twelve.
25 The children of Gibeon, ninety-five.
26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, a hundred and eighty-eight.
27 The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight.
28 The men of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two.
29 The men of Kirjath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three.
30 The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.
31 The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.
32 The men of Bethel and Ai, a hundred and twenty-three.
33 The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two.
34 The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.
35 The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
36 The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.
37 The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one.
38 The children of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.
39 The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three.
40 The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two.
41 The children of Pashhur, a thousand two hundred and forty-seven.
42 The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.
43 The Levites: the children of Jeshua [and] of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodvah, seventy-four.
44 The singers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and forty-eight.
45 The doorkeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, a hundred and thirty-eight.
46 The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,
47 the children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon,
48 the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Salmai,
49 the children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar,
50 the children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda,
51 the children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Phaseah,
52 the children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim,
53 the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,
54 the children of Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,
55 the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Thamah,
56 the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.
57 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,
58 the children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,
59 the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth-Hazzebaim, the children of Amon.
60 All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants, three hundred and ninety-two.
61 And these are they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub-Addon and Immer; but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
62 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobijah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two.
63 And of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called after their name.
64 These sought their genealogical register, but it was not found; therefore were they, as polluted, removed from the priesthood.
65 And the Tirshatha said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up the priest with Urim and Thummim.
66 The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,
67 besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singing-men and singing-women.
68 Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six; their mules, two hundred and forty-five;
69 the camels, four hundred and thirty-five; the asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.
70 And some of the chief fathers gave to the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand darics of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' coats.
71 And [some] of the chief fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred pounds of silver.
72 And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven priests' coats.
73 And the priests, and the Levites, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, and [some] of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities. And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in their cities,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Nehemiah 7
Commentary on Nehemiah 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Ne 7:1-4. Nehemiah Commits the Charge of Jerusalem to Hanani and Hananiah.
2. I gave my brother Hanani … charge over Jerusalem—If, as is commonly supposed, Nehemiah was now contemplating a return to Shushan according to his promise, it was natural that he should wish to entrust the custody of Jerusalem and the management of its civic affairs to men on whose ability, experience, and fidelity, he could confide. Hanani, a near relative (Ne 1:2), was one, and with him was associated, as colleague, Hananiah, "the ruler of the palace"—that is, the marshal or chamberlain of the viceregal court, which Nehemiah had maintained in Jerusalem. The high religious principle, as well as the patriotic spirit of those two men, recommended them as pre-eminently qualified for being invested with an official trust of such peculiar importance.
and feared God above many—The piety of Hananiah is especially mentioned as the ground of his eminent fidelity in the discharge of all his duties and, consequently, the reason of the confidence which Nehemiah reposed in him; for he was fully persuaded that Hananiah's fear of God would preserve him from those temptations to treachery and unfaithfulness which he was likely to encounter on the governor's departure from Jerusalem.
3. Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot, &c.—In the East it is customary to open the gates of a city at sunrise, and to bar them at sunset—a rule which is very rarely, and not except to persons of authority, infringed upon. Nehemiah recommended that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened so early; a precaution necessary at a time when the enemy was practising all sorts of dangerous stratagems, to ensure that the inhabitants were all astir and enjoyed the benefit of clear broad daylight for observing the suspicious movements of any enemy. The propriety of regularly barring the gates at sunset was, in this instance, accompanied with the appointment of a number of the people to act as sentinels, each mounting guard in front of his own house.
4. Now the city was large and great—The walls being evidently built on the old foundations, the city covered a large extent of surface, as all Oriental towns do, the houses standing apart with gardens and orchards intervening. This extent, in the then state of Jerusalem, was the more observable as the population was comparatively small, and the habitations of the most rude and simple construction—mere wooden sheds or coverings of loose, unmortared stones.
Ne 7:5-38. Genealogy of Those Who Came at the First Out of Babylon.
5. my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, &c.—The arrangement about to be described, though dictated by mere common prudence, is, in accordance with the pious feelings of Nehemiah, ascribed not to his own prudence or reflection, but to the grace of God prompting and directing him. He resolved to prepare a register of the returned exiles, containing an exact record of the family and ancestral abode of every individual. While thus directing his attention, he discovered a register of the first detachment who had come under the care of Zerubbabel. It is transcribed in the following verses, and differs in some few particulars from that given in Ezr 2:1-61. But the discrepancy is sufficiently accounted for from the different circumstances in which the two registers were taken; that of Ezra having been made up at Babylon, while that of Nehemiah was drawn out in Judea, after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. The lapse of so many years might well be expected to make a difference appear in the catalogue, through death or other causes; in particular, one person being, according to Jewish custom, called by different names. Thus Hariph (Ne 7:24) is the same as Jorah (Ezr 2:18), Sia (Ne 7:47) the same as Siaha (Ezr 2:44), &c. Besides other purposes to which this genealogy of the nobles, rulers, and people was subservient, one leading object contemplated by it was to ascertain with accuracy the parties to whom the duty legally belonged of ministering at the altar and conducting the various services of the temple. For guiding to exact information in this important point of enquiry, the possession of the old register of Zerubbabel was invaluable.
Ne 7:39-73. Of the Priests.
39. The priests—It appears that only four of the courses of the priests returned from the captivity; and that the course of Abia (Lu 1:5) is not in the list. But it must be noticed that these four courses were afterwards divided into twenty-four, which retained the names of the original courses which David appointed.
70. And some of the chief of the fathers, &c.—With Ne 7:69 the register ends, and the thread of Nehemiah's history is resumed. He was the tirshatha, or governor, and the liberality displayed by him and some of the leading men for the suitable equipment of the ministers of religion, forms the subject of the remaining portion of the chapter. Their donations consisted principally in garments. This would appear a singular description of gifts to be made by any one among us; but, in the East, a present of garments, or of any article of use, is conformable to the prevailing sentiments and customs of society.
drams of gold—that is, darics. A daric was a gold coin of ancient Persia, worth £1 5s.
71. pound of silver—that is, mina (sixty shekels, or £9).
73. So … all Israel, dwelt in their cities—The utility of these genealogical registers was thus found in guiding to a knowledge of the cities and localities in each tribe to which every family anciently belonged.