28 And the rest H7605 of the people, H5971 the priests, H3548 the Levites, H3881 the porters, H7778 the singers, H7891 the Nethinims, H5411 and all they that had separated H914 themselves from the people H5971 of the lands H776 unto the law H8451 of God, H430 their wives, H802 their sons, H1121 and their daughters, H1323 every one having knowledge, H3045 and having understanding; H995
The priests: H3548 the children H1121 of Jedaiah, H3048 of the house H1004 of Jeshua, H3442 nine H8672 hundred H3967 seventy H7657 and three. H7969 The children H1121 of Immer, H564 a thousand H505 fifty H2572 and two. H8147 The children H1121 of Pashur, H6583 a thousand H505 two hundred H3967 forty H705 and seven. H7651 The children H1121 of Harim, H2766 a thousand H505 and seventeen. H7651 H6240 The Levites: H3881 the children H1121 of Jeshua H3442 and Kadmiel, H6934 of the children H1121 of Hodaviah, H1938 seventy H7657 and four. H702 The singers: H7891 the children H1121 of Asaph, H623 an hundred H3967 twenty H6242 and eight. H8083 The children H1121 of the porters: H7778 the children H1121 of Shallum, H7967 the children H1121 of Ater, H333 the children H1121 of Talmon, H2929 the children H1121 of Akkub, H6126 the children H1121 of Hatita, H2410 the children H1121 of Shobai, H7630 in all an hundred H3967 thirty H7970 and nine. H8672 The Nethinims: H5411 the children H1121 of Ziha, H6727 the children H1121 of Hasupha, H2817 the children H1121 of Tabbaoth, H2884 The children H1121 of Keros, H7026 the children H1121 of Siaha, H5517 the children H1121 of Padon, H6303 The children H1121 of Lebanah, H3838 the children H1121 of Hagabah, H2286 the children H1121 of Akkub, H6126 The children H1121 of Hagab, H2285 the children H1121 of Shalmai, H8073 the children H1121 of Hanan, H2605 The children H1121 of Giddel, H1435 the children H1121 of Gahar, H1515 the children H1121 of Reaiah, H7211 The children H1121 of Rezin, H7526 the children H1121 of Nekoda, H5353 the children H1121 of Gazzam, H1502 The children H1121 of Uzza, H5798 the children H1121 of Paseah, H6454 the children H1121 of Besai, H1153 The children H1121 of Asnah, H619 the children H1121 of Mehunim, H4586 the children H1121 of Nephusim, H5300 H5304 The children H1121 of Bakbuk, H1227 the children H1121 of Hakupha, H2709 the children H1121 of Harhur, H2744 The children H1121 of Bazluth, H1213 the children H1121 of Mehida, H4240 the children H1121 of Harsha, H2797 The children H1121 of Barkos, H1302 the children H1121 of Sisera, H5516 the children H1121 of Thamah, H8547 The children H1121 of Neziah, H5335 the children H1121 of Hatipha. H2412
Now when these things were done, H3615 the princes H8269 came H5066 to me, saying, H559 The people H5971 of Israel, H3478 and the priests, H3548 and the Levites, H3881 have not separated H914 themselves from the people H5971 of the lands, H776 doing according to their abominations, H8441 even of the Canaanites, H3669 the Hittites, H2850 the Perizzites, H6522 the Jebusites, H2983 the Ammonites, H5984 the Moabites, H4125 the Egyptians, H4713 and the Amorites. H567 For they have taken H5375 of their daughters H1323 for themselves, and for their sons: H1121 so that the holy H6944 seed H2233 have mingled H6148 themselves with the people H5971 of those lands: H776 yea, the hand H3027 of the princes H8269 and rulers H5461 hath been chief H7223 in this trespass. H4604
Now therefore make H5414 confession H8426 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of your fathers, H1 and do H6213 his pleasure: H7522 and separate H914 yourselves from the people H5971 of the land, H776 and from the strange H5237 wives. H802 Then all the congregation H6951 answered H6030 and said H559 with a loud H1419 voice, H6963 As thou hast said, H1697 so must we do. H6213 But H61 the people H5971 are many, H7227 and it is a time H6256 of much rain, H1653 and we are not able H3581 to stand H5975 without, H2351 neither is this a work H4399 of one H259 day H3117 or two: H8147 for we are many H7235 that have transgressed H6586 in this thing. H1697 Let now our rulers H8269 of all the congregation H6951 stand, H5975 and let all them which have taken H3427 strange H5237 wives H802 in our cities H5892 come H935 at appointed H2163 times, H6256 and with them the elders H2205 of every city, H5892 and the judges H8199 thereof, until the fierce H2740 wrath H639 of our God H430 for this matter H1697 be turned H7725 from us. Only Jonathan H3129 the son H1121 of Asahel H6214 and Jahaziah H3167 the son H1121 of Tikvah H8616 were employed H5975 about this matter: and Meshullam H4918 and Shabbethai H7678 the Levite H3881 helped H5826 them. And the children H1121 of the captivity H1473 did so. H6213 And Ezra H5830 the priest, H3548 with certain H582 chief H7218 of the fathers, H1 after the house H1004 of their fathers, H1 and all of them by their names, H8034 were separated, H914 and sat down H3427 in the first H259 day H3117 of the tenth H6224 month H2320 to examine H1875 the matter. H1697 And they made an end H3615 with all the men H582 that had taken H3427 strange H5237 wives H802 by the first H259 day H3117 of the first H7223 month. H2320 And among the sons H1121 of the priests H3548 there were found H4672 that had taken H3427 strange H5237 wives: H802 namely, of the sons H1121 of Jeshua H3442 the son H1121 of Jozadak, H3136 and his brethren; H251 Maaseiah, H4641 and Eliezer, H461 and Jarib, H3402 and Gedaliah. H1436 And they gave H5414 their hands H3027 that they would put away H3318 their wives; H802 and being guilty, H818 they offered a ram H352 of the flock H6629 for their trespass. H819
And that which the rest H7611 of the people H5971 gave H5414 was twenty H8147 thousand H7239 drams H1871 of gold, H2091 and two thousand H505 pound H4488 of silver, H3701 and threescore H8346 and seven H7651 priests' H3548 garments. H3801 So the priests, H3548 and the Levites, H3881 and the porters, H7778 and the singers, H7891 and some of the people, H5971 and the Nethinims, H5411 and all Israel, H3478 dwelt H3427 in their cities; H5892 and when the seventh H7637 month H2320 came, H5060 the children H1121 of Israel H3478 were in their cities. H5892
Be ye G1096 not G3361 unequally yoked together G2086 with unbelievers: G571 for G1063 what G5101 fellowship G3352 hath righteousness G1343 with G2532 unrighteousness? G458 and G1161 what G5101 communion G2842 hath light G5457 with G4314 darkness? G4655 And G1161 what G5101 concord G4857 hath Christ G5547 with G4314 Belial? G955 or G2228 what G5101 part G3310 hath he that believeth G4103 with G3326 an infidel? G571 And G1161 what G5101 agreement G4783 hath the temple G3485 of God G2316 with G3326 idols? G1497 for G1063 ye G5210 are G2075 the temple G3485 of the living G2198 God; G2316 as G2531 God G2316 hath said, G2036 G3754 I will dwell G1774 in G1722 them, G846 and G2532 walk in G1704 them; and G2532 I will be G2071 their G846 God, G2316 and G2532 they G846 shall be G2071 my G3427 people. G2992 Wherefore G1352 come out G1831 from G1537 among G3319 them, G846 and G2532 be ye separate, G873 saith G3004 the Lord, G2962 and G2532 touch G680 not G3361 the unclean G169 thing; and G2504 I will receive G1523 you, G5209
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 10
Commentary on Nehemiah 10 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
(10:2)
A covenant made (vv. 1-32), and an engagement entered into, to furnish what was needed for the maintenance of the temple, its services, and ministers (Nehemiah 10:33-39). - Vv. 1-28. For the purpose of giving a lasting influence to this day of prayer and fasting, the assembled people, after the confession of sin (given in Neh 9), entered into a written agreement, by which they bound themselves by an oath to separate from the heathen, and to keep the commandments and ordinances of God, - a document being prepared for this purpose, and sealed by the heads of their different houses.
And because of all this we make and write a sure covenant; and our princes, Levites, and priests sign the sealed (document). בּכל־זאת does not mean post omne hoc , after all that we have done this day (Schmid, Bertheau, and others); still less, in omni hoc malo, quod nobis obtigerat (Rashi, Aben Ezra), but upon all this, i.e., upon the foundation of the preceding act of prayer and penitence, we made אמנה , i.e., a settlement, a sure agreement (the word recurs Nehemiah 11:23); hence כּרת is used as with בּרית , Nehemiah 9:8. אמנה may again be taken as the object of כּתבים , we write it; החתוּם ועל be understood as “our princes sealed.” החתוּם is the sealed document; comp. Jeremiah 22:11, Jeremiah 22:14. החתוּם על means literally, Upon the sealed document were our princes, etc.; that is, our princes sealed or signed it. Signing was effected by making an impression with a seal bearing a name; hence originated the idiom החתוּם על אשׁר , “he who was upon the sealed document,” meaning he who had signed the document by sealing it. By this derived signification is the plural חחתוּמים על (Nehemiah 10:2), “they who were upon the document,” explained: they who had signed or sealed the document.
(10:3-10)
At the head of the signatures stood Nehemiah the Tirshatha, as governor of the country, and Zidkijah, a high official, of whom nothing further is known, perhaps (after the analogy of Ezra 4:9, Ezra 4:17) secretary to the governor. Then follow (in vv. 3-9) twenty-one names, with the addition: these, the priests. Of these twenty-one names, fifteen occur in Nehemiah 12:2-7 as chiefs of the priests who came up with Joshua and Zerubbabel from Babylon, and in Nehemiah 12:11-20 as heads of priestly houses. Hence it is obvious that all the twenty-one names are those of heads of priestly classes, who signed the agreement in the names of the houses and families of their respective classes. Seraiah is probably the prince of the house of God dwelling at Jerusalem, mentioned Nehemiah 11:11, who signed in place of the high priest. For further remarks on the orders of priests and their heads, see Nehemiah 12:1.
(10:11-15)
The Levites who sealed were: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, and their brethren, fourteen names. Sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel returned, together with seventy-four other Levites, with Zerubbabel and Jeshua; Ezra 2:4; Nehemiah 7:42. Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, and Sherebiah are also named in Nehemiah 12:8 as heads of orders of Levites. Of the rest nothing further is known, but we may regard them as heads of Levitical houses.
(10:16-29)
The heads of the people. Forty-four names, thirteen of which are found in the list (Ezra 2) of the kindreds who returned with Zerubbabel; see Ezra 2. The rest are names either of the heads of the different houses into which these kindreds were divided, or of the elders of the smaller towns of Benjamin and Judah. The fact that, while only thirty-three kindreds and placed are enumerated in Ezra 2, forty-four occur here, - although names of kindreds mentioned in Ezra 2, e.g., Shephatiah, Arah, Zaccai, etc., are wanting here, - is to be explained partly by the circumstance that these kindreds included several houses whose different heads all subscribed, and partly by fresh accessions during the course of years to the number of houses.
(10:30-33)
All the members of the community acceded to the agreement thus signed by the princes of the people, and the heads of the priests and Levites, and bound themselves by an oath to walk in the law of the Lord, and to separate themselves from the heathen.
Nehemiah 10:29
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the door-keepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all who had knowledge and understanding, held with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into an oath and curse, etc. מצזיקים is the predicate of the subjects in Nehemiah 10:29 : they were holding with their brethren, i.e., uniting with them in this matter. “The rest of the people, the priests,” etc., are the members of the community, exclusive of the princes and heads of the priestly and Levitical orders. The Nethinim, to whom belonged the servants of Solomon (see rem. on Ezra 2:43.), were probably also represented in the assembly by the heads of the Levites. To these are added all who had separated themselves, etc., i.e., the descendants of those Israelites who had been left in the land, and who now joined the new community; see rem. on Ezra 6:21. The connection of נבדּל with אל־תּורת is significant: separated from the heathen to the law of God, i.e., to live according thereto; comp. Ezra 6:21. Not, however, the men only, but also women and children of riper years, acceded to the covenant. כּל־יודע מבין , every one knowing, understanding ( מבין and יודע being connected as an asyndeton, to strengthen the meaning), refers to sons and daughters of an age sufficient to enable them to understand the matter. אדּרריהם , their nobles, is connected in the form of an apposition with אחיהם , instead of the adjective האדּירים . The princes and the heads of the community and priesthood are intended. באלה בּוא , to enter into an oath, comp. Ezekiel 17:13. אלה is an oath of self-imprecation, grievous punishments being imprecated in case of transgression; שׁבוּעה , a promissory oath to live conformably with the law. We hence perceive the tenor of the agreement entered into and sealed by the princes. Non subscripsit quidem populus , remarks Clericus, sed ratum habuit, quid-quid nomine totius populi a proceribus factum erat, juravitque id a se observatum iri . Besides the general obligation to observe all the commandments, judgments, and statutes of God, two points, then frequently transgressed, are specially mentioned in Nehemiah 10:31 and Nehemiah 10:23. In Nehemiah 10:31 : that we would not give our daughters to the people of the lands, etc.; see rem. on Ezra 9:2. In Nehemiah 10:32 : that if the people of the land brought wares or any victuals on the Sabbath-day to sell, we would not buy if of them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and would let the seventh year lie, and the loan of every hand. The words וגו הארץ עמּי are prefixed absolutely, and are afterwards subordinated to the predicate of the sentence by מהם . מקּחות , wares for sale, from לקח , to take, in the sense of to buy, occurs only here. מהם נקּח , to take from them, i.e., to buy. קדשׁ יום beside שׁבּת means the other holy days, the annual festivals, on which, according to the law, Num 28 and 29, no work was to be done. To the sanctification of the Sabbath pertained the celebration of the sabbatical year, which is therefore named immediately afterwards. The words השׁ את־השּׁנה נטשׁ , to let the seventh year lie, i.e., in the seventh year to let the land lie untilled and unsown, is an abbreviation taken from the language of the law, Exodus 28:10. כל־יד משּׁא also depends upon נטּשׁ . This expression ( משּׁא , not משּׂא , being the reading of the best editions) is to be explained from Deuteronomy 15:2, and means the loan, that which the hand has lent to another; see rem. on Deuteronomy 15:2.
(10:34-40)
Agreement to provide for the expenses of the temple and its ministers. - If the community seriously intended to walk by the rule of God's law, they must take care that the temple service, as the public worship of the community, should be provided for according to the law and a firm footing and due solemnity thus given to religion. For this purpose, it was indispensable to guarantee the contributions prescribed for the necessary expenses of the temple worship, and the support of its ministers. Hence this entering into a solemn agreement to observe the law was regarded as a suitable occasion for regulating the services prescribed by the law with respect to the temple and its ministers, and mutually binding themselves to their observance.
Nehemiah 10:33-34
We ordained for ourselves ( עלינוּ , upon us, inasmuch as such things are spoken of as are taken upon one). עלינוּ לתת , to lay upon ourselves the third part of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God. It is not said who were to be bound to furnish this contribution, but it is assumed that it was a well-known custom. This appointed payment is evidently only a revival of the Mosaic precept, Exodus 30:13, that every man of twenty years of age and upwards should give half a shekel as a תּרוּמה to the Lord, - a tribute which was still paid in Christ's days, Matthew 17:24. In consideration, however, of the poverty of the greater portion of the community, it was now lowered to a third of a shekel. The view of Aben Ezra, that a third of a shekel was to be paid in addition to the half shekel levied in conformity with the law, is unsupported by the text. העבודה , the service of the house of God, is not the building and repairs of the temple, but the regular worship. For, according to Nehemiah 10:34, the tax was to be applied to defraying the expenses of worship, to supplying the shew-bread, the continual meat and burnt offerings (Numbers 28:3-8), the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, new moons ( Numbers 28:9-15), and festivals (Numbers 28:16-29, 38), - for the קדשׁים , holy gifts, by which, from their position between the burnt-offering and the sin-offering, we may understand the thank-offerings, which were offered in the name of the congregation, as e.g., the two lambs at Pentecost, Leviticus 23:19, and the offerings brought at feasts of dedication, comp. Exodus 24:5; Ezra 6:17, - for the sin-offerings which were sacrificed at every great festival; and finally for all the work of the house of our God, i.e., whatever else was needful for worship ( ל must be supplied from the context before כּל־מלאכת ). The establishment of such a tax for the expenses of worship, does not justify the view that the contributions promised by Artaxerxes in his edict, Ezra 7:20., of things necessary to worship had ceased, and that the congregation had now to defray the expenses from their own resources. For it may readily be supposed, that besides the assistance afforded by the king, the congregation might also esteem it needful to furnish a contribution, to meet the increased requirements of worship, and thus to augment the revenues of the temple, - the royal alms being limited to a certain amount (see Ezra 7:22).
Nehemiah 10:35
“And we cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after our houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law.” In the law we merely find it prescribed that wood should be constantly burning on the altar, and that the priest should burn wood on it every morning, and burn thereon the burnt-offering (Leviticus 6:12.). The law gave no directions concerning the procuring of the wood; yet the rulers of the people must, at all events, have always provided for the regular delivery of the necessary quantity. Nehemiah now gives orders, as he himself tells us, Nehemiah 13:31, which make this matter the business of the congregation, and the several houses have successively to furnish a contribution, in the order decided by casting lots. The words, “at times appointed, year by year,” justify the conclusion that the order was settled for several years, and not that all the different houses contributed in each year.
(Note: Josephus ( bello Jud . ii. 17. 6) speaks of a τῶν ξυλοφορίων ἑορτή , which he places on the fourteenth day of the month Λῶος , i.e., Ab, the fifth month of the Jewish year. From this Bertheau infers that the plural מזמּנים עתּים , here and Nehemiah 13:31, denotes the one season or day of delivery in each year. But though the name of this festival is derived from the present verse, the lxx translating העצים קרבּן העצי על , πιρὶ κλήρον ξυλοφορίας , it appears even from what Josephus says of this feast, ἐν ᾗ πᾶσιν ἕθος ὕλην τῷ βωμῷ προσφέρειν , that the feast of wood-carrying does not designate that one day of the year on which the wood was delivered for the service of the altar. According to Mishna Taanit, ch. 4 (in Lightfoot's horae hebraicae in Matth . i. 1), nine days in the year were appointed for the delivery of wood, viz., 1st Nisan, 20th Tammuz, 5th, 7th, and 10th Ab, etc. Further particulars are given in Lundius, jüd. Heiligtümer , p. 1067f. The feast of wood-carrying may be compared with our harvest festival; and Bertheau's inference is not more conclusive than would be the inference that our harvest festival denotes the one day in the year on which the harvest is gathered in.)
Nehemiah 10:36-38
It was also arranged to contribute the first-fruits prescribed in the law. The infinitive להביא depends on העמדנוּ , and is co-ordinate with לתת , Nehemiah 10:33. The first-fruits of the ground, comp. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 26:2; the first-fruits of all fruit trees, comp. Numbers 18:13; Leviticus 19:23; the first-born of our sons who were redeemed according to the estimation of the priest, Numbers 18:16, and of our cattle (i.e., in the case of the unclean, the required redemption, Exodus 13:12., Numbers 18:15), and the firstlings of the herds and of the flocks, the fat of which was consumed on the altar, the flesh becoming the share of the priests, Numbers 18:17. In Nehemiah 10:38 the construction is altered, the first person of the imperfect taking the place of the infinitive: and we will bring the first-fruits. ערסות , probably groats or ground flour; see rem. on Numbers 15:20, etc. תרוּמות , heave-offerings, the offering in this connection, is probably that of wheat and barley, Ezekiel 45:13, or of the fruits of the field, which are suitably followed by the “fruit of all manner of trees.” On “the first of the wine and oil,” comp. Numbers 18:12. These offerings of first-fruits were to be brought into the chambers of the house of God, where they were to be kept in store, and distributed to the priests for their support. “And the tithes of our ground (will we bring) to the Levites; and they, the Levites, receive the tithes in all our country towns. (Nehemiah 10:39) And a priest, a son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, into the chambers of the treasury.” The parenthetical sentences in these verses, המעשׂרים הלויּם והם and הלויּם בּעשׂר , have been variously understood. עשׂר in the Piel and Hiphil meaning elsewhere to pay tithe, comp. Deuteronomy 14:22; Deuteronomy 26:12; Genesis 28:22, many expositors adhere to this meaning in these passages also, and translate Nehemiah 10:38 : for they, the Levites, must give again the tenth (to the priests); and Nehemiah 10:39 : when the Levites give the tenth; while the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, Rashi, Aben Ezra, Clericus, Bertheau, and others, take עשּׂר and העשׂיר in these sentences as signifying to collect tithe. We prefer the latter view, as giving a more suitable sense. For the remark that the Levites must give back the tenth (Nehemiah 10:38) does not present so appropriate a motive for the demand that the tithes should be paid, as that the tithes are due to the Levites. Still less does the addition, in our agricultural towns, suit the sentence: the Levites must give back the tithe to the priests. Again, the fact that it is not said till Nehemiah 10:39 that the Levites have to give the tenth of the tenth to the priests, speaks still more against this view. A priest is to be present when the Levites take the tenth, so that the share of the priests may not be lessened. On “the tenth of the tenth,” comp. Numbers 18:26. Hezekiah had provided store-chambers in the temple, in which to deposit the tithes, 2 Chronicles 31:11.
Nehemiah 10:39
Nehemiah 10:39 is confirmatory of the preceding clause: the Levites were to bring the tithe of the tithes for the priests into the chambers of the temple; for thither are both the children of Israel and the Levites, to bring all heave-offerings of corn, new wine, and oil: for there are the holy vessels for the service of the altar (comp. Numbers 4:15), and the priests that minister, and the doorkeepers and the singers, for whose maintenance these gifts provide. “And we will not forsake the house of our God,” i.e., we will take care that the service of God's house shall be provided for; comp. Nehemiah 13:11-14.