36 And of the Levites, the courses of Judah `are' for Benjamin.
And the heads of the fathers of the Levites draw nigh unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel, and they speak unto them in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, saying, `Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for our cattle.' And the sons of Israel give to the Levites, out of their inheritance, at the command of Jehovah, these cities and their suburbs: And the lot goeth out for the families of the Kohathite, and there are for the sons of Aaron the priest (of the Levites), out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, by lot thirteen cities, and for the sons of Kohath who are left, out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by lot ten cities: And for the sons of Gershon `are', out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, by lot, thirteen cities. For the sons of Merari, for their families, `are', out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. And the sons of Israel give to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses, by lot. And they give out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are called by name; and they are for the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathite, of the sons of Levi, for theirs hath been the first lot; and they give to them the city of Arba father of Anak (it `is' Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, and its suburbs round about it; and the field of the city and its villages they have given to Caleb son of Jephunneh for his possession. And to the sons of Aaron the priest they have given the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Hebron and its suburbs, and Libnah and its suburbs, and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs, and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs, and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, Beth-Shemesh and its suburbs; nine cities out of these two tribes. And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs, Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs -- four cities; all the cities of the sons of Aaron the priests, `are' thirteen cities and their suburbs. And for the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, who are left of the sons of Kohath, even the cities of their lot are of the tribe of Ephraim; and they give to them the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Shechem and its suburbs, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its suburbs, and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-Horon and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs, Aijalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs, and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs -- two cities; all the cities `are' ten and their suburbs, for the families of the sons of Kohath who are left. And for the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs, and Beeshterah and its suburbs -- two cities. And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and its suburbs, Dabarath and its suburbs, Jarmuth and its suburbs, En-Gannim and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its suburbs, Abdon and its suburbs, Helkath and its suburbs, and Rehob and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Kedesh in Galilee and its suburbs, and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its suburbs -- three cities; all the cities of the Gershonite, for their families, `are' thirteen cities and their suburbs. And for the families of the sons of Merari, the Levites, who are left, `are,' out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its suburbs, Dimnah and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its suburbs, and Jahazah and its suburbs, Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs -- four cities. And out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs, and Mahanaim and its suburbs, Heshbon and its suburbs, Jazer and its suburbs -- `in' all four cities. All the cities for the sons of Merari, for their families, who are left of the families of the Levites -- their lot is twelve cities. All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel `are' forty and eight cities, and their suburbs. These cities are each city and its suburbs round about it; so to all these cities. And Jehovah giveth to Israel the whole of the land which He hath sworn to give to their fathers, and they possess it, and dwell in it; and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about, according to all that which He hath sworn to their fathers, and there hath not stood a man in their presence of all their enemies, the whole of their enemies hath Jehovah given into their hand; there hath not fallen a thing of all the good thing which Jehovah spake unto the house of Israel -- the whole hath come.
And these `are' their dwellings, throughout their towers, in their borders, of the sons of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathite, for theirs was the lot; and they give to them Hebron in the land of Judah and its suburbs round about it; and the field of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh. And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, and Libnah and its suburbs, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs, and Hilen and its suburbs, Debir and its suburbs, and Ashan and its suburbs, and Beth-Shemesh and its suburbs. And from the tribe of Benjamin, Geba and its suburbs, and Allemeth and its suburbs, and Anathoth and its suburbs. All their cities `are' thirteen cities, for their families. And to the sons of Kohath, those left of the family of the tribe, from the half of the tribe, the half of Manasseh, by lot, `are' ten cities. And to the sons of Gershom, for their families, from the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. To the sons of Merari, for their families, from the tribe of Reuben, and from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun, by lot, twelve cities. And the sons of Israel give to the Levites the cities and their suburbs. And they give by lot from the tribe of the sons of Judah, and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, these cities which they call by name; and some of the families of the sons of Kohath have cities of their border from the tribe of Ephraim; and they give to them the cities of refuge, Shechem and its suburbs in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its suburbs, and Jokmeam and its suburbs, and Beth-Horan and its suburbs, and Aijalon and its suburbs, and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs; and from the half tribe of Manasseh, Aner and its suburbs, and Bileam and its suburbs, for the family of the sons of Kohath who are left. To the sons of Gershom from the family of the half of the tribe of Manasseh `are' Golan in Bashan and its suburbs, and Ashtaroth and its suburbs; and from the tribe of Issachar; Kedesh and its suburbs, Daberath and its suburbs, and Ramoth and its suburbs, and Anem and its suburbs; and from the tribe of Asher; Mashal and its suburbs, and Abdon and its suburbs, and Hukok and its suburbs, and Rehob and its suburbs; and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its suburbs, and Hammon and its suburbs, and Kirjathaim and its suburbs. To the sons of Merari who are left, from the tribe of Zebulun, `are' Rimmon and its suburbs, Tabor and its suburbs; and from beyond the Jordan by Jericho, at the east of the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness and its suburbs, and Jahzah and its suburbs, and Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs; and from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs, and Mahanaim and its suburbs, and Heshbon and its suburbs, and Jazer and its suburbs.
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Commentary on Nehemiah 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
Ne 11:1, 2. The Rulers, Voluntary Men, and Every Tenth Man Chosen by Lot, Dwell at Jerusalem.
1. the rulers … dwelt at Jerusalem—That city being the metropolis of the country, it was right and proper that the seat of government should be there. But the exigency of the times required that special measures should be taken to insure the residence of an adequate population for the custody of the buildings and the defense of the city. From the annoyances of restless and malignant enemies, who tried every means to demolish the rising fortifications, there was some danger attending a settlement in Jerusalem. Hence the greater part of the returned exiles, in order to earn as well as secure the rewards of their duty, preferred to remain in the country or the provincial towns. To remedy this state of things, it was resolved to select every tenth man of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin by lot, to become a permanent inhabitant of the capital. The necessity of such an expedient commended it to the general approval. It was the more readily submitted to because the lot was resorted to on all the most critical conjunctures of the Jewish history, and regarded by the people as a divine decision (Pr 18:18). This awakened strongly the national spirit; and patriotic volunteers came forward readily to meet the wishes of the authorities, a service which, implying great self-denial as well as courage, was reckoned in the circumstances of so much importance as entitled them to the public gratitude. No wonder that the conduct of these volunteers drew forth the tribute of public admiration; for they sacrificed their personal safety and comfort for the interests of the community because Jerusalem was at that time a place against which the enemies of the Jews were directing a thousand plots. Therefore, residence in it at such a juncture was attended with expense and various annoyances from which a country life was entirely free.
Ne 11:3-36. Their Names.
3. the chief of the province—that is, Judea. Nehemiah speaks of it, as it then was, a small appendix of the Persian empire.
in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities—The returned exiles, who had come from Babylon, repaired generally, and by a natural impulse, to the lands and cities throughout the country which had been anciently assigned them.
Israel—This general name, which designated the descendants of Jacob before the unhappy division of the two kingdoms under Rehoboam, was restored after the captivity, the Israelites being then united with the Jews, and all traces of their former separation being obliterated. Although the majority of the returned exiles belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, they are here called Israel because a large number out of all the tribes were now intermingled, and these were principally the occupiers of the rural villages, while none but those of Judah and Benjamin resided in Jerusalem.
the Levites—These took possession of the cities allotted to them according as they had opportunity.
the Nethinims—A certain order of men, either Gibeonites or persons joined with them, who were devoted to the service of God.
4. at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah—The discrepancy that is apparent between this [Ne 11:4-36] and the list formerly given in 1Ch 9:1-9, arose not only from the Jewish and Oriental practice of changing or modifying the names of persons from a change of circumstances, but from the alterations that must have been produced in the course of time. The catalogue in Chronicles contains those who came with the first detachment of returned exiles, while the list in this passage probably included also those who returned with Ezra and Nehemiah; or it was most probably made out afterwards, when several had died, or some, who had been inserted as going on the journey, remained, and others came in their stead.
9. overseer—that is, "captain" or "chief."
11. the ruler of the house of God—assistant of the high priest (Nu 3:32; 1Ch 9:11; 2Ch 19:11).
16. the oversight of the outward business of the house of God—that is, those things which were done outside, or in the country, such as the collecting of the provisions (1Ch 26:29).
17. the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer—that is, the leader of the choir which chanted the public praise at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. That service was always accompanied by some appropriate psalm, the sacred music being selected and guided by the person named.
22. the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God—They were selected to take charge of providing those things which were required for the interior of the temple and its service, while to others was committed the care of the "outward business of the house of God" (Ne 11:16). This duty was very properly assigned to the sons of Asaph; for, though they were Levites, they did not repair in rotation to Jerusalem, as the other ministers of religion. Being permanent residents, and employed in duties which were comparatively light and easy, they were very competent to undertake this charge.
23. it was the king's commandment—It was the will of the Persian monarch in issuing his edict that the temple service should be revived in all its religious fulness and solemnity. As this special provision for the singers is said to have been by the king's commandment, the order was probably given at the request or suggestion of Ezra or Nehemiah.
24. Pethahiah … was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people—This person was entrusted with judicial power, either for the interest, or by the appointment, of the Persian monarch, and his duty consisted either in adjusting cases of civil dispute, or in regulating fiscal concerns.
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."
36. And of the Levites were divisions in Judah, and in Benjamin—Rather, there were divisions for the Levites; that is, those who were not resident in Jerusalem were distributed in settlements throughout the provinces of Judah and Benjamin.