Bible Commentaries
Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Nehemiah 11
Nehemiah 11:1 and Nehemiah 11:2 narrate the carrying out of Nehemiah's resolution, Nehemiah 7:4, tomake Jerusalem more populous, and follow Nehemiah 7:5 as to matter, but the end ofNeh 10 as to time. For while Nehemiah, after the completion of the wall,was occupied with the thought of bringing into the thinly populatedcapital a larger number of inhabitants, and had for this purpose convoked apublic assembly, that a list of the whole Israelite population of the townsof Benjamin and Judah might be taken in hand, the seventh month of theyear arrived, in which all the people assembled at Jerusalem to performthose acts of worship and solemnities (described Neh 8-10) in which thismonth abounded. Hence it was not till after the termination of theseservices that Nehemiah was able to carry out the measures he had resolvedon. For there can be no doubt that Nehemiah 11:1 and Nehemiah 11:2 of the present chapternarrate the execution of these measures. The statement that one in ten of all the people was appointed by lot todwell in Jerusalem, and the remaining nine in other cities, and that thepeople blessed the men who showed themselves willing to dwell atJerusalem, can have no other meaning than, that the inhabitants ofJerusalem were increased in this proportion, and that this wasconsequently the measure which God had, according to Nehemiah 7:5, put itinto Nehemiah's heart to take. The statement taken by itself is indeed verybrief, and its connection with Nehemiah 7:5 not very evident. But the brevity andabruptness do not justify Bertheau's view, that these two verses are notthe composition of Nehemiah himself, but only an extract from a largercontext, in which this circumstance was fully explained. For Nehemiah'sstyle not unfrequently exhibits a certain abruptness; comp. e.g., thecommencements of chs. 5 and 6, or the information Nehemiah 13:6, which are no lessabrupt, and which yet no one has conceived to be mere extracts from someother document. Besides, as the connection between Nehemiah 7:5 and Nehemiah 11:1 is interrupted by therelation of the events of the seventh month, so, too, is the account of thebuilding of the wall, Nehemiah 4:17; Nehemiah 6:15., and Nehemiah 7:1, interrupted by the insertion ofoccurrences which took place during its progress. The first sentence, Nehemiah 11:1,”And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem,” cannot be so closelyconnected with the next, “and the rest of the people cast lots,” etc., as toplace the rulers in direct contrast to the rest of the people, but must beunderstood by its retrospect to Nehemiah 7:4, which gives the following contrast:The rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem, but few of the people dweltthere; to this is joined the next sentence: and the rest of the people castlots. The “rest of the people” does not mean the assembled people withthe exception of the rulers, but the people with the exception of the fewwho dwelt at Jerusalem. These cast lots to bring (להביא) one often to dwell in Jerusalem. The predicate, the holy city, occurs here and Nehemiah 11:18 for the first time. Jerusalem is so called, on the ground of the prophecies, Joel 3:17 and Isaiah 48:2, because the sanctuary of God, the temple, was there. בּערים means, in the other cities of Judah and Benjamin. המּתנדּבים, those who showed themselves willing to dwell in Jerusalem, istaken by most expositors in contrast to those who were bound to do thisin consequence of the decision of the lot; and it is then further supposedthat some first went to Jerusalem of their free choice, and that the lot wasthen cast with respect to the rest. There are not, however, sufficientgrounds for this conclusion, nor yet for the assumption that the decisionof the lot was regarded as a constraint. The disposal of the lot wasaccepted as a divine decision, with which all had, whether willingly orunwillingly, to comply. All who willingly acquiesced in this decision mightbe designated as מתנדּבים; and these departed to Jerusalemaccompanied by the blessings of the people. Individuals are not so muchmeant, as chiefly fathers of families, who went with their wives andchildren.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem and the other cities. - Nehemiah 11:3 The title reads: “These are the heads of the province who dwelt atJerusalem; and in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession intheir cities, Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nethinim, and the sons ofSolomon's servants.” המּדינה is, as in Ezra 2:1, the land ofJudah, as a province of the Persian kingdom. The repetition of ישׁבוּ after יהוּדה בּערי is not to be understood ascontrasting those who dwelt in the cities with the dwellers in Jerusalem inthe sense of “but in the cities of Judah dwelt,” etc., but is here a merepleonasm. Even the enumeration of the different classes of inhabitants:Israel, the priests, etc., clearly shows that no such contrast is intended; forIsrael, the priests, etc., dwelt not only in Jerusalem, but also, according toNehemiah 11:20, in the other cities of Judah. And this is placed beyond all doubt bythe contents of the list following; the inhabitants of Jerusalem beingenumerated vv. 4-24, and the inhabitants of the other cities of Judah andBenjamin, Nehemiah 11:25-36. If, however, this title refers to the whole of the following list, it cannot, asRambach and others thought, contain only an enumeration of those who,in consequence of the lot, had taken up their residence at Jerusalem, butmust be intended as a list of the population of the whole province ofJudah in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. It seems strange that the titleshould announce המּדינה ראשׁי, while in the list ofthe inhabitants of Jerusalem are given, besides the heads, the numbers oftheir brethren, i.e., of the individuals or fathers of families under theseheads; and that in the list of the inhabitants of the other cities, onlyinhabitants of Judah and Benjamin are spoken of. Hence this statementrefers a potiori to the heads, including the houses and families belonging tothem, while in the case of the other cities it is assumed that the inhabitantsof each locality were under a head. With Nehemiah 11:4 begins the enumeration of theheads dwelling in Jerusalem, with their houses; and the first clausecontains a special title, which affirms that (certain) of the children of Judahand of the children of Benjamin dwelt at Jerusalem. On the parallel list ofthe inhabitants of Jerusalem before the captivity, 1 Chron 9:2-34, and itsrelation to the present list, see the remarks on 1 Chron 9.
Nehemiah 11:4-6
Of the children of Judah two heads: Athaiah of the children of Perez(comp. 1 Chronicles 2:4), and Maaseiah of the children of Shela. It has beenalready remarked on 1 Chronicles 9:5, that השּׁלני is wronglypointed, and should be read השּׁלני. כּל־חזה is a propername, as in Nehemiah 3:15. Athaiah and Maaseiah are not further known. Therewere in all four hundred and sixty-eight able-bodied men of the sons ofPerez, i.e., four hundred and sixty-eight fathers of families of the race ofPerez, among whom are probably included the fathers of families belongingto Shela, the younger brother of Perez.
Of the Benjamites there were two heads of houses: Sallu, and after himGabbai-Sallai, with nine hundred and twenty-eight fathers of families. Their chief was Joel the son of Zichri, and Jehuda the son of Sennah overthe city as second (prefect).
Of the priests: Jedaiah, Joiarib, and Jachin, three heads of houses,therefore of orders of priests (for בּן before Joiarib probably creptinto the text by a clerical error; see rem. on 1 Chronicles 9:10); Seraiah, adescendant of Ahitub, as ruler of the house of God, and their brethren, i.e.,the eight hundred and twenty-two ministering priests belonging to thesethree orders. Also Adaiah, of the house or order of Malchiah, and hisbrethren, two hundred and forty-two fathers of families; and lastly,Amashai, of the order of Immer, with one hundred and twenty-eightbrethren, i.e., priests. And their chief was Zabdiel ben Haggedolim (lxx υἱὸς τῶν μεγάλων ). עליהם refers to all thebefore-named priests. לעבות ראשׁים heads of fathers,i.e., of families, Nehemiah 11:13, is striking, for the brethren of Adaiah (אחיו), in number two hundred and forty-two, could not be heads ofhouses, but only fathers of families. The words seem to have come intothe text only by comparing it with 1 Chronicles 9:13. If they were genuine, weshould be obliged to understand לעבות ראשׁים offathers of families, contrary to general usage.
Of Levites, Shemaiah, a descendant of Bunni, with the members of hishouse; Shabbethai and Jozabad, “of the heads of the Levites over theoutward business of the house of God,” i.e., two heads of the Levites whohad the care of the outward business of the temple, probably charged withthe preservation of the building and furniture, and the office of seeing thatall things necessary for the temple worship were duly delivered. Thenames Shabbethai and Jozabad have already occurred, Nehemiah 8:7, as those oftwo Levites, and are here also personal names of heads of Levites, as theaddition הלויּם מראשׁי informs us. As the office ofthese two is stated, so also is that of those next following in Nehemiah 11:17; whenceit appears that Shemaiah, of whom no such particular is given, was head ofthe Levites charged with attending on the priests at the sacrificial worship(the האלהים בּית מלאכת, Nehemiah 11:22). The three named in Nehemiah 11:17, Mattaniah an Asaphite, Bakbukiah, and Abda aJeduthunite, are the chiefs of the three Levitical orders of singers. Mattaniah is called התּחלּה ראשׁ, head of the beginning,which gives no meaning; and should probably, as in the lxx and Vulgate,be read התּהלּה ראשׁ: head of the songs of praise, - he praised for whopraised, i.e., sounded the Hodu for prayer; comp. 1 Chronicles 16:5, whereAsaph is called the chief of the band of singers. He is followed byBakbukiah as second, that is, leader of the second band (מאחיו משׁנה like משׁנהוּ, 1 Chronicles 16:5); and Abdathe Jeduthunite, as leader of the third. All the Levites in the holy city, i.e.,all who dwelt in Jerusalem, amounted to two hundred and eighty-fourindividuals or fathers of families. The number refers only to the threeclasses named Nehemiah 11:15-17. For the gatekeepers are separately numbered inNehemiah 11:19 as one hundred and seventy-two, of the families of Akkub andTalmon.
Certain special remarks follow in Nehemiah 11:20. - Nehemiah 11:20 states that the rest ofthe Israelites, priests, and Levites dwelt in all the (other) cities of Judah,each in his inheritance. These cities are enumerated in Nehemiah 11:25.
Nehemiah 11:21
The Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, the southern slope of MountMoriah; see rem. on Nehemiah 3:26. Their chiefs were Zihah and Gispa. ציחה occurs Ezra 2:43, followed by חשׂוּפא, as head of a divisionof Levites; whence Bertheau tries, but unsuccessfully, to identify the lattername with גּשׁפּא. For it does not follow that, because a divisionof Nethinim was descended from Hasupha, that Gishpa, one of the chiefsof those Nethinim who dwelt on Ophel, must be the same individual asthis Hasupha.
Nehemiah 11:22-23
And the overseer (chief) of the Levites at Jerusalem wasUzzi, the son of Bani, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, in the business ofthe house of God. The מלאכה of the house of God was the dutyof the Levites of the house of Shemaiah, Nehemiah 11:15. Hence the remark in thepresent verse is supplementary to Nehemiah 11:15. The chiefs or presidents of thetwo other divisions of Levites - of those to whom the outward businesswas entrusted, and of the singers - are named in Nehemiah 11:16 and Nehemiah 11:17; while, in thecase of those entrusted with the business of the house of God, Nehemiah 11:15, thechiefs are not named, probably because they were over the singers, thesons of Asaph, who in Nehemiah 11:15 had not as yet been named. This is thereforedone afterwards in Nehemiah 11:22. מלאכת לנגד, coram opere, i.e.,circa ea negotia, quae coram in templo exigenda erant (Burm. in Ramb.),does not belong to המּשׁררים, but to הלויּם פּקיד: Uzzi was overseer of the Levites in respect of their business in thehouse of God, i.e., of those Levites who had the charge of this business. The reason of this is thus given in Nehemiah 11:23: “for a command of the king wasover them, and an ordinance was over the singers concerning the matter ofevery day.” עליהם refers to the Levites. “A command of theking was over them” means: the king had commanded them. This commandwas concerning בּיומו יום דּבר, the matterof every day. The words stand at the end of the verse, because they referto the two subjects המּלך and אמנה. אמנה is an arrangement depending upon mutual agreement, a treaty, anobligation entered into by agreement; comp. Nehemiah 10:1. The meaning of theverse is: The every-day matter was laid upon the Levites by the commandof the king, upon the singers by an agreement entered into. בּיומו יום דּבר, pensum quotidianum, is correctlyexplained by Schmid: de rebus necessariis in singulos dies. That we are notto understand thereby the contribution for every day, the rations of food(Ramb., Berth.), but the duty to be done on each day, is obvious from thecontext, in which not provisions, but the business of the Levites, isspoken of; and Uzzi the Asaphite was placed over the Levites in respectof their business in the house of God, and not in respect of food and drink. The business of the Levites in the house of God was determined by thecommand of the king; the business of the singers, on the contrary,especially that one of the singers should exercise a supervision over theservices of the Levites in worship, was made the matter of an אמנה, an agreement entered into among themselves by the differentdivisions of Levites. The king is not David, who once regulated theservices of the Levites (1 Chronicles 23:4.), but the Persian king Artaxerxes,who is mentioned as המּלך in Nehemiah 11:24; and המּלך מצות undoubtedly refers to the full power bestowed byArtaxerxes upon Ezra to order all that concerned the worship of God atJerusalem; Ezra 7:12.
Nehemiah 11:24
Finally, the official is named who had to transact with the kingthe affairs of the people, i.e., of the whole Jewish community in Judah andJerusalem. Pethahiah, a Jew of the descendants of Zerah, was at the king'shand in all matters concerning the people. המּלך ליד canscarcely be understood of a royal commissioner at Jerusalem, but certainlydesignates an official transacting the affairs of the Jewish community atthe hand of the king, at his court.
The inhabitants of the towns of Judah and Benjamin. - The heads who, withtheir houses, inhabited country districts are here no longer enumerated, butonly the towns, with their adjacent neighbourhoods, which were inhabitedby Jews and Benjamites; and even these are but summarily mentioned.
Nehemiah 11:25-30
The districts inhabited by the children of Judah. “And withrespect to the towns in their fields, there dwelt of the sons of Judah inKirjath-arba and its daughters,” etc. The use of אל as anintroductory or emphatic particle is peculiar to this passage, ל ,egassap beingelsewhere customary in this sense; comp. Ew. §310, a. אל denotes arespect to something. חצרים, properly enclosures, signifies,according to Leviticus 25:31, villages, towns, boroughs, without walls. שׂדות, fields, field boundaries. בּנותיה, the villages andestates belonging to a town; as frequently in the lists of towns in the bookof Joshua. Kirjath-arba is Hebron, Genesis 23:2. Jekabzeel, like Kabzeel, Joshua 15:21. חצריה, its enclosed places, the estates belonging to atown, 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 ancientAsluj, see Joshua 15:31. Mekonah, mentioned only here, and unknown. En-rimmon; see rem. on 1 Chronicles 4:32. Zareah, Jarmuth, Zanoah, and Adullamin 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 iscomprised 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).
Nehemiah 11:31-35
The dwellings of the Benjamites. Nehemiah 11:31 The children ofBenjamin dwelt from Geba to Michmash, Aija, etc. Geba, according to 2 Kings 23:8 and Joshua 14:10, the northern boundary of the kingdom ofJudah, is the half-ruined village of Jibia in the Wady el Jib, three leaguesnorth of Jerusalem, and three-quarters of a league north-east of Ramah (ErRam); see on Joshua 18:24. Michmash (מכמשׁ or מכמס),now Mukhmas, sixty-three minutes north-east of Geba, and three and ahalf leagues north of Jerusalem; see rem. on 1 Samuel 13:2. Aija (עיּא or עיּת, Isaiah 10:28), probably one with העי, Joshua 7:2; Joshua 8:1., thesituation of which is still a matter of dispute, Van de Velde supposing it tobe the present Tell el Hadshar, three-quarters of a league south-east ofBeitin; while Schegg, on the contrary, places it in the position of thepresent Tayibeh, six leagues north of Jerusalem (see Delitzsch on Isa. atIsaiah 10:28-32, etc., translation), - a position scarcely according with Isaiah 10:28., the road from Tayibeh to Michmash and Geba not leading pastMigron (Makhrun), which is not far from Beitin. We therefore abide bythe view advocated by Krafft and Strauss, that the ruins of Medinet Chaior Gai, east of Geba, point out the situation of the ancient Ai or Ajja; seerem. on Joshua 7:2. Bethel is the present Beitin; see on Joshua 7:2. The position of Nob is not asyet certainly ascertained, important objections existing to its identificationwith the village el-Isawije, between Anâta and Jerusalem; comp. Valentiner(in the Zeitschrift d. deutsch. morgld. Gesellsch. xii. p. 169), who, ongrounds worthy of consideration, transposes Nob to the northern heightsbefore Jerusalem, the road from which leads into the valley of Kidron. Ananiah (ענניה), a place named only here, is conjectured byVan de Velde (after R. Schwartz), Mem. p. 284, to be the present BeitHanina (Arab. (hnı̂nâ)), east of Nebi Samwil; against which conjecture eventhe exchange of ע and ח raises objections; comp. Tobler, Topographie, ii. p. 414. Hazor of Benjamin, supposed by Robinson (Palestine) to be Tell'Assur, north of Tayibeh, is much more probably found by Tobler,Topographie, ii. p. 400, in Khirbet Arsûr, perhaps Assur, Arab. (‛ṣûr),eight minutes eastward of Bir Nebâla (between Rama and Gibeon); comp. Van de Velde, Mem. p. 319. Ramah, now er Râm, two leagues north ofJerusalem; see rem. on Joshua 18:25. Githaim, whither the Beerothites fled, 2 Samuel 4:3, is not yet discovered. Tobler (dritte Wand. p. 175) considers itvery rash to identify it with the village Katanneh in Wady Mansur. Hadid, Ἀδιδά , see rem. on Ezra 2:33. Zeboim, in a valley of the same name (1 Samuel 13:18), is not yet discovered. Neballat, mentioned only here, ispreserved in Beith Nebala, about two leagues north-east of Ludd (Lydda);comp. Rob. Palestine, and Van de Velde, Mem. p. 336. With respect toLod and Ono, see rem. on 1 Chronicles 8:12; and on the valley of craftsmen,comp. 1 Chronicles 4:14. The omission of Jericho, Gibeon, and Mizpah is themore remarkable, inasmuch as inhabitants of these towns are mentioned astaking part in the building of the wall (Nehemiah 3:2, Nehemiah 3:7).
Nehemiah 11:36
The enumeration concludes with the remark, “Of the Levitescame divisions of Judah to Benjamin,” which can only signify thatdivisions of Levites who, according to former arrangements, belonged toJudah, now came to Benjamin, i.e., dwelt among the Benjamites.
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