Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Succession of the High Priests. NEPIEMIAH XII, XIII. Israel Separated from the Strangen.
procession commmces. Then (t>. 31)1 brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall (near the Valley Gate), and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon tlie wall towards the dung-gate (Ihrouyh Bethzo). And after tliem went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah. And trlbuted in settlements throngliout the provinces of Judah and Benjamin.
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 1-9. Priests aud Levites who came up with Zerubbabel. 1. these are the priests—According to v. 7 "the chief of the priests," tlie heads of the twenty-four courses into which the priestliood were divided (1 Chron-
(v. 37) at tlie fountain-gate, which was over against tliem, they {descending by the Tower of Siloam on the interior, and then reascending) went up by the stairs of tiie city of David, at the going up of the wall, above tiie liouse of David, even unto the water-gate eastward (by the staircase of the rampart, having descended to dedicate the fountain structures). And the otiier company of them that gavo thanks went over against them (both parties having started from the junction of the first and second walls), and I after them, and the half of tlie people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall (beyond the corner-gate). And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate (and the gate of Benjamin), and above the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep-gate; and they stood still in the prison-gate (o?- high gate, at the east end of the bridge). So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and half of the rulers witli me (having thus performed the circuit of the investing walls), and arrived in the courts of the temple." [Barclay's City of the Great King.] 43. the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar otf—Tlie events of the day, viewed in connection with the now repaired and beautified state of the city, raised tlie popular feeling to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and the fame of their rejoicings was spread far and near. 44. portions of the law i. e., prescribed by the law. for Judah rejoiced for the priests and . . . Levites that waited—Tlie cause of this general satisfaction was eitlier the full restoration of the temple service, and the reorganized provision for the permanent support of the ministrj', or it was th« pious cliaracter and eminent gifts of the guardians of re» llgion. 45. the singers and the porters kept . . the ward of the purification i. e., toolj care that no unclean person was allowed to enter witliin the prt'(^ncts of the sacred building. Tiiiswas the official duty of the porters icles 24. 1-20). Only four of the courses returned from the captivity (ch. 7. 39-42; Ezra 2. 36-39). But these were divided by Zerubbabel, or Jeshua, into the original number of twenty-four. Twenty-two only are enumerated here, and no more than twenty in v. 12-21. The discrepancy is owing to tlie extremely probable circumstance tliat two of the twenty-four courses had become extinct in Babylon; for none belonging to them are reported as having returned {v. 2-5), viz., Hattush and Maadiah may be omitted in the account of those persons' families (v. 12), for these had no sons. Shealflel—or Salathiel. Ezra This was a different person from the pious and patriotic leader. If he were the same person, he must now have reached a very patriarchal age—and this longevity was doubtless owing to his eminent piety and temperance, which are greatly conducive to the prolongation of life, but, above all, to the special blessing of God, who had preserved and strengthened him for the accomplishment of the Important work he was called to undertake in that critical period of the Church's history. 4. Abijah—One of the ancestors of John the Baptist (Luke 1. 5). 9. tliclr brethren were over against them in the watches i, e., according to some, their stations—the places where they stood wlien officiating—" ward over against ward" {v. 24); or, according to others, In alternate watches, in course of rotation.
10-47. Succession or the High Priests. 10. Jeshna begat Joiakim, &c.—This enumeration was of great importance, not only as establishing their individual purity of descent, but because the chronology of the Jews was henceforth to be reckoned not as formerly by tlie reigns of their king*, l)ut by the successions of their higli priests. 11. Jaddna—It is an opinion entertained by many commentators that this person was the high priest whose dignified appearance, solemn manner, and splendid costume overawed and interested so strongly the proud mind of Alexander the Great; and if lie were not this person, as some object that this Jaddua was not in office
(2 Chronicles 2'?. 19), with whom, owing to the pressure of circumstances, it was deemed expedient that the singers should be associated as assistants. 47, all Israel . . . sanctiiied holy tilings unto the Ijevites, itc—Tiie people, selecting tlie tithes and first-fruits, devoted tliem to the use of tlie Levites, to wliom they belonged liy appointment of the law. The Levites acted in the same way with the tithes due from them to tlie priests. Tiius ail classes of the people displayed a conscientious fidelity in paying the dues to the temple and the servants of God who were appointed to minister in It.
till a considerable period after the death of Nehemiah, It miglit probably be his father, called by the same name. 12. in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers—i.e., as there had been priests in the days of Jeshua, so In the time of Joiakim, the son and successor of Jeshua, the sons of those persons filled the priestly office in room of their fathers, some of whom were still alive, though many were dead. 33. Tlic sons of licvi . . . were written in the book of tlie Chronicles i. e., the public registers in which the genealogies were kept with great regularity and exactness. 37-43. at the dedication of the wall of .Terusalem—This ceremony of consecrating the wall and gates of the city was an act of piety on the part of Nehemiah, not merely to thank God in a general way for having been enabled to bring the building to a happy completion, but on the special ground of that city being the place which lie had chosen, and Us containing the temple which was hallowed by the manifestation of His presence, and anew set apart to His service. It was on these accounts that Jerusalem was called "the holy city," and by this public and solemn act of religious observance, after a long period of neglect and desecration, it was, as it were, re Btored to Its riglitful proprietor. The dedication consisted in a solemn ceremonial. In which tlie leading authorities, accompanied by the Levitlcal singers, summoned from all parts of the country, and by a vast concourse of people, marched In Imposing procession round the city walls, and, pausing at intervals to engage in united praises, prayer, and sacrifices, supplicated the continued preseu'-e. favour, and blessing on "the holy city." " The astembty convened near Jaffa Oale, where the
CHAPTER XIII.
Ver. 1-9. Upon the Reading of the Law Separation IS made from the Mixed Multitude. 1. On that day—This was not immediately consequent on the dedication of the city wail and gates, but after Nehemiah's return from the Persian court to .Jerusalem, his absence having extended over a consideralile period. The transaction here described prol)ably toolc place on one of the periodical occasions for tlie public readings of the law, when the people's attention was particularly directed to some violations of it which called lor immediate correction. Tliere is another instance aflbrded. In addition to those which have ali-eady fallen under our notice, of the great advantages resulting from the public and periodical reading of the Divine law. It was an established provision for the religious instruction of tlie people, for diffusing a knowledge and a reverence for tlie sacred volume, as well as for removing those errors and corruptions which might, in the course of time, have crept In, the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever—i. e., not l)e incorporated into tlie Israelitish kingdom, nor united in marriage relations with that people (Deuteronomy 2;5. 3, 4). This ap-