John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Nehemiah 7:1



INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 7



Nehemiah having built the wall, and set up the doors, appointed two persons to take the charge of the city, and set watches for the safety of it, and to take special care about opening and shutting the gates of it, Ne 7:1, and concerned he was for the peopling of it, and having found a register of the first comers to it, gives their names, Ne 7:4 and some account of the freewill offerings made for the work they came about, Ne 7:70.



Ver. 1. Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors,.... Which was not done when Sanballat sent his first letter, but now was, Ne 6:1,



and the porters and the singers, and the Levites were appointed; not to attend the doors of the gates of the wall, but to return to their service in the temple, who had been employed in one thing or another, while the wall and gates were building and repairing; see Ne 3:17.





Nehemiah 7:2



Ver. 2. That I gave my brother Hanani,.... Who first brought him the melancholy account of the state of Jerusalem, Ne 1:2,



and Hananiah the ruler of the palace; the king's palace, in which the viceroy of the king of Persia dwelt, and now Nehemiah; to these two men he gave



charge over Jerusalem; committed it to their care during his absence, who may be supposed now to return to Persia, as he had promised, Ne 2:6,



for he was a faithful man; this is said of Hananiah, and given as a reason why such a trust was committed to him; Hanani's character was well known, and his journey from Jerusalem to Shushan was a full proof of his hearty concern for the interest of it:



and feared God above many; Hananiah was exemplary in his fear of God, few were equal to him, and none exceeded him; or of many days, as Jarchi; of a long time he had feared the Lord, and served him many years.





Nehemiah 7:3



Ver. 3. And I said unto them, let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot,.... Or until the heat of the day, or near noon; at least not till the sun had been up some time, and shone out clearly, and caused much heat; that if any enemies were near, or lying in wait, they might be discovered, and the inhabitants also up and ready to defend themselves:



and while they stand by; according to Aben Ezra, Hanani and Hananiah were to be present at the opening and shutting of the gates, and so Grotius; but these being the chief rulers, it is not likely; but rather those whom they appointed to look after them, these were to stand by while their servants did it; they were not to leave it wholly to them, but to see it done themselves:



let them shut the doors, and bar them; or "lay hold" {a} on them, handle them to see whether they are shut fast or not:



and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, and everyone to be over against his house; no foreigners were to be of the watch, only inhabitants, and those everyone in their turn, and to be placed over against where they dwelt; and so it might be thought would be the more careful and diligent in their watch.



{a} wzxaw "et tractate", Junius & Tremellius; "contrectate eas", Piscator.





Nehemiah 7:4



Ver. 4. Now the city was large and great,.... The circumference of it, all within the wall; for that was built on its old foundation, and enclosed as much ground as ever it did: Hecataeus {b}, an Heathen writer, says the circumference of Jerusalem was fifty furlongs, which was more than six miles; but Josephus {c} makes the circuit of it but thirty three furlongs or about six miles:



but the people were few therein; in comparison of the largeness of the place; for though there were 42,360 that came up at first with Zerubbabel, and many more with Ezra, yet a great number chose to settle in the towns and cities in the country, Jerusalem being in such a desolate condition:



and the houses were not builded; some were, but they were but few, many of them still lay in ruins.



{b} Apud Euseb. Praepar. par. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. & apud Joseph. contr. Apion, l. 1. c. 22. {c} De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 3.





Nehemiah 7:5



Ver. 5. And my God put into mine heart,.... Every good motion in him, and whatever he thought of that was conducive to the good and welfare of Jerusalem, Nehemiah always ascribed it to God; see 2Co 3:5



to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy; that their number might be known, and of what families they were, and in what cities they formerly dwelt; and this was not only of use for the present purpose of Nehemiah, but was of service hereafter to show the pedigree of families, and that it might be clearly known from whence the Messiah sprung:



and I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first; from Babylon to Jerusalem, along with Zerubbabel, as appears from Ne 7:7, and this was of great use to him, whereby he would know not only their names and number, but to what city they belonged, and who to the city of Jerusalem, that they might be called upon to come, and rebuild their houses, and take up their residence there:



and found written therein; the names of the persons and families after mentioned.





Nehemiah 7:6



Ver. 6. These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity,.... Who were of the province of Judea, as it was now reduced, and came up out of the captivity of Babylon through the edict of Cyrus; see Ezr 2:1, where the same preface is given to the list of names as here; and from hence to the end of Ne 7:69 the same account is given of persons and families as there, with some little difference of numbers and names; in some instances there are more in this list, in others fewer, which may be thus accounted for; that list was made in Babylon, when, upon the edict of Cyrus, the Jews, who intended to go up with Zerubbabel, gave in their names, and they were registered; but this was made when they came to Jerusalem; now some of those that gave in their names changed their minds, and tarried in Babylon, and some might die by the way, which makes the numbers fewer in some instances; and others who did not give in their names at first, but, being better disposed towards their own country, followed after and joined those which were returning, and increased the number of others; to which may be added what Abendana observes, that in Ezra an account is given of those that came out of the captivity by the companies, in which they came not genealogized, and had a mixture of persons of other families in them, and some that had no genealogy; but afterwards, when they were genealogized according to their families, a register of their genealogies was made, and is what Nehemiah now found, and here gives; and, as for difference of names, that may be owing to the carelessness of copiers, or to the different pronunciation of names, or some men might have two names; the matter is of no great moment.





Nehemiah 7:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:30



Ver. 30. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:31



Ver. 31. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:32



Ver. 32. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:36



Ver. 36. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:37



Ver. 37. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:38



Ver. 38. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:39



Ver. 39. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:40



Ver. 40. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:41



Ver. 41. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:42



Ver. 42. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:43



Ver. 43. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:44



Ver. 44. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:45



Ver. 45. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:46



Ver. 46. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:47



Ver. 47. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:48



Ver. 48. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:49



Ver. 49. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:50



Ver. 50. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:51



Ver. 51. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:52



Ver. 52. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:53



Ver. 53. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:54



Ver. 54. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:55



Ver. 55. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:56



Ver. 56. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:57



Ver. 57. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:58



Ver. 58. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:59



Ver. 59. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:60



Ver. 60. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:61



Ver. 61. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:62



Ver. 62. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:63



Ver. 63. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:64



Ver. 64. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:65



Ver. 65. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:66



Ver. 66. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:67



Ver. 67. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:68



Ver. 68. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:69



Ver. 69. See Gill on "Ne 7:6".





Nehemiah 7:70



Ver. 70. And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work,.... Of building the city and the temple, and for that service, Ezr 2:68,



the Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drachms of gold; each of which was one pound sterling, and so amounted to so many pounds: of these "dracmons", or "darics", a Persian coin, mention is made in Ezr 2:69, they were golden staters, or shekels and had their name as is said, not from Darius, the father of Xerxes, though it is certain, from Herodotus {d}, that he coined golden money; but from some other king of the same name, more ancient {e}, which must be Darius the Mede; and if they are the same with the Adarcon in Ezr 8:27 as they seem to be, then those in 1Ch 29:7 were pieces of money not so called in the times of David, but of Ezra, the writer of that book: whether this Tirshatha was Zerubbabel, or Nehemiah, is not easy to say, since this donation is not the same with that in Ezra, not made at the same time nor are the gifts the same, nor the persons that gave them. Zerubbabel was Tirshatha when the Jews came out of Babylon, and Nehemiah now:



fifty basins; which were vessels, in the which the blood of the sacrifices was received and out of which it was sprinkled:



five hundred and thirty priests' garments; which were laid up in the wardrobe, and used on occasion.



{d} Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 166. {e} Scholiast. in Aristoph. Eccles. p. 741, 742. So Harpocration. Lexic. in voce dardikov, and Suidas on the same word.





Nehemiah 7:71



Ver. 71. And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work,.... To be put into the treasure, out of which the expenses of the temple, and service of it were defrayed:



twenty thousand drachms of gold; which were so many pounds of our money, and somewhat more: for, according to Bishop Cumberland {f}, a drachm of gold was of the value of twenty shillings and four pence: and 2200 pounds of silver; "the maneh", or pound, with the Jews, was of the value of sixty shekels, Eze 45:12 and so is reckoned by our Brerewood {g} to be of our money seven pounds and ten shillings; he reckoning a shekel at half a crown, whereas it was little more than two shillings and four pence; and so sixty of them, or a "maneh", came to about seven pounds; wherefore this sum here was seven times so many pounds of silver.



{f} Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 115. {g} De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4.





Nehemiah 7:72



Ver. 72. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drachms of gold,.... Worth as many pounds of our money, and somewhat more:



and two thousand pound of silver; of which See Gill on "Ne 7:71":



and threescore and seven priests' garments; having been so long in Babylon, and no use of sacrifices, and so not of garments to minister in, no care was taken to provide any; which seems to be the reason why so many were given, when they returned to their own land, and sacrificed.





Nehemiah 7:73



Ver. 73. So the priests and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities,.... The same is said in Ezr 2:70,

See Gill on "Ezr 2:70",



and, when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities; the month Tisri, answering to part of September, in which month was the feast of tabernacles; at this time of the year they were in their cities when they came forth out of Babylon, and so they were now; see Ezr 3:1.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Nehemiah 8:1



INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 8



Ezra being desired to bring forth the book of the law, read it to the people and others, expounded it to them, Ne 8:1 and Nehemiah exhorted the people to express joy and gladness on this occasion, which they did, Ne 8:9 and observing the feast of tabernacles was in the law commanded to be observed, they kept it very strictly and joyfully, Ne 8:13.



Ver. 1. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the watergate,.... A large and commodious street for such a company of people, which led to the water gate, of which see Ne 3:26 hither the people gathered with great unanimity, zeal, and affection:



and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe; the same who is called Ezra the priest, and scribe of the law of God, and said to be a ready one, Ezr 7:6, who came to Jerusalem thirteen years before this time; but very probably returned to Babylon again, and was lately come from thence:



to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel; to observe what was commanded in it, and which he had ordered to be read, particularly every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles,

De 31:10 which was now drawing near, though this was not the precise time of reading it; hence some have thought this year was the sabbatical year; see Ne 5:11.





Nehemiah 8:2



Ver. 2. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation,.... Having a perfect copy of it, which the people knew, and therefore desired him to bring it; he brought it either out of his own case or chest, or out of the temple where it was laid up; some restrain this to the book of Deuteronomy; this he produced in sight of the whole assembly:



both of men and women; adult persons of each sex, who met promiscuously; though Grotius thinks the women had a separate place:



and all that could hear with understanding; all under age, who yet were capable of hearing the law read to some advantage to them:



upon the first day of the seventh month; the month Tisri, answering to part of September and October; this was a high day, for not only the first of every month was a festival, but the first of the seventh month was the feast of blowing of trumpets, Le 23:24, and besides, this was New Year's day, the first day of their civil year, as the first of Nisan was of their ecclesiastical year, and was of greater antiquity than that; and so Jarchi says, this was the first day of the year; to which may be added, that this was the day on which the altar was first set up, on the Jews' return from captivity, Ezr 3:6.





Nehemiah 8:3



Ver. 3. And he read therein,.... Some passages in it, here and there, which it was necessary the people should have knowledge of; for it can hardly be thought be began and read on just in the order in which it was: this he did



before the street; at the top of it, at one end of it:



that was before the water gate; which looked directly to that:



from the morning until midday; from the rising of the sun to noon, so that he must read six hours; but very probably was relieved at times by the men with him, after mentioned:



before the men and the women, and those that could understand; see Ne 8:2,



and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law; to the hearing of it read, and to the things contained in it; hence Maimonides {h} gathers, that as soon as the reader begins the reading of the law, it is not lawful to speak about anything, not even the constitutions of the law, but silently to attend to what is read.



{h} Hilchot Tephillah, c. 12. sect. 9.





Nehemiah 8:4



Ver. 4. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose,.... Or to speak out of, as the Syriac and Arabic versions; this, in the Hebrew text, is called a "tower" {i}, partly because of its height, and partly because in the form of one; and also for its largeness, considering the use it was for; for it was so large as to hold fourteen men, as appears by what follows: a pulpit of wood was made for the king in the court, to read the law from {k}; though, according to Jacob Leo, it was a throne like an high tower,

See Gill on "2Ki 11:14", the pulpits, in the Jewish synagogues, made after the same manner, as Aben Ezra observes, are called by the same {l} name:



and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah; and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam; in all thirteen; there were six on his right, and seven on his left, who stood here, not merely in honour to him, and as approvers and supporters of the truth of what he read, but to relieve him when weary.



{i} Ue ldgm le "super turrem ligni", Montanus; so Dionysius is said, "concionari ex turri alta", Ciceron. Tuscul. Quaest. l. 5. {k} Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 141. sect. 7. {l} Misn. Sotah, c. 7. sect. 8.





Nehemiah 8:5



Ver. 5. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people),.... So plainly seen by them, and what he did, and the more easily heard, for which purpose the pulpit was made for him to stand in:



and, when he opened it, all the people stood up; that they might the better hear the law read, as well as in honour and reverence of it; the Jews say {m}, that from the times of Moses to Rabban Gamaliel, they learned the law only standing; but after his death a disease came into the world, and they learned it sitting; and now it is a canon with them, that it is not necessary to stand at the reading of the law {n}.



{m} T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 21. 1. {n} Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. Orach Chayim, c. 146. sect. 4.





Nehemiah 8:6



Ver. 6. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God,.... Before he began to read in the book of the law, he addressed himself to God in a short prayer, wholly in the benedictory way; ascribing blessing, honour, and glory to him, celebrating his being and perfections, setting forth his greatness and his excellency, who was the author and giver of the law he was about to read; and this he the rather did, that what he read might be the more carefully attended to, and come with the greater authority, weight, and influence on those that heard it; and so, Maimonides {o} says, it is the custom with the Jews, in their synagogues, for the reader, after he has opened the book, and looked out the place he reads, to say this blessing,



"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, who hath chosen us out of all people, and hath given us his law; blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast given us the law; and all the people answer, Amen;''



as they now did, as follows:



and all the people answered, Amen, Amen: repeating the word, to declare their hearty assent to what Ezra had expressed; the Jews have many rules concerning pronouncing the "Amen", that it must not be too quick, curt, and short, nor with too high a voice {p}:



with lifting up their hands; a prayer gesture, to which the apostle refers, 1Ti 2:8,



and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground; expressing hereby the awful sense they had of the Divine Being, and their profound adoration of him.



{o} Hilchot Tephillah, c. 12. sect. 5. {p} Schulchan Aruch, ut supra, (par. 1.) c. 124. sect. 12.





Nehemiah 8:7



Ver. 7. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites,.... That is, others of them besides those named; for they seem all to be Levites, unless they can be thought to be priests, and so the Levites are distinguished from them; but the former seems evident from Ne 9:4 these also



caused the people to understand the law; as well as Ezra; from whence it is plain that he did not only read the law, but gave the sense of it, especially where there was any seeming difficulty, and these men were assisting in the same work: and the people stood in their place; to hear the law read and explained; they did not move from their first station, but continued in it from morning to noon; they were both attentive and constant.





Nehemiah 8:8



Ver. 8. So they read in the book,.... Ezra and those with him; he first began to read and expound, and when weary they relieved him, and did the same:



in the law of God distinctly; which was the book they read in, and which they read plainly and intelligibly, so as to be heard and understood; this seems to respect the clear and distinct pronunciation of the words of it, and not the explanation or meaning of it, which is after expressed; some think the sense is, that they first read it in Hebrew, and then translated it into Chaldee, that the people might better understand it, being just come out of Babylon, where they had been used to the Chaldee language; but though this was a practice in later times, it does not seem to have obtained so early, or that there was a necessity of it:



and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading; not hereby how to read it, but chiefly to understand what was read, that they might clearly know their duty to God and men: the Talmudists {q} give the meaning of the text thus; "by the law of God" they understand the Scripture; by the phrase "distinctly", the Targum or translation of it into Chaldee; by "the sense", the verses or the accents; and by "the reading", the distinction of the accents: some think from hence came the practice of reading the law in the synagogues every sabbath day,

Ac 13:15.



{q} T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 37. 2. & Megillah, fol. 3. 1. & Hieros. Megillah, fol. 74. 4.





Nehemiah 8:9



Ver. 9. And Nehemiah which is the Tirshatha,.... Or governor, as Zerubbabel had been, and now Nehemiah, see Ezr 2:63



and Ezra the priest and scribe; see Ne 8:1,



and the Levites that taught the people; see Ne 8:7



said unto all the people, this day is holy unto the Lord your God; being both the new moon and the feast of blowing of trumpets:



mourn not, nor weep; which was unsuitable to a festival, and especially such an one as this, in which trumpets were to be blown, and gladness to be shown, Nu 10:10



for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law; perceiving they had not kept it, but had broke it in many instances, and so liable to the wrath and judgment of God in case of disobedience.





Nehemiah 8:10



Ver. 10. Then he said unto them,.... Nehemiah the Tirshatha or governor:



go your way; to their own houses, and refresh themselves; it being noon, and they had stood many hours attentive to the reading and expounding of the law:



eat the fat, and drink the sweet: not a common meal, but a feast, consisting of the richest provisions, the best of food and liquors



and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for the poor, who had no food at home provided for them; the widow, fatherless, and stranger, who at festivals were to partake of the entertainment,

De 16:11



for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be you sorry; confirming what the Levites had said and exhorted to, Ne 8:9



for the joy of the Lord is your strength; to rejoice, as the Lord commanded them on such days as these, was a means both of increasing their bodily strength and their inward strength, and of fitting them the more to perform their duty to God and men with cheerfulness, which sorrow and heaviness made unfit for; and the joy which has the Lord for its object, and comes from him, is the cause of renewing spiritual strength, so as to run and not be weary, walk and not faint, in the ways of God.





Nehemiah 8:11



Ver. 11. So the Levites stilled all the people,.... Made them quiet and easy, being backed by the governor:



saying, hold your peace; refrain from weeping and mourning:



for the day is holy; a festival, set apart for joy and gladness:



neither be ye grieved; inwardly; as they were not to show any signs of sorrow outwardly, so they were not to cherish grief inwardly.





Nehemiah 8:12



Ver. 12. And all the people went their way to eat and to drink,.... Freely and cheerfully:



and to send portions; to the poor, who had nothing to eat and drink:



and to make great mirth; with music, vocal and instrumental:



because they had understood the words that were declared unto them; the meaning of the several laws read and explained unto them, whereby they better understood their duty, and in what instances and in what manner it was to be performed; how much more reason is there for joy and gladness, when the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, are clearly known and understood? Ps 89:15.





Nehemiah 8:13



Ver. 13. And on the second day were gathered together,.... The second day of the month, and of the new year, the day after the feast of blowing of trumpets, and after the law had been read and explained:



the chief of the fathers of all the people: heads of tribes and families: the priests and the Levites; who, though they were instructors of others, needed to be taught themselves, of which they were sensible: and therefore came



unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law; some things in it, which, upon reading the day before, they observed had some difficulty in them, and which they did not clearly and thoroughly understand; and therefore applied to Ezra, a ready scribe in the law, for better information, and that they might be better able to teach the people; which was highly commendable in them.





Nehemiah 8:14



Ver. 14. And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses,.... The children of Israel, to be observed by them; either by hearing it read the day before, or by conversation with Ezra, they perceived it was enjoined in the law, particularly in

Le 23:39



that the children of Israel should dwell in booths, in the feast of the seventh month: which was the same month, and this the second day of it, and therefore the time drew near for keeping it; for it was to begin the fifteenth.





Nehemiah 8:15



Ver. 15. And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem,.... That is, as Jarchi interprets it, by supplying it thus,



and they commanded that they should publish, &c. Ezra and those with him gave orders that heralds should proclaim in all cities where the Jews dwelt that the feast of tabernacles would be kept, and they should prepare for it; and which seems to be the true sense, since it is not written in the law that such a proclamation should be made; but this was an order of their own, thereby to give notice of it, that all might be provided:



go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written; in Le 23:40, where the first three of these seem to be called boughs of goodly trees; though the Jews {r} commonly understand them of pomecitrons, of which the Syriac version here interprets the myrtle branches; and by them are meant the citron branches, with the leaves and fruit, and which the Jews make absolutely necessary to the keeping of the feast, and for beautiful ones will give a large price; some of them go every year to Spain, and buy as many as they can, and dispose of them wherever Jews live {s}: and those branches were to be fetched, not properly speaking to make the booths of, which were made of boards and planks, but for the decoration of them; and it was not necessary, according to Aben Ezra, that some of each of these should be gathered for that purpose, but of any sort of them; for he interprets the words disjunctively olive branches, or pine branches, or myrtle branches, &c. these, according to the common notion of the Jews, were tied up in little bundles, and carried in the hand, which they call "lulabs"; and they observe {t}, the thick branches were for them, which included the rest; now these they were to fetch from the mount of Olives, and other mountains about Jerusalem; near to which also there was a place called Motza {u}; whither they went, and gathered the willows of the brook mentioned in Le 23:39.



{r} T. Bab. Succah, fol. 35. 1. {s} Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. 21. p. 454. {t} Succah, fol. 12. 1. {u} Misn. Saccah, c. 4. sect. 5.





Nehemiah 8:16



Ver. 16. So the people went forth, and brought them,.... Went out of Jerusalem to the mountains adjacent, and fetched in branches of the said trees, one or another:



and made themselves booths, everyone upon the roof of his house; which were flat, De 22:8, and they might be made anywhere, so be it they were open to the air:



and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God; the common people in the courtyards belonging to their houses, and the priests and Levites in the courts of the temple, the yards or open places adjoining to them:



and in the street of the watergate; which led to that, and seems to have been a very large street, in which many booths might be built, Ne 3:26



and in the street of the gate of Ephraim; which led to the gate through which the road lay to the tribe of Ephraim, see 2Ki 14:13, none were erected without the walls of the city, for fear of the enemy.





Nehemiah 8:17



Ver. 17. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of captivity made booths,.... These came to Jerusalem, and made them booths there; for there only was this feast kept, see Joh 7:2,



and sat under the booths; there they dwelt during the seven days of it, in commemoration of their ancestors dwelling in booths in the wilderness, see Le 23:42



for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so; Joshua observed it, when be had brought and settled the people of Israel in the land of Canaan; and it had been observed since, before this time, as appears from 1Ki 8:2 Ezr 3:4; but not so, with such exactness, with such zeal and affection, with such a regard to the law of God, as to read it every day of the feast, as in the next verse, and with such joy and gladness; wherefore there is no reason to suspect a corruption in the text, as a learned man {w} does, who supposes that Joshua is put for Josiah:



and there was very great gladness; that they were restored unto and settled in their land, had the book of the law, and the knowledge of it, and were directed and enabled to observe it.



{w} Delancy's Life of King David, vol. 1. p. 395. marg.





Nehemiah 8:18



Ver. 18. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God,.... That is, Ezra; this was done by him every day during the feast, whereas only the first and last days were the holy convocations on which it seems to have been read:



and they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the manner; prescribed in Le 23:39.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Nehemiah 9:1



INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 9



In this chapter we have an account of a fast kept by the Jews, which was observed, as by outward acts of humiliation, so by confession of sin, reading the law, and worshipping the Lord, Ne 9:1 and of a long prayer that the Levites made, in which they celebrate the divine perfections, take notice of various instances of the goodness of God to the people of Israel, acknowledge their manifold transgressions, observe the Lord's correction of them for them, in which they own he was righteous, Ne 9:4.



Ver. 1. Now in the twenty fourth day of this month,.... The seventh month, the month Tisri or September, two days after the feast of tabernacles was ended:



the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them; which were all outward tokens of mourning and humiliation, see Joe 1:8 which they could not show during the festival; but that being over, they return to it, see Ne 8:9.





Nehemiah 9:2



Ver. 2. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers,.... Such as were genuine Israelites, of the seed of Abraham, who had married wives of the Gentiles, strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, either before the reformation by Ezra, not being then discovered, or had fallen into this evil since; but now, on the reading of the law, were convinced of it, and so separated themselves from such wives, which was a proof of the truth of their repentance:



and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers: particularly their taking of strange wives, which their fathers had also done, and set them a bad example, which they had followed; of standing and confessing, see Lu 18:13.





Nehemiah 9:3



Ver. 3. And they stood up in their place,.... In the outward court of the temple, where men used to stand when they prayed and confessed their sins: and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God; that they might the better know the mind and will of God, and do their duty: this they did



one fourth part of the day; the space of three hours, from sun rising, or six o'clock in the morning, to the time of the morning sacrifice, which was about nine o'clock:



and another fourth part they confessed; the goodness of God to them, and the sins they had been guilty of:



and worshipped the Lord their God; bowed down before him in prayer and supplication, and so spent three hours more, which reached to noon or twelve o'clock; and from thence to three o'clock, about the time of the evening sacrifice, and from thence to sun setting, or six o'clock, and so spent the whole day in the above exercises alternately.





Nehemiah 9:4



Ver. 4. Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites,.... On an ascent; an elevated place where the Levites used to stand when they sang at the time of sacrifice, and where they might be seen and heard by the people:



Jeshua and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; who seem to be all Levites, see Ne 8:7,



and cried with a loud voice unto the Lord their God; praying with great fervency, and making bitter lamentation for the sins of the people and their own.





Nehemiah 9:5



Ver. 5. Then the Levites, Jeshua,.... Or, then the Levites, even Jeshua:



and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah; the same as before, with a little variation of their names, and perhaps some of them might have two names:



and said; to the men that stood and confessed their sins, Ne 9:2



stand up; for though they are before said to stand, yet, through shame and confusion of face, and awe of the Divine Majesty, might be fallen on their faces to the ground:



and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever; for all the great and good things he had done for them, notwithstanding their sins; and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy they had reason to hope for:



and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise: the glory of which name, nature, and perfections of his, cannot be set forth by the highest praises of men, and the largest ascriptions of blessing and honour to him.





Nehemiah 9:6



Ver. 6. Thou, even thou art Lord alone,.... Whose name alone is Jehovah, the one only true and living God:



thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host; the airy and starry heavens, and the sun, moon, and stars in them, and the third heaven, the seat of God, angels, and saints:



the earth, and all things that are therein; men, beasts, trees, metals, minerals, &c.



the seas, and all that is therein; fishes, sea plants, &c. see Ac 4:24,



and thou preservest them all; they consist in thee, and are upheld in their being by thee, Heb 1:3



and the host of heaven worshipped thee; not the sun, moon, and stars, only in their way, Ps 148:2 but the angels chiefly, Heb 1:6.





Nehemiah 9:7



Ver. 7. Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram,.... From among the Chaldeans, and out of his father's family:



and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees; by calling him from thence, of which see Ge 11:28, to which may be added what Amama {x} on that place observes; that some think that the sacred fire, which the Chaldeans worshipped, was kept in this city, from whence it was called Ur, that being worshipped by them and by the Assyrians under the name of Ur {y}:



and gavest him the name of Abraham; which was changed when the covenant of circumcision was given him, Ge 17:5.



{x} Anti-barbar. Biblic. l. 3. p. 652. {y} Fortunati Schaech. Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. 1. c. 9. col. 44.





Nehemiah 9:8



Ver. 8. And foundest his heart faithful before thee,.... A true believer in his word and promises, Ge 15:6 and closely attached to the fear of him, and observance of his commands, as abundantly appeared in the trial of him, in offering up his son, Ge 22:1,



and madest a covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, [I say], to his seed; not to him personally, but to his posterity, at least including and chiefly designing them; of which covenant see Ge 15:18,



and hast performed thy words, for thou art righteous; in all his ways and works, faithful to his promise, a covenant keeping God, and who kept and fulfilled this covenant, assisting Joshua to conquer the land of Canaan, and put Israel into the possession of it.





Nehemiah 9:9



Ver. 9. And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,.... The hard bondage in which their lives were made bitter; and was not a mere spectator of it, but looked upon them in it with pity and compassion, and sent them a deliverer, Ex 2:23



and heardest their cry by the Red sea; which was before them, and the rocks on both sides of them, and the host of Pharaoh behind, pressing upon them, when he heard them, and wrought salvation for them,

Ex 14:10.





Nehemiah 9:10



Ver. 10. And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land,.... By inflicting the ten plagues upon them:



for thou knowest that they dealt proudly against them; behaved haughtily to them, and despised them, see Ex 18:11



so didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day; displayed his power on Pharaoh, and his goodness to Israel, the fame of which reached all over the world, and continued to that day, see Ex 9:16.





Nehemiah 9:11



Ver. 11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land,.... That is, the Israelites, see Ex 14:21,



and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps; with great ease, and with indignation, meaning the Egyptians, that pursued hotly after them, and were thrown into the sea:



as a stone into the mighty waters; where they sunk and perished, see

Ex 15:4.





Nehemiah 9:12



Ver. 12. Moreover, thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar,.... The Israelites, to shelter them from the heat of the sun in a dry and barren wilderness:



and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go; through a trackless desert, see

Ex 13:21.





Nehemiah 9:13



Ver. 13. Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai,.... By some visible tokens of his presence, as a cloud, fire, smoke, &c. which must be understood consistent with his omniscience, see Ex 19:18,



and spakest with them from heaven; the decalogue or ten commandments,

Ex 20:1,



and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments; both judicial and ceremonial, which were of excellent use to them in their civil and ecclesiastical polity; these were not spoken to Israel, but given to Moses on the mount, to be delivered to them.





Nehemiah 9:14



Ver. 14. And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath,.... Which was not made known to others, and was peculiar to the Jewish nation, and a privilege granted to them, to have rest corporeal and spiritual, typical of the rest in Christ:



and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant; moral, ceremonial, and judicial, such as other nations had not, De 4:8.





Nehemiah 9:15



Ver. 15. And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger,.... To satisfy that, meaning the manna, Ex 16:3



and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock, for their thirst; to quench it; this was done both quickly after they came out of the land of Egypt, and a little before their entrance into the land of Canaan, see Ex 17:6



and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them; which oath was made to them and to their fathers also, see Nu 14:30.





Nehemiah 9:16



Ver. 16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly,.... Behaved in a haughty manner towards God, their kind benefactor:



and hardened their necks; refused to take the yoke of his law, as refractory oxen, that withdraw their necks from the yoke:



and hearkened not to thy commandments; to do them, though they promised they would, Ex 24:7.





Nehemiah 9:17



Ver. 17. And refused to obey,.... Though exhorted, admonished, and threatened, such was their obstinacy:



neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; in delivering them at the Red sea, in raining manna about them, and giving them water out of the rock:



but hardened their necks; see the preceding verse:



and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage; they not only proposed it, but determined upon it, which is reckoned the same as if they had done it, see Nu 14:4,



but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; as he had proclaimed his name before Moses, and as the whole of his conduct towards the people of Israel abundantly shewed, see Ex 34:6



and forsookest them not; when in the wilderness, where otherwise they must have perished, but still fed and protected them, notwithstanding their provocations.





Nehemiah 9:18



Ver. 18. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf,.... In imitation of the Apis, or ox of the Egyptians:



and said, this is thy god that brought thee out of Egypt; or the image of thy god, as the Arabic version, see Ex 32:4,



and had wrought great provocations; of all which nothing was greater than idolatry.





Nehemiah 9:19



Ver. 19. Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness,.... Where no supply could be had, if he had cast them off, see Ne 9:17,



the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; which, if it had, they would have been scorched by the heat of the sun:



neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go; or otherwise they would have lost their way, and not have known which way to have gone.





Nehemiah 9:20



Ver. 20. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them,.... In the knowledge of the laws delivered to them; the spirit of prophecy, according to Ben Melech, and which Aben Ezra interprets of the spirit put upon the seventy elders, Nu 11:17,



and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth; all the while they were in the wilderness, until they came to Canaan's land; called the Lord's manna, because prepared by him, and given by him to them; a part or portion and gift from the Lord, as Ben Melech, from whence it had its name, see Ex 16:15



and gavest them water for their thirst; which seems to have respect to the last rock stricken for them, after their many provocations in the wilderness, Nu 20:11.





Nehemiah 9:21



Ver. 21. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing,.... As not for food, so neither for raiment, as follows:



their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not; of which see De 8:4.





Nehemiah 9:22



Ver. 22. Moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms and nations,.... The two kingdoms of Sihon and Og, and the seven nations of Canaan:



and didst divide them into corners; or "corner"; into every corner of the land of Canaan, so that they possessed the whole of it, a few cities excepted; Jarchi interprets it of one corner, that they might not be mixed with the people of the land, but be all together in one place; but Aben Ezra understands it of the Canaanites, of their being divided and scattered into corners, when they fled from the Israelites; but the former sense seems best:



so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon; or "eren", or "namely" {z}, "the land of the king of Heshbon"; for Sihon was king of Heshbon, and so the land the same:



and the land of Og king of Bashan; those lands both lay on the other side Jordan, and were possessed by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.



{z} So Piscator, Patrick, Rambachius.





Nehemiah 9:23



Ver. 23. Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven,.... Fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, Ge 15:5 their number when they came out of Egypt, and just before they entered into the land of Canaan, being upwards of 600,000 men, besides women and children, Ex 12:37



and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it; the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed, into which the Lord brought them by Joshua; he was the instrument, but the thing was of God.





Nehemiah 9:24



Ver. 24. So the children went in and possessed the land,.... Not the fathers of the Israelites that came out of Egypt, they died in the wilderness, all excepting two, but their children, which seems to be the reason of this manner of expression, see Nu 14:30



and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites; by means of Joshua, the general of the armies of Israel; there is an elegant paronomania in the word for "subdue", and the Canaanites, which cannot be expressed in our language:



and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would; no less than thirty one kings, see Jos 12:9.





Nehemiah 9:25



Ver. 25. And they took strong cities,.... Such as, in an hyperbolical way, are said to be walled up to heaven, De 1:28



and a fat land; of a good and fruitful soil, abounding with all good things, De 8:7



and possessed houses full of all goods; ready built and furnished for them, both with good provisions and good furniture:



wells digged; to supply them with water:



vineyards, and olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance; which they planted not:



and they did eat, and were filled, and became fat; in body, though in mind became wanton and wicked; they made their hearts fat, or stupid, as Aben Ezra interprets it, see De 32:15



and delighted themselves in thy great goodness; not in praising the Lord for it, and using it to his honour and glory, but indulged themselves to luxury and intemperance; though it may be understood of a lawful pleasure in the enjoyment of the great affluence they were brought into, which last agrees with what follows.





Nehemiah 9:26



Ver. 26. Nevertheless, they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee,.... Notwithstanding all these favours and mercies bestowed upon them, which was great ingratitude:



and cast thy law behind their backs; as of no account, and unworthy of their regard; that which they should have had continually before their eyes, as the rule and guide of their actions, they cast behind them, not caring to look into it, and read it:



and slew thy prophets, which testified against them to turn them to thee; the prophets that bore a testimony against their sins, admonished them of them, called heaven and earth to record against them should they continue in them, and all to turn them from them by repentance to the Lord; those they were so wroth with on this account as to slay them, see Mt 23:37,



and they wrought great provocations; serving Baalim and Ashtaroth, and other gods of the nations, than which nothing was more provoking to the Lord.





Nehemiah 9:27



Ver. 27. Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them,.... As the kings of Mesopotamia, Moab, Canaan, and others:



and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee; as they usually did, Jud 3:9,



thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hands of their enemies; such were judges, Othniel, Ehud, Barak, Gideon, &c. and this was, done for them, not on account of their merits, but the abundant unmerited mercy of the Lord towards them.





Nehemiah 9:28



Ver. 28. But after they had rest,.... From their enemies, enjoyed their liberty, and were in prosperity:



they did evil again before thee; relapsed into idolatry:



therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; as the Philistines had for the space of forty years, Jud 13:1,



yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven, and many times didst thou deliver them, according to thy mercies; this was their case frequently in the times of the judges; they sinned and fell into the hands of their enemies, then they repented, and cried to God for help, and he had compassion upon them, and saved them.





Nehemiah 9:29



Ver. 29. And testifiedst against them,.... By sending prophets to them, to admonish them of their sins, and remind them of their duty:



that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law; to regard it, and walk according it:



yet they dealt proudly; with an haughty air rejected the counsel of God:



and hearkened not unto thy commandments; yielded not obedience to them:



but sinned against thy judgments; transgressed his laws, which were so just, righteous, reasonable, and equitable:



which if a man do, he shall live in them; or by them, in the land of Canaan, see Le 18:5,



and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear; like oxen, that wriggle and struggle, and draw back, and will not admit the yoke upon them.





Nehemiah 9:30



Ver. 30. Yet many years didst thou forbear them,.... Throughout the reigns of several kings, such was God's longsuffering towards them: or, "thou didst draw upon them"; that is, his mercy, as Jarchi interprets it; he drew it out of his heart, and prolonged it towards them:



and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets; who reproved and admonished them, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God in them, who spoke in his name, and what he suggested to them:



yet they would not give ear; to what the prophets said, and the Spirit of God in them:



therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands: people that were lords of many countries, as the Assyrians and Chaldeans.





Nehemiah 9:31



Ver. 31. Nevertheless, for thy great mercies' sake, For the displaying of that, and the glorifying of it, which is so large and exceeding abundant:



thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; some were left in the land, and those that were carried captive found favour in the eyes of those that carried them away, and were suffered to live, and many of them now had returned to their own land:



for thou art a gracious and merciful God; of which they had abundant proof and evidence.





Nehemiah 9:32



Ver. 32. Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy,.... The same titles Nehemiah gives to the Lord, Ne 1:5 and it may be reasonably thought the whole prayer is his composure, which was delivered by him to the Levites:



let not all the trouble seem little before thee; as if it was not enough; let it be judged sufficient, and no more be added, but mercy shown; Aben Ezra thinks the word "little" is not to be connected with "trouble", but with the nearest antecedent "mercy", and so Gussetius {z}; as if the sense was, let not thy mercy be small with thee, but let it be largely extended along with all the trouble, or at the time when trouble of every kind



comes upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the times of the kings of Assyria unto this day; but this sense is not clear, and makes it have respect to times to come; whereas it relates to time past, and to all the trouble and affliction they had met with from the Assyrian kings, from the time they invaded their land, and carried them captive, until this very time.



{z} Ebr. Comment. p. 937.





Nehemiah 9:33



Ver. 33. Howbeit, thou art just in all that is brought upon us,.... They own the justice of God, could not complain of any wrong done them; and had he shown them no mercy at all, it was but what they deserved:



for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly; he had done according to the truth of his word of promise, he had faithfully kept it, but they had transgressed his righteous law.





Nehemiah 9:34



Ver. 34. Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law,.... All ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest, had shown no regard, nor yielded obedience to the holy law of God:



nor hearkened unto thy commandments, and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them; moral and ceremonial, which were a testification of the will of God to them, and a testimony against them if they observed them not.





Nehemiah 9:35



Ver. 35. For they have not served thee in their kingdom,.... When in it, whether of Israel or of Judah, and when in the most flourishing circumstances:



and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them; amidst all the prosperity and affluence of good things they enjoyed, which was an obligation upon them to serve the Lord;



and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them; the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk, which lay open for them, their enemies being driven out before them, see Ne 9:25,



neither turned they from their wicked works; their idolatries more especially.





Nehemiah 9:36



Ver. 36. Behold, we are servants this day,.... For though they had leave to return to their land, and rebuild their city and temple, yet they were still in subjection to the kings of Persia:



and for the land thou gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it; though the rightful owners and proprietors of it by the gift of God to their ancestors, to hold it and enjoy the good of it, and yet were obliged to pay tribute for it to the kings of Persia, all excepting priests and Levites; see Ezr 6:8.





Nehemiah 9:37



Ver. 37. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, because of our sins,.... Though a very fruitful land, and brought forth much, yet not for them, but for foreign kings, that had the sovereignty over them, and enacted much toll, tribute, and custom from them, which greatly lessened the profit of the earth to them:



also they have dominion over our bodies; and could oblige them to work for them, and do any service they should command:



and over our cattle, at their pleasure; to carry burdens for them, or ride post with them:



and we are in great distress; being servants and tributaries to a foreign power.





Nehemiah 9:38



Ver. 38. And because of all this,.... Of all this distress, and that it might be removed, and be clear of it; or "in all this distress and evil", as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, in the midst of it all:



we make a sure covenant; or faithfully promise to observe the law of God, and particularly put away strange wives, and not intermarry with the people of the land:



and write it; that it may remain and be a testimony against them should they break it, being their own handwriting:



and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it; as witnesses of it, and thereby binding themselves to observe the same things; their names that sealed are given in the next chapter.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Nehemiah 10:1



INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 10



In this chapter we have the names of the persons that signed and sealed the covenant mentioned in the last chapter, Ne 10:1, and the things they agreed unto and promised to perform; in general to observe the law of God, in particular not to marry with the people of the land, to keep the sabbaths weekly and yearly, to pay annually the third part of the shekel for the service of the temple, to bring into it the wood offerings, first fruits, firstborn, and tithes, Ne 10:28.



Ver. 1. Now those that sealed were,.... That sealed the covenant, made Ne 9:38.



Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah; the governor of the Jews:



and Zidkijah; who seems also to have been a prince, since, without, it could not be said it was sealed by their princes, Ne 9:38 though some think both these were priests, and then the princes must be supposed to be among the chief of the people, Ne 10:14, from hence to the end of the twenty seventh their names follow; the names of the priests,

Ne 10:2, who were in all twenty one; no mention is made either of Eliashib the high priest, nor of Ezra the priest and scribe; some think the former had not behaved well in his office, and that the latter was either sick, or returned to Babylon, or however hindered by some providence or another, since we hear of him both a little before and after, Ne 8:2 then the names of the Levites, Ne 10:9, in all seventeen, most of which we have met with in this book before; next follow the names of the chief of the people, Ne 10:14, their number in all forty four; and their names may be observed in the list of those that came out of Babylon with Zerubbabel; the whole number of those that sealed, princes, priests, Levites, and chief of the people, were eighty four.





Nehemiah 10:2



Ver. 2. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:3



Ver. 3. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:4



Ver. 4. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:5



Ver. 5. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:6



Ver. 6. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Ne 10:1".





Nehemiah 10:28



Ver. 28. And the rest of the people,.... That did not sign and seal:



the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims; the porters and singers were Levites; but those so called were such as waited upon the priests, as the Nethinims were persons that waited on them:



and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God; proselytes, who had renounced Heathenism, and embraced the true religion, had received the law of God, and professed to walk according to it;



their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone having knowledge, and having understanding; of the nature of the covenant, and the things contained in it, of what was required of them, and of what they promised, of the nature of an oath they entered into, and of the sin of perjury.





Nehemiah 10:29



Ver. 29. They clave to their brethren, their nobles,.... Who had signed and sealed the covenant, they declared their approbation of it, attended to it, and ratified what they had done in their name:



and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God; they bound themselves with an oath that they would keep the law of God, and added a curse or imprecation on themselves to it should they break it; or, according to Piscator, they went into the space between the two pieces of the calf, which they cut asunder for the confirmation of the covenant, and so they cursed themselves if they should break it, see Jer 34:18



and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his statutes; all the laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial; this they engaged to do in general; some particulars follow.





Nehemiah 10:30



Ver. 30. And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons,.... Intermarry with them as they had done, and were prone to do, and even did after this,

Ne 13:23.





Nehemiah 10:31



Ver. 31. And if the people of the land bring ware,.... Any thing to be sold, any sort of goods, that being sold might be taken away, as the word signifies;



or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell; anything to make food of; wheat or barley, as Aben Ezra interprets it; the same word is rendered corn, See Gill on "Ge 42:1"; to sell which was not lawful on the sabbath day, see Am 8:5



that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day; any festival, as the feast of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles:



and that we would leave the seventh year: the ground untilled in that year, the vines unpruned, and the fruits of the earth, which sprung of themselves, for the poor to gather, Le 25:4,



and the exaction of every debt; that they would not demand the payment of any debt on the seventh year, as the law required they should not,

De 15:2.





Nehemiah 10:32



Ver. 32. Also we made ordinance, for us,.... Laws among themselves, binding them to that which the laws of God did not:



to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel, for the service of the house of our God; the particulars of which follow in the next verse; for the defraying of which there used to be a treasury in the temple; but now there was none, and therefore they took this method to assess themselves; and being poor, instead of the half shekel, which in some cases was required, they only charged themselves with the third part of one; though Aben Ezra thinks this was added to the half shekel, and was paid over and above that; according to Brerewood {a}, it was of the value of ten pence of our money: Waserus {b} has given us the figure of one of these coins, with this inscription, a "third" part of a shekel of Israel.



{a} De Pond. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 1. {b} De Antiqu. Num. Heb. l. 2.





Nehemiah 10:33



Ver. 33. For the shewbread,.... To defray the expenses of the twelve loaves, which every week were set on the table of shewbread,

Le 24:5,



and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering; for the daily sacrifice, morning and evening, which always had a meat offering along with it, Ex 29:38,



of the sabbaths, and of the new moons; on which were additional sacrifices, Nu 28:9,



and for the set feasts; of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; in which also were offered other sacrifices, besides the daily one,

Nu 28:16,



and for the holy things: which were both by way of thanksgiving to God, and that they might feast and rejoice together:



and for the sin offerings, to make an atonement for Israel; for the whole body of the people, and so were made at the public expense:



and for all the work of the house of our God; whatever else was necessary that is not mentioned.





Nehemiah 10:34



Ver. 34. And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people,.... The priests and Levites were in one lot, and the people in another, as Aben Ezra:



for the wood offering; for providing wood to burn upon the altar continually, concerning which Maimonides {c} thus writes:



"what is the wood offering? there was a time fixed for families to go out unto the forests, and bring in wood of disposition (to be laid in order on the altar); and the day when it came to the turn of a family to bring the wood, they offered up freewill burnt offerings, which were called a wood offering; and it was to them as a good day (or festival), and they were forbid to mourn, fast, or do any work on it;''



and he observes, that if a single person brought wood of his own free will, he was obliged to the same; and Josephus {d} speaks of a feast called culoforia, when it was customary for all to bring wood to the altar, to keep alive the sacred fire, that it might not go out, which, according to him, was on the fourteenth of the month Lois, or August; but this was not the business of all the people, lots were cast, as here said, who should do it, and when:



to bring it into the house of our God; the temple, where there was a place called the "wood room", into which the wood was brought after it had been wormed by the priests {e}



after the houses of our fathers; or families on whom the lot fell to do it: some render it,



into the house of our fathers, meaning the same as before; the temple so called, because they built it, and worshipped God in it; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:



at times appointed, year by year; as the lot directed; these, according to the Jewish doctors {f}, were nine times in the year; on the first of Nisan (or March), the sons of Arach, of the tribe of Judah, brought the wood; on the twentieth of Tammuz (or June), the posterity of David, of the tribe of Judah; on the fifth of Ab (or July), the children of Parosh, of the tribe of Judah; on the seventh of the same month, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab; on the tenth of the same month, the posterity of Senaah, of the tribe of Benjamin; on the fifteenth of the same month, the children of Zattu, and with them the priests and Levites, and all who were of an uncertain tribe, &c. on the twentieth of the same month, the posterity of Pahathmoab, of the tribe of Judah; on the twentieth of Elul (or August), the children of Adin, of the tribe of Judah; on the first of Tebeth (or December), the posterity of Parosh again brought the wood:



to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law; the wood should be burnt upon it, and fire kept on it continually, Le 6:12, for this refers only to that, the wood offering is nowhere spoken of in the law.



{c} Hilchot Cele Hamikdash, c. 6. sect. 9, 10. Vid. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Taanith, c. 4. sect. 5. {d} De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 17. sect. 6. {e} See Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple, ch. 25. {f} Misn. Taanith, c. 4. sect. 5.





Nehemiah 10:35



Ver. 35. And to bring the firstfruits of our ground,.... Not that they cast lots to do this, but they bound themselves with an oath, according to the law, to do it; this is the first of all the fruits of the earth, Ex 23:19, though Aben Ezra restrains it to the sheaf of the firstfruits, and to the two wave loaves, Le 23:10,



and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees; which, as Aben Ezra observes, their wise men restrain to the seven kinds only mentioned in De 8:8.





Nehemiah 10:36



Ver. 36. Also the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle,.... Such as were unclean, as Aben Ezra notes, as the ass, &c. and are distinguished from clean ones mentioned in the following clause; now both these, their sons, and this sort of cattle, were to be redeemed by a price paid to the priests: as it is written in the law,

Ex 13:2,



and the firstlings of our herds, and of our flocks; clean cattle, which were to be offered, Nu 18:17,



to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God; a price for the one sort, and the other for sacrifice.





Nehemiah 10:37



Ver. 37. And that we should bring the first fruits of our dough,.... According to the law in Nu 15:20



and our offerings; their heave offerings, Nu 18:8



and the fruit of all manner of trees; bore by them on the fourth year after their planting, Le 19:23



of wine and oil; to which Aben Ezra restrains the fruit of the trees, see Nu 18:12, all these they were to bring



unto the priests, to the chambers the house of our God; there to be laid up for the use of it; and oil and wine were frequently used in sacrifices:



and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our village; the tenth part of the produce of their agriculture everywhere throughout the land, see

Nu 18:21.





Nehemiah 10:38



Ver. 38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes,.... There was always to be a priest with the Levites at such times, to take notice what quantity they received, that they might not be under any temptation, or lie under any suspicion of defrauding the priests of their due, who were to have a part in the tithes, as follows:



and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house: which were in the court of the priests for that purpose; for out of the tithes of the Levites there was another tithe or tenth part taken, and given to the priests, see Nu 18:26.





Nehemiah 10:39



Ver. 39. For the children of Israel, and the children of Levi, shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers,.... In the temple:



where are the vessels of the sanctuary; to put the said things into, that they might be ready at hand when wanted, as they often were for the meat and drink offerings:



and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers; who dwelt there when in their ministrations, and were supported by the above tithes and gifts:



and we will not forsake the house of our God; neither forsake the assembling themselves there for worship, nor neglect to make the necessary provisions for the service of it, as they had too much done, but now resolve for the future to behave better.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Nehemiah 11:1



INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 11



This chapter treats of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who settled there by lot, or of their own accord, their names and numbers, Ne 11:1, and of the priests and Levites who dwelt there, Ne 11:10, and of the rest of the people, priests, and Levites, that dwelt in the other cities and villages of Judah and Benjamin, Ne 11:20.



Ver. 1. And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem,.... Where it was proper they should, being the metropolis of the nation, both for the performance of their offices, and to protect and defend it, as well as to set an example to the people, and encourage them to dwell there also:



the rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city; so called, because of the temple and the worship of God in it; and so it is called by Julian the emperor {g}; and some {h} have thought that the Cadytis of Herodotus {i} is the same with Jerusalem, which had its name from hvdq, "holy", and is now called by the Turks "cuds", that is, "holy" {k}: now, though it was the chief city, and the place of public worship, yet the people were not forward of settling in it, partly because of the rage of the enemy, which this city was the butt of, and partly because it was more to their worldly advantage to dwell in the country, and where they could have better supplies; they consulted their own ease, safety, and profit; wherefore this method was taken to oblige some to dwell in it, by taking one out of ten by lot, that there might be a sufficient number to rebuild the houses of it, repopulate and defend it:



and nine parts to dwell in other cities; to which they belonged, or where they pleased, any where in the land of Israel.



{g} Ep. 25. p. 154. {h} Prideaux's Connection, par. 1. p. 56, 57. {i} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 159. & Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 5. {k} Sandys's Travels, l. 5. p. 121. Ed. 5.





Nehemiah 11:2



Ver. 2. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. Who were not taken by lot, but of their own accord settled at Jerusalem; they praised them for it, and wished them all happiness and prosperity, since they denied themselves of ease and profit for the sake of the public good; and it is this which makes the difference between the list of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in 1Ch 9:2 &c. and this here, that takes in all that settled there, whether voluntarily or by lot; this only such as were fixed by the lot, and of them only those who were of greatest note and esteem, as Jarchi observes, and so it follows.





Nehemiah 11:3



Ver. 3. Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem,.... That is, of Judea, reduced to a province by the king of Babylon, and now a province of the Persian monarchy:



but in the cities of Judah dwelt everyone in his possession in their cities; in which they or their ancestors had formerly dwelt: to wit, Israel: the people in general of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and such of the other tribes that returned with them:



the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants; of whom see Ezr 2:55.





Nehemiah 11:4



Ver. 4. And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin,.... It belonging partly to one tribe and partly to the other, and so inhabited by both, as it originally was,

Jos 15:63



of the children of Judah; Athaiah; called Uthai, 1Ch 9:4 whose lineage is traced through Uzziah, Zechariah, Amariah, Shephatiah, Mahalaleel,



of the children of Perez; a son of Judah, see 1Ch 9:4.





Nehemiah 11:5



Ver. 5. And Maaseiah,.... Who seems to be the same with Asaiah, 1Ch 9:5 and whose genealogy is carried up through Baruch, Colhozeh, Hazaiah, Adaiah, Joiarib, Zechariah, to Shiloni; perhaps the same with Shelah, another son of Judah, see 1Ch 9:5.





Nehemiah 11:6



Ver. 6. All the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men. And so well qualified to defend the city against its enemies.





Nehemiah 11:7



Ver. 7. And these are the sons of Benjamin,.... That were of that tribe, and inhabited Jerusalem, namely, that follow:



Sallu the son of Meshullam; who from him is traced up through Joed, Pedaiah, Kolaiah, Maaseiah, Ithiel, to Jesaiah.





Nehemiah 11:8



Ver. 8. And after him,.... That is, Sallu: were Gabbai and Sallai; in all nine hundred and twenty eight; there were more of the tribe of Benjamin than of the tribe of Judah, they having perhaps a greater share in the city, or were better disposed to dwell in it.





Nehemiah 11:9



Ver. 9. And Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer,.... Or chief governor of the city:



and Judah the son of Senuah was second over the city; or the deputy governor of it; so Pitholaus is called an under governor in Jerusalem by Josephus {l}



{l} Antiqu. l. 14. c. 6. sect. 1.





Nehemiah 11:10



Ver. 10,11 Of the priests,.... Who dwelt in Jerusalem, of whom the same account is given in these two verses as in 1Ch 9:10, only Seraiah here is called Azariah there.





Nehemiah 11:11



Ver. 11 See Gill on "Ne 11:10".





Nehemiah 11:12



Ver. 12. And their brethren that did the work of the house were eight hundred twenty and two,.... That offered the sacrifices, burnt incense, set on the shewbread, lighted the lamps, &c.



and Adaiah the son of Jeroham; see 1Ch 9:12 whose genealogy is traced here through Pelaliah, Amzi, Zechariah, Pashur, to Malchiah.





Nehemiah 11:13



Ver. 13. And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two,.... That is, the brethren or relations of Adaiah:



and Amashai; called Maasiai, 1Ch 9:12, whose lineage is traced here through Azareel, Ahasai, Meshillemoth, to Immer.





Nehemiah 11:14



Ver. 14. And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred twenty and eight,.... The brethren of Adaiah and Amashai, who were able men to do the work of their office as priests, and men of courage to fight the enemy, and defend the city upon occasion:



and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men; or the son of Hagedolim, or Gedolim, as some, who take it to be the proper name of a man.





Nehemiah 11:15



Ver. 15. Also of the Levites,.... Who dwelt in Jerusalem:



Shemaiah the son of Hashub: traced from him through Azrikam and Hashabiah to Bunni; these were of the sons of Merari, the third son of Levi, see 1Ch 9:14.





Nehemiah 11:16



Ver. 16. And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites,.... Along with Shemaiah; these had



the oversight of the outward business of the house of God: who had the care of the repairs of the temple, and of getting in the wood for the altar, as Jarchi, and collecting the third part of the shekel, to purchase things with for the use of the temple.





Nehemiah 11:17



Ver. 17. And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph,.... Zabdi is called Zichri in 1Ch 9:15



was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: he was the precentor, or led the song at the time of the daily sacrifice, in which prayer was also made, as in many of the songs, hymns, and psalms of David:



and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren; he was the next singer, or deputy to Mattaniah; perhaps the same that is called Bakbakkar, 1Ch 9:15



and Abda the son of Shammua; called Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, 1Ch 9:16



the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun: one of the three principal singers.





Nehemiah 11:18



Ver. 18. All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred fourscore and four. Who had their residence there, Ne 11:1.





Nehemiah 11:19



Ver. 19. Moreover, the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates, were one hundred and seventy two. Of whom see 1Ch 9:17.





Nehemiah 11:20



Ver. 20. And the residue of Israel, of the priests and the Levites,..... All of them, besides those that dwelt at Jerusalem: were



in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance; the Israelites in the cities, houses, and estates enjoyed by their ancestors, and the priests and Levites in the cities given out of the several tribes.





Nehemiah 11:21



Ver. 21. But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel,.... An high place or tower on the wall of Jerusalem, see 2Ch 27:3,



and Ziha, and Gispa, were over the Nethinims; had the oversight of them, and took care that they did their work; they were such themselves, but the principal of them, see Ezr 2:43.





Nehemiah 11:22



Ver. 22. The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani,.... He was the supervisor of them, that looked after them that they did their work in ministering to the priests, as they had occasion for them; this man's genealogy is further traced through Hashabiah and Mattaniah, to Micha the son of Asaph, Ne 11:17,



of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God; which, according to Jarchi, was to take care of the repairs of the temple and other things; but one would think rather that part of the service of the house which lay in singing the songs of it is respected.





Nehemiah 11:23



Ver. 23. For it was the king's commandment concerning them,.... Either of King David as some, see Ne 12:24 or rather of the king of Persia:



that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day; he settled a daily salary for them, to be paid out of his treasury; having perhaps a peculiar respect for such sort of men, being a lover of music, by means of which they had a settled habitation in Jerusalem.





Nehemiah 11:24



Ver. 24. And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah, the son of Judah,.... The twin brother of Pharez,

Ge 38:30 was



at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people; to speak for them to the king, as Jarchi; when they had a favour to ask of him, a petition to present to him, he delivered it for them, and by him the king returned the answer.





Nehemiah 11:25



Ver. 25. And for the villages, with their fields,.... The cities and villages in the country, an account of the inhabitants of them next follows:



some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof; the same with Hebron, Jos 15:54



and at Dibon; the same with Dimonah, Jos 15:22



and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof; the same with Kabzeel, one of the uttermost cities of the tribe of Judah southward,

Jos 15:21, of which city was Benaiah, one of David's worthies,

2Sa 23:20, from hence to the end of Ne 11:30 mention is made of various cities and towns, in the tribe of Judah, inhabited by the men of it, which are to be met with in Jos 15:1 excepting Jeshua and Mekonah, Ne 11:26, of which we nowhere else read.





Nehemiah 11:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Ne 11:25"





Nehemiah 11:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Ne 11:25"





Nehemiah 11:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Ne 11:25"





Nehemiah 11:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "Ne 11:25"





Nehemiah 11:30



Ver. 30. See Gill on "Ne 11:25"





Nehemiah 11:31



Ver. 31. The children also of Benjamin, from Geba, dwelt at Michmash,.... Geba was a city on the southern border of Benjamin, Jos 18:24 and Michmash on the northern, of which see 1Sa 13:2 in this and the four following verses are the names of several cities in the tribe of Benjamin, inhabited by the men of that tribe, as Alia, the same with Ai, that lay on the east of Bethel, here also mentioned, see Jos 7:2 Anathoth, the birth place of Jeremiah the prophet, Jer 1:1. Nob, a city of the priests, 1Sa 21:1. Ananiah is nowhere else mentioned; Hazor is to be distinguished from another of this name in the tribe of Naphtali, Jos 19:36. Ramah, a place well known in Benjamin, Jos 18:25. Gittaim, of which see 2Sa 4:3. Hadid, the same with Adida, which lay in a plain,



"Simon also set up Adida in Sephela, and made it strong with gates and bars.'' (1 Maccabees 12:38)



Zeboim, a valley of this name, is read in 1Sa 13:18. Neballat we read of nowhere else; of Lod and Ono, see 1Ch 8:12 and the valley of craftsmen, or Chorasin, 1Ch 4:14.





Nehemiah 11:32



Ver. 32. See Gill on "Ne 11:31".





Nehemiah 11:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Ne 11:31".





Nehemiah 11:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "Ne 11:31".





Nehemiah 11:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Ne 10:31".





Nehemiah 11:36



Ver. 36. And of the Levites were divisions in Judah, and in Benjamin. They were scattered about, some here and some there, in both these tribes, for the better instruction of the people.

 

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