Nehemiah 11

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

The new inhabitants of Jerusalem

¹ Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem; and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine parts remained in the other cities. ² And the people blessed all the men who offered themselves willingly to live in Jerusalem.

³ Now these are the heads of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the cities of Judah each lived in his possession in their cities: the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the Nethinim and the sons of Solomon's servants.

⁴ And in Jerusalem lived some of the children of Judah and some of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; ⁵ and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. ⁶ All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight valiant men.

⁷ And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; ⁸ and after him Gabbai and Sallai, nine hundred and twenty-eight. ⁹ And Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

¹⁰ Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of Elohim, ¹² and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, two hundred and forty-two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their brothers, mighty men of valor, one hundred and twenty-eight. Their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵ And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; ¹⁶ and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the heads of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of Elohim; ¹⁷ and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving in prayer; and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.

¹⁹ And the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred and seventy-two.

²⁰ And the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each in his inheritance. ²¹ But the Nethinim lived on the Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim.

²² The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, in charge of the work of the house of Elohim. ²³ For there was a commandment from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as each day required. ²⁴ And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in every matter concerning the people.

The towns of Judah and Benjamin

²⁵ As for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its towns, in Dibon and its towns, in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶ in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth-pelet, ²⁷ in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, ²⁸ in Ziklag, in Meconah and its towns, ²⁹ in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, ³⁰ in Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, in Lachish and its fields, in Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹ And the children of Benjamin lived from Geba onward: in Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its towns, ³² in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴ Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod and Ono, the Valley of Craftsmen. ³⁶ And some divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin.

Notes

• 11:1 Nehemiah had seen that the city was "wide and large, but the people within it were few" (7:4). The lot shared the burden fairly: one household in ten moved into the city, literally "nine hands" stayed in the towns. "The holy city," ir haqqodesh, is Jerusalem here and in verse 18, as also in Isaiah 48:2 and 52:1: holy because Yahweh chose it and His house stood in it. In the first century Matthew still calls Jerusalem "the holy city" (Matthew 4:5; 27:53), and John sees "the holy city, new Jerusalem" coming down from heaven (Revelation 21:2).
• 11:3 Verses 3-19 run parallel to 1 Chronicles 9:2-17, but the two lists differ a good deal. Here Judah is represented by 468 men of the sons of Perez; there by the sons of Perez and by Jeuel of the sons of Zerah with 690. Benjamin numbers 928 here and 956 there; the priests 1192 here (822, 242 and 128) and 1760 there; the gatekeepers 172 here and 212 there (1 Chronicles 9:22). Several names differ too: Seraiah for Azariah (verse 11), Amashsai son of Azarel for Maasai son of Adiel (verse 13), Zabdi for Zichri and Abda son of Shammua for Obadiah son of Shemaiah (verse 17); and Chronicles adds Ephraim and Manasseh (see the note on 1 Chronicles 9:3). The lists probably come from different records or different times; the text does not explain the differences.
• 11:23 Which king is meant is not said. Many think of the Persian king: Artaxerxes had freed the singers, with the priests, Levites and others who served the house, from tribute (Ezra 7:24), and Pethahiah was "at the king's hand" (verse 24), probably as an agent for the people's affairs at the Persian court. Others think of David's commandment for the singers (12:24, 45). "As each day required" is devar yom beyomo, literally "the matter of a day in its day," the phrase used for the daily portions again in 12:47.
• 11:25 Verses 25-36 name the places where people of Judah and Benjamin settled; most are towns from the lists of Joshua 15 and 18. Kiriath-arba is the old name of Hebron (Joshua 14:15); Jekabzeel is probably the Kabzeel of Joshua 15:21; this Dibon is a town of Judah, not the Dibon of Moab, perhaps the Dimonah of Joshua 15:22. "Its towns" is literally "its daughters," the smaller places that depended on a city. "From Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom" (verse 30) traces, in outline, the old territory of Judah from the Negev to the edge of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8, 28).

Nehemiah 10 · Nehemiah 12

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