Chapter 11

1 The rulers, voluntary men, and the tenth man chosen by lot, dwell at Jerusalem. 3 A catalogue of their names. 20 The residue dwell in other cities.

1. Dwelt at Jerusalem. This narrative continues the story of ch. 7:4, and gives an account of measures taken to carry out Nehemiah’s resolution to repopulate Jerusalem. Jerusalem was already the residence of the nobles or tribal heads (see chs. 2:16; 5:17), and no increase could be expected in this direction. Nehemiah had therefore found it necessary to look to other classes of the population in order to obtain new settlers for the capital.

Cast lots. Anciently the Jews frequently used the lot to determine matters where human judgment seemed insufficient, in the belief that “the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). Divine sanction had been given, in the course of the history of God’s people, to the use of the lot for the selection of persons (Joshua 7:16–18; 1 Sam. 10:19–21), for the distribution of lands (Num. 26:55, 56), and for determining the order in which different groups should execute their duties (1 Chron. 24:5; 25:8).

The holy city. This designation occurs in the prophecies of Isa. 48:2; 52:1; Dan. 9:24; Joel 3:17, but is used here for the first time in a historical narrative. From now on its use becomes more frequent (see Matt. 4:5; 27:53; Rev. 11:2; etc.), until it received the Arabic name elРQuds, “The Holy (place).” This it has retained as its official name until the present day.

2. Willingly offered. In addition to those on whom the lot fell and who accepted it as indicating their responsibility to move to Jerusalem, there were certain volunteers who moved with their families into the city. Their fellow countrymen invoked blessings upon them for their patriotism.

3. Chief of the province. That is, the province of Judah as part of the Persian Empire. The chief men of the province are contrasted in the writer’s mind with the Jewish heads of families who lived in Babylon or in other parts of the empire.

Dwelt in Jerusalem. That is, census of all “the chief of the province” living there subsequent to the transfer.

Israel. A collective designation for members of all the tribes, with the exception of the Levites. According to 1 Chron. 9:3 it is evident that among those who had returned were members of the two great tribes of Israel, Manasseh and Ephraim. The citizens are treated by classes, as in other lists, and the laity precede the Temple officers.

4. At Jerusalem dwelt. Not that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin only; there were many Levites (vs. 10–19), probably also Manassites and Ephraimites (Chron. 9:3), and also the Nethinims (Neh. 11:21), who did not belong to any tribe. There may also have been representatives of other tribes. However, men of Judah and Benjamin seem to have constituted the majority of the population, and therefore they alone are mentioned. A parallel list of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is found in 1 Chron. 9, which may be based on a somewhat later census, since all numbers are higher than in Neh. 11.

Athaiah. In 1 Chron. 9:4 the name is given as Uthai. The ancestors assigned to Athaiah here and in 1 Chron. 9 are different, with the exception of Pharez (Perez), the son of Judah. But each list is probably an abbreviation of a far longer one, and the two writers have not in all cases selected the same names for their genealogies.

5. Shiloni. Since it seems strange for a Jew to have come from Shiloh, a city in the northern kingdom of Israel, the Masoretic vocalization of this word is probably incorrect. The phrase should probably be rendered, “the son of a Shelanite,” meaning a descendant of Shelah, Judah’s third son, father of “the family of the Shelanites” (Num. 26:20).

6. Valiant men. Judah furnished 468 men capable of bearing arms, about half as many as Benjamin, which provided 928 men (v. 8). The cities of Judah lying south of Jerusalem may not have felt the necessity of keeping the capital strong, as did the Benjamites who dwelt in the real danger zone, the border of Samaria.

7. Sallu the son of Meshullam. Compare 1 Chron. 9:7. The other names in the genealogy are different, perhaps for the same reason noted in v. 4.

8. Nine hundred twenty and eight. The census of 1 Chron. 9:9 contains 956 men. Apparently, the number of Benjamites in Jerusalem had increased but slightly between the two censuses. In contrast, Judah shows an increase in its Jerusalem population from 468 to 690 during the same period of time. The increase may have been due in part to the fact that an additional Jewish family settled in Jerusalem, that of Zerah, Judah’s fifth son (1 Chron. 9:6).

10. Jedaiah. According to 1 Chron. 9:10 the three names there given belong to three different priestly families. According, it appears that the Heb. ben, “the son of,” is probably a copyist’s error. Jedaiah and Joiarib represented two of the chief priestly families, and are usually mentioned together (1 Chron. 24:7; Neh. 12:19; etc.). Jachin was a priestly family of much less distinction, probably descended from the head of the 21st priestly course in David’s time (1 Chron. 24:17).

11. Seraiah. This name designates the family of the high priest (chs. 10:2; 12:1, 12). The ancestor meant was probably the high priest taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18–21).

The son of Hilkiah. As so frequently in the Bible “son” stands for “grandson” (see Ezra. 7:1; see on 1 Chron. 2:7).

The ruler. The high priest is meant, though his name is not given. In Nehemiah’s time Eliashib filled this office (see chs. 12:10; 13:4), but here only the name of his ancestral family is given.

12. Their brethren that did the work. That is, priests of ordinary rank. According to vs. 12–14, 1,192 priests were now living in Jerusalem. Thus, of the 4,289 who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:36–39) and others later with Ezra (ch. 8:24; etc.), only one in three or four lived in Jerusalem. When the census of 1 Chron. 9 was taken, the priestly population of Jerusalem had grown to 1,760 (v. 13).

14. One of the great men. Heb. haggedolim. This, possibly, should be considered a proper name (see RSV and the margin of the KJV).

16. The oversight. The three Levites here named were in charge of the material requirements and financial affairs of the Temple. They are also mentioned in Neh. 8:7; 12:34, 42 as prominent Levites (see 1 Chron. 26:29).

18. All the Levites. The small number of Levites, 284 as compared with 1,192 priests, is obvious here as in Ezra (see on Ezra 2:40).

19. The porters. For their names, see Ezra 2:42.

21. The Nethinims. On the Nethinims, see on Ezra 2:43; for those who lived on Ophel, see Neh. 3:26.

22. The overseer. This verse should be translated as a single sentence rather than as two sentences, and the word “were,” which is not in the Hebrew, omitted. Uzzi was overseer of the singing in the Temple. As the men mentioned in vs. 15, 16 had “the oversight of the outward business,” so affairs within the Temple were under the supervision of Uzzi. He also participated in the wall dedication (ch. 12:42).

23. The king’s commandment. Not that of David, who once regulated the services of the Levites (1 Chron. 25), but of the Persian king Artaxerxes I, who, it appears, assigned a certain daily stipend from the royal revenue for the support of the singing Levites. The reason for this special favor may have been that the Levitical choir was to pray “for the life of the king, and of his sons” (Ezra 6:10), and that the few singing Levites who returned from Babylon had to be on constant duty in the Temple.

24. At the king’s hand. Pethahiah’s office was similar to that held by Ezra (see on Ezra 7:12). An intermediary between the Persian court and Judea, he may have been a courier assigned to liaison duties.

25. The villages. Nehemiah now leaves the city population of Jerusalem to give a list of towns apparently belonging to the province of Judea. This list makes possible a map of Judea of the time of Nehemiah on a somewhat more secure basis than would otherwise be possible, see The Province of Judah in NehemiahХs Time. However, the list as given here is incomplete, since a number of cities mentioned in Ezra 2:20–34 and Neh. 3 known to be populated by Jews in the postexilic period are not listed.

Kirjath-arba. An older name of Hebron (Judges 1:10), and apparently based on the name of its founder Arba, one of the Anakim (Joshua 14:15; 15:13; 21:11). It is of interest to note that the ancient name was restored after the Captivity.

Dibon. Thought to be a variant spelling of Dimonah, listed among cities of the Negeb in Joshua 15:21–26. If so, it would have been in the neighborhood of Aroer, nowФArФarah, about 12 mi. (7.4 km.) southeast of Beersheba. Dibon itself, however, has not yet been located.

Jekabzeel. This unidentified place seems to have been the same as Kabzeel, in the extreme south of Judah.

26. Jeshua. Now Tell esРSaФsi, about 81/2 mi. (13.6 km.) east-northeast of Beersheba.

Moladah. Perhaps at the site of Tell eltРMilh, about 10 mi. (16 km.) southeast of Beersheba.

Beth-phelet. Probably near Beersheba, but still unidentified (see Joshua 15:27).

27. Hazar-shual. Another place in the vicinity of Beersheba not yet identified (Joshua 15:28). The name means the “Village of the Fox.”

28. Ziklag. Celebrated as the town given to David by Achish, king of Gath (1 Sam. 27:6), and soon afterward taken by the Amalekites (1 Sam. 30:1). It was perhaps at the present site of Tell elРKhuweilfeh, some 10 mi. (16 km.) to the north of Beersheba.

Mekonah. An unknown place.

29. En-rimmon. Now Khirbert Umm erРRamamйЖn, 81/2 mi. (12.8 km.) north of Beersheba.

Zareah. Possibly the same as Zorah, now SarФah, about 15 mi. (24 km.) west of Jerusalem.

Jarmuth. Now Khirbet YarmuЖk, about 14 mi. (22.4 km.) west of Bethlehem.

30. Zanoah. Now Khirbet ZanuЖФ, 2 mi. (3.2 km.) northeast of Jarmuth.

Adullam. Now Tell eshРSheikh MadhkuЖr, 10 mi. (16 km.) northwest of Hebron.

Lachish. Now Tell edРDuweir, about 15 mi. (25.6 km.) northwest of Hebron, where excavations of importance took place during the years 1932–38, under the direction of J. L. Starkey (see Vol. I, p. 125).

Azekah. Now Tell ezРZakariyeh, about 18 mi. southwest of Jerusalem. Like Adullam and Lachish, it was one of the cities fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:9). Azekah and Lachish were the last cities to fall to Nebuchadnezzar’s forces prior to the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. 34:7).

Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom. For practical purposes, the southernmost and northernmost regions of the former tribe of Judah are here mentioned, a distance of about 40 mi. (64 km.) as the crow flies. The Valley of Hinnom lay immediately to the south of Jerusalem. Compare the similar expression, “from Dan even to Beer-sheba” (see on Judges 20:1).

31. From Geba dwelt at Michmash. Literally, “from Geba [to] Michmash.” Geba is now JebaФ, 7 mi. (11.2 km.) north-northeast of Jerusalem, while Michmash, now called MukhmaЖs, lies 2 mi. (3.2 km.) farther, to the northeast of Geba.

Aija. Identified as etРTell, 11/2 mi. (2.4 km.) southeast of Bethel, a site excavated by a French expedition from 1933–35. It is uncertain whether Aija (etРTell) is the Ai of Joshua 7 and 8 (see Vol. II, p. 42).

Beth-el. Now BeitйЖn, 11 mi. 17.6 km.) north of Jerusalem. Bethel played an important role in the history of Israel. It was there that Jacob had his dream of the ladder that reached to heaven (Gen. 28). Throughout the period of the kingdom of Israel Bethel was the location of one of the two apostate temples Jeroboam I founded (1 Kings 12:28, 29).

32. Anathoth. A Levitical city (Joshua 21:18), which had once been the home of Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1; 32:7). It is now called RaЖs elРKharruuЖbeh, and lies less than 3 mi. northeast of Jerusalem.

Nob. This city, famous for the massacre of the priests by Doeg in the time of Saul (1 Sam. 22:18, 19, could be seen from Jerusalem (Isa. 10:32). It has tentatively been identified with etРToЖr on the Mt. of Olives.

Ananiah. This seems to be the OT name for Bethany, a town on the eastern slope of the Mt. of Olives, one that played an important role in the life of Christ. Its modern name is elРФAzarйЖyeh.

33. Hazor. Now Khirbet HazzuЖr, approximately 4 mi. (6.4 km.) to the north-northwest of Jerusalem.

Ramah. Probably erРRaЖm, 4 mi. (6.4 km.) northwest of Jerusalem.

Gittaim. A town in Benjamin, not yet identified.

34. Hadid. Now elРHadйЖtheh, 31/2 mi. (4.8 km.) northeast of Lydda.

Zeboim. A town near Hadid, not yet identified.

Neballat. Now Beit Nabala, 2 mi. (3.2 km.) north of Hadid.

35. Lod. Lydda of NT times, now called Ludd. This city became important under the Maccabees (1 Macc. 11:34; etc.). It was later called Diospolis.

Ono. First mentioned in 1 Chron. 8:12, with Lod, as also in Ezra 2:33. It is now KefrФAna, 5 mi. (8 km.) northwest of Lydda.

Valley of the craftsmen. This valley, apparently in the vicinity of Ono and Lod, has not yet been identified.

36. Divisions. Verse 36 should read, “Divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin” (RSV). Apparently certain divisions of Levites, who according to former arrangements had been located in Judah, were now transferred to Benjamin. The census under Nehemiah may have revealed that a disproportionately great number of Levites were living in Judah.