Deeper Commentary
Nehemiah 12:1 Now these are the priests and the
Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua:
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra- Those who truly waited upon Yahweh would renew their strength; they
would “mount up as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), the s.w. used throughout Ezra
and Nehemiah for the ‘going up’ ["went up"] to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the
temple (Ezra 1:3,5,11; 2:1,59; 7:6,7,28; 8:1; Neh. 7:5,6,61; 12:1).
The idea of mounting up with wings as eagles also connects with Ezekiel's
vision of the cherubim, mounting up from the captives by the rivers of
Babylon, and returning to the land. But the reality was as in Neh. 4:10:
“And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and
there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall”.
Examination of the context shows that they had just had plenty of
strength; they lost physical stamina because of their spiritual weakness.
Nehemiah 12:2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush- There were more priests than
this who returned, these are the heads of houses listed here. All these
names are repeated in :12-21 with the exception of Hattush; perhaps he
failed in some way and was excluded, although he signed the covenant in
Neh. 10:4.
Nehemiah 12:3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth- The Shebaniah of Neh. 10:4.
Nehemiah 12:4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah- 'Ginnethoi' means "gardener"
and reads strangely amongst the other priestly names, most of which have
spiritual overtones. Yet the priests were not intended to do agricultural
work but to be supported by the tithes. It could be that this name is a
reflection of the way that some priestly families were just so in name
only and had no real dedication to spiritual things. The failure of the
priesthood to teach and even know God's word is evidence enough of that.
Nehemiah 12:5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah- "Maadiah", 'ornament of Yah'
or 'adorned by Yah', could be one of the few names which connect with the
hope of the restoration prophets; that the restored Israel would be
adorned by Yah (s.w. Is. 61:10; Jer. 31:4). I have noted that generally
the situation in Nehemiah's time had very little connection with the
restoration prophets; they were simply focused upon restoring the
situation as it had been under the old covenant, which was now permanently
broken.
Nehemiah 12:6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah- Joiarib was drawn to
serve first in 1 Chron. 24:7, but presumably the lots came out differently
when they were drawn at the restoration, and he is now drawn 17th out of
22 orders.
Nehemiah 12:7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the
priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua- The 22 names in
this list fall short of the 24 courses of priests in the original temple.
Nehemiah 12:8 Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah,
Judah, and Mattaniah, who was the praise leader, he and his brothers-
"Praise leader" is the word used in Jer. 25:30; 51:14 of the 'shouting' or
'praise' which was to be heard in the restored Kingdom. But those who were
to be making it intermarried with Gentiles and failed to act as intended
for the restored Kingdom, and so the potential fulfillment didn't happen.
Just as so many situations in our own lives.
Nehemiah 12:9 Also Bakbukiah and Unno, their brothers, were over against
them- The same Hebrew in 2 Chron. 7:6, "The priests sounded trumpets
before them", the idea perhaps being that they answered the Levites in
choral praise (see :24).
According to their offices- "Offices" could be translated "watches", as if even at this stage the community were under threat of disruption and attack- from the very people with whom they had intermarried.
Nehemiah 12:10 Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the
father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada- We now
have a brief genealogy of the high priest. The list follows right on from
the list of high priests in 1 Chron. 6:3-15 which concluded with Jehozadak
father of Jeshua / Joshua, who "went into captivity when the Lord carried
away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar".
Nehemiah 12:11 and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan
became the father of Jaddua- In :22, ‘Johanan’ comes between Joiada
and Jaddua. He is stated to be son of Eliashib in :23. Perhaps Jonathan is
a form of Johanan; or maybe Jonathan was briefly high priest, before
Johanan took over.
Nehemiah 12:12 In the days of Joiakim there were priests, heads of
fathers’ households: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah-
Joiakim would have been contemporary with the events of the book of Esther
and king Xerxes. Perhaps he compiled the following list of the courses of
the priests which were in existence at the time of high priest Joiakim
(:10).
Nehemiah 12:13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan- Generally
the names of the priests feature more names with the 'Yah' suffix than the
names of the priests who first returned. That may have been a sign of
increasing spirituality, or maybe just simply a return to their cultural
roots. This is ever an issue in western Christianity; for one can be
culturally Christian without being spiritually Christian.
Nehemiah 12:14 of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph-
"Malluchi" is a form of the common word for "king". Perhaps in this man an
family the kingly line of Judah and the priestly line mixed- preparing yet
more potential fulfillments of the king-priest Messiah who could have
appeared at the restoration, according to Isaiah and Zechariah; but nobody
rose up to it.
Nehemiah 12:15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai- "Harim" means
'snub nosed'. Perhaps the family were distinguished by some congenital
defect which precluded them from priestly service, and yet they chose to
still work as Levites and to return and be involved in the work as far as
possible. Clearly an example for us today. See on Neh. 10:10,17.
Nehemiah 12:16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam-
Ginnethoi' means "gardener" and reads strangely amongst the other priestly
names, most of which have spiritual overtones. Yet the priests were not
intended to do agricultural work but to be supported by the tithes. It
could be that this name is a reflection of the way that some priestly
families were just so in name only and had no real dedication to spiritual
things. The failure of the priesthood to teach and even know God's word is
evidence enough of that.
Nehemiah 12:17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai-
"Maadiah", 'ornament of Yah' or 'adorned by Yah', could be one of the few
names which connect with the hope of the restoration prophets; that the
restored Israel would be adorned by Yah (s.w. Is. 61:10; Jer. 31:4). I
have noted that generally the situation in Nehemiah's time had very little
connection with the restoration prophets; they were simply focused upon
restoring the situation as it had been under the old covenant, which was
now permanently broken.
Nehemiah 12:18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan- "Shammua"
is the word used of the 'desolation' of the land during the exile (Lev.
26:22,31,32,35,43; 2 Chron. 36:21; Is. 49:8; Jer. 33:10). This would
indicate in this name at least a mourning for the situation in the land
just as Nehemiah did in Neh. 1, in contrast to the majority who preferred
to remain in Persia.
Nehemiah 12:19 and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi- The
relatively low place in the list of Joiarib and Jedaiah may be because
they didn't seal the covenant of repentance.
Nehemiah 12:20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber- "Kallai" means
'frivolous' and is the word used of how the priesthood had 'made itself
vile' (1 Sam. 3:13). The word is translated "curse" in Neh. 13:2,25. It
contrasts with the generally spiritual names recorded here.
Nehemiah 12:21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel-
"Hashabiah" means 'Yah has counted', the same words used of how Yahweh
counted Abraham righteous (Gen. 15:6). As noted on :20, there is a wide
range in the meanings of the names, as if to give the impression that some
were spiritual and others were far from spirituality.
Nehemiah 12:22 As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and
Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ households;
also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian- See on :11. "In
the reign..." would be better "to the reign of Darius". The Darius in view
is likely Darius Codomannus, who fought with Alexander the Great, and
would have been contemporary with Jaddua the high priest.
Nehemiah 12:23 The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ households, were
written in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the
son of Eliashib- For Johanan, see on :11.
Nehemiah 12:24 The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua
the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and
give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch
next to watch- LXX "Course by course". But all 24 courses of priests
didn't return from exile; only four of them initially, according to Ezra 2:37,
although others likely came later. Like
Ezra, Nehemiah seemed more concerned with restoring the religion as it was
under the old covenant, than accepting the new covenant promised in the
restoration prophets. For in that, according to Ezekiel, the priests were
not to be the Levites and Aaronites but the sons of Zadok.
Nehemiah 12:25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon,
Akkub, were porters keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates-
Again there is the implication that there was still much opposition and
potential risk of theft.
Nehemiah 12:26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the
son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the
priest the scribe- The book of Nehemiah appears to be the
autobiography of Nehemiah, perhaps written in a hope that God would
thereby take note of his good deeds- not an altogether spiritually mature
approach. However in chapters 10-12 he appears to have appended various
genealogical records. Now he returns to the narrative for the rest of the
book.
Nehemiah 12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the
Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the
dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing, with
cymbals, stringed instruments, and with harps- The seeking
of the Levites to come in from the fields they were farming outside of
Jerusalem (Neh. 1:36)... rather suggests they weren't that willing. The
entire picture is so negative.
Nehemiah 12:28 The sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both
out of the plain around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the
Netophathite- This gathering together on their own initiative
contrasts with the seeking of the Levites in :27; as if the Levites had to
be cajoled to come, but the singers came themselves. We marvel at how
degrees of human response are noted and recorded by God; and He is no less
sensitive to our responses today.
Nehemiah 12:29 also from Beth Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and
Azmaveth. The singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem-
The singers were supposed to be supported by direct grant from the King of
Persia (Neh. 11:23) but the mention of them living in fields and villages
suggests things went missing along the path and they had to support
themselves.
Nehemiah 12:30 The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they
purified the people, and the gates, and the wall- Ez. 36:24-29 had
prophesied: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you
out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also
will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of
flesh”. The captives were taken from among the many nations that comprised
Babylon / Persia; they were brought, as many as could be bothered to go,
to their own land. They were cleansed there (s.w. Ezra 6:20; Neh. 12:30).
But they became un-cleansed through allowing Tobiah into the temple
chambers, by trading on the Sabbath, and by marrying Gentiles (Neh.
13:9,22,30). The priesthood needed to be “cleansed” again (Mal. 3:3 s.w.).
The promise of Ezekiel 36 sounds unconditional- as if, whoosh, God would
make His sinful people righteous regardless of their own will. And so some
have misunderstood the operation of God’s Spirit in our own days. But
although not directly stated, the promise of entry into the new covenant,
whereby God would encourage obedience through the work of His Spirit, was
conditional. Judah could have entered the new covenant there and then,
with all its requirements for a Messiah figure to abrogate the Mosaic law.
But they turned back to their uncleannesses, they would not keep God’s
statutes, and their potential Messiah figures failed to appear. Yet again,
the promise of entry into a new covenant was deferred, to be fulfilled in
a new Israel who are sprinkled through the waters of baptism. The promise
was fulfilled, but in a far different context to that intended.
Nehemiah 12:31 Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and
appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One
went on the right hand on the wall- One group went around the
northern wall and the other around the southern wall. They would have met
in the open space to the east of the temple. See on :38.
Toward the dung gate- Ez. 48:31-34 envisaged the 12 gates of Jerusalem being named after the
12 tribes of Israel. But it seems no accident that twelve separate gates
of the city are mentioned in the restoration record- but they weren't
renamed after the tribes of Israel. Here are the names of the city gates
in Nehemiah: valley (Neh. 3:13); horse (Neh. 3:28); east (Neh. 3:29);
Miphkad (Neh. 3:31); water (Neh. 8:16); dung (Neh. 12:31); fountain (Neh.
12:37); Ephraim, old, fish, sheep and prison gates (Neh. 12:39). No wonder
some wept when the rebuilt temple was finally dedicated- the pattern of
Ezekiel's vision hadn't been followed, even on such basic matters as the
names of the twelve gates of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 12:32 and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of
Judah- We wonder why Judah is emphasized, when the idea of the
restoration was that "Israel" was to now be comprised of all the tribes.
Again we get a sense of parochialism and a yearning for how things had
once been, which dwarfed any spiritual aspect.
Nehemiah 12:33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam- They were priests
(Neh. 10:2 cp. Neh. 12:1,13); there was a mixture of princes of Judah and
priests, as if they were vaguely aware that the intended Messiah of the
restoration was pictured by Isaiah and Zechariah as a king-priest in whom
would meet the lines of Judah and Levi.
Nehemiah 12:34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah-
Jerusalem was clearly still being seen as the city of "Judah and
Benjamin", situated on the borders of those two tribes; rather than a city
of all Israel and indeed the Gentile world. Again we note the sense of
parochialism.
Nehemiah 12:35 and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the
son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of
Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph- This confirms the
impression that groups of priests were followed by groups of men of Judah
and Benjamin, and then again more priests. The fuller list of the priests'
sons is in :41.
Nehemiah 12:36 and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai,
Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David
the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them- LXX "the hymns
of David", i.e. the Psalms. "Was before them" suggests Ezra went with one
group and Nehemiah with the other (:38).
Nehemiah 12:37 By the spring gate, and straight before them, they went up
by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the
house of David, even to the water gate eastward- "Instead of
following the wall round the spurs of the Ophel, the procession went
straight on up the steps ascending the brow of the hill".
Nehemiah 12:38 The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet
them, and I after them, with the half of the people, on the wall, above
the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall- "I after
them" suggests Ezra went with one group and Nehemiah with the other (cp.
:36). "To meet them" translates a Hebrew word which with one consonant
different would mean "to the left hand", the intention being to give the
other hand of the scene of :31 "at the right hand".
Nehemiah 12:39 and above the gate of Ephraim- A gate not mentioned as
ever being rebuilt in Neh. 3. Maybe it was a new gate built at the
restoration, on the road leading to Ephraim, perhaps intended to symbolize
the unity with the ten tribes.
And by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even to the sheep gate; and they stood still in the gate of the guard- At the eastern entrance to the temple.
Nehemiah 12:40 So stood the two companies of those who gave thanks in
God’s house, and I, and the half of the rulers with me- Ezra went
with one group and Nehemiah with the other (:36 cp. :38).
Nehemiah 12:41 and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah,
Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets- These presumably
are the equivalent of the priests' sons with trumpets of :35.
Nehemiah 12:42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and
Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with
Jezrahiah their overseer- LXX "And the singers were heard, and were
numbered". It is axiomatic that singers are heard, so the idea is that
they sang loudly and their message was heard / understood. In the parallel
group which went around the temple walls, Zechariah was the overseer
(:35).
Nehemiah 12:43 They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for
God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the
children rejoiced; so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off-
God's psychological influencing of people is a parade example of how
His Spirit works upon the human spirit (as in 2 Chron. 20:27). The joy of
the restored Zion was intended to be a witness to the Gentiles. But those
who made this great and loud witness were to yet again intermarry with the
Gentiles rather than bring them to Israel's God.
Nehemiah 12:44 On that day were men appointed over the rooms for the
treasures, for the wave offerings, for the first fruits, and for the
tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the
portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah
rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited- The idea is
that they were glad that the priests and Levites were 'waiting' i.e. doing
God's service. It could be that as happens today, people were happy to pay
others to do the work for God which they ought to be doing, and are made
somehow happy by having parted with their money for the sake of others
doing the work.
The priests in the restored Kingdom were to live in one specific area near the temple (Ez. 45:4), whereas under the Mosaic Law, the priests were given land to live on in each of the various tribes of Israel. And yet the record of the restoration stresses that the priests lived not around the temple, but in various cities throughout Judah (Ezra 2:70; Neh. 7:73; 11:3,20; 12:44).
Nehemiah 12:45 They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the
purification, and so did the singers and the porters, according to the
commandment of David, and of Solomon his son-
Judah were to keep the charges ['perform the duty'] of God relating to His
house (Ez. 40:46; 44:8,14-16), so that the Kingdom of God might be
restored in Israel. Nehemiah, seeking for Israel’s obedience to Ezekiel’s
vision, tried to get them to “keep the charges” (s.w. Nehemiah 7:3;
12:9,45; 13:20). But soon, Judah complained that there was no benefit to
them from having kept the charges (Mal. 3:14 s.w.). Partial obedience
discouraged them from any further effort, because the fullness of blessing
can only come from a way of life conformed to God’s Kingdom vision and
life. This is why people get disillusioned with religion and lose even the
true faith- because they seek for immediate benefit as a result of keeping
a few highly specific aspects of God’s law, rather than willingly devoting
their way of life to the realization of His vision.
Nehemiah 12:46 For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief
of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God- See on
Neh. 9:5. LXX "For in the days of David Asaph was originally first of the
singers, and they sang hymns and praise to God". There seemed far more
interest in replicating the past than in seeking to obey the prophecies of
the restored Kingdom; see on :44,45.
Nehemiah 12:47 All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of
Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, as every day
required: and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the
Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron- There had
been tensions between Levites and priests in Ezra's time.
We can note that it was this tension between Levites and priests which
resulted in Korah's rebellion (Num. 16:1-10). But things were arranged so
that the Levites, who were the manual workers, collected the tithes and
then paid these to the priests ("the sons of Aaron"). This was an attempt
to overcome these tensions and the sense that the priests were superior to
the Levites; for the Levites were to as it were pay the priests, and the
priests were thereby dependent upon the Levites for their food and income.
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