Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Nehemiah 12:31-37
The Composition Of The First Company Who Went Towards The Dung Gate, The Fountain Gate And The Stairs Of David (Nehemiah 12:31).
It is almost certain that the processions commenced from the Valley Gate, through which Nehemiah had previously gone to examine the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:13). This was in the West wall, and was roughly equidistant from the East gate of the Temple which would be the final destination, both when going round the wall clockwise and when going round anticlockwise. This is confirmed by the fact that the first procession then proceeded towards the Dung Gate which was at the southern end of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:31 b), whilst the other procession moved towards the tower of the furnaces, and the broad wall (Nehemiah 12:38), which were northwards of the Valley Gate. For the relevant geography see chapter 3, especially Nehemiah 12:11.
Such giving of praise to YHWH as they walked around the wall of Jerusalem was not unique to this occasion. Psalms 48:12 may be seen as suggesting that such processions regularly took place on some festal occasions;
‘Walk about Zion,
And go round about her,
Count her towers,
Mark well her bulwarks,
Consider her palaces,
That you may tell it to the following generation,
For this God is our God for ever and ever,
He will be our guide even unto death.'
It will be noted that the purpose for doing this in the Psalmist's case was so that they might be aware of what God had done for them in order that they might proclaim His glory to others. They were surrounding Jerusalem with praise, thereby calling down God's blessing on it.
‘Then I brought up the princes of Judah on (or ‘beside') the wall,'
Nehemiah now returns to the first person singular as he continues on the story of the completion of the wall with a description of this final act of dedication. The last reference in the first person singular was Nehemiah 7:5 but that had included the details provided in Nehemiah 7:6. In chapter Nehemiah 8:1 to Nehemiah 12:30 he is referred to in the third person. But that does not necessarily mean that he did not write the whole book, only that the material in that section was obtained from different records available to him rather than from his own account of the building of the wall, records which he did not materially alter.
Here he describes how he gathered ‘the princes of Judah' to the wall in order to commence the celebration. This refers not only to the aristocrats of the tribe of Judah, but to all leaders of the nation in wider Judah, including Benjamin. He was gathering together the aristocrats of the whole nation, a nation which as we have seen, extended far beyond the Persian province of Judah. Whether they gathered on the wall and proceeded to march round the top of the wall, or gathered beside the wall and marched round the walls in that way, we do not know. The Hebrew text can indicate either.
And I appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession; (of which one went) on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate:'
Gathered with the aristocrats were the singers and musicians who had been summoned, and the whole were divided into two groups each of which would march in the opposite direction to the other, one anticlockwise, the other clockwise, giving thanks musically as they marched. One of the groups thus initially marched southwards in the direction of the Dung Gate. It would appear that the singers and musicians led the way, praising God as they went, and that these were followed by Hoshaiah and half the aristocrats of Judah. These included seven leading priests (including Ezra) who blew their priestly trumpets (an instrument exclusive to the priests). It would have been a stirring and moving sight. The other group, following a similar pattern, went northwards towards the tower of the furnaces and the broad wall.
‘And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah,'
We do not know who Hoshaiah was. He was clearly one of the chief leaders of Judah, and possibly deputy to Nehemiah himself. Following him was the group consisting of half the aristocrats of ‘Judah'. But it is a nice touch that, whilst we learn later that Ezra led the procession (Nehemiah 12:36), no doubt as an official appointee of the King of Persia, here we are informed that the aristocrats were led by a high official of Judah
‘And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, and certain of the priests' sons, with trumpets.'
And along with them marched seven leading priests, together with other priests (unless we translate as ‘even certain of the priests' sons', the phrase being explicatory of the seven), all blowing sacred trumpets. The names of the seven are given, and as there were also seven in the other party (Nehemiah 12:41) we have no real reason to doubt the accuracy of the report. Azariah, Meshullam, Shemaiah and Jeremiah were also named as signatories of the covenant of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:2; Nehemiah 10:7). Ezra we know of (see also Nehemiah 12:36 b) and he is presumably mentioned after Azariah (a parallel name to Ezra) because of Azariah's superior status in the priestly hierarchy. There is no reason why Judah and Benjamin should not have been the names of priests, although they are not mentioned elsewhere as priests. But whilst Ezra is named as second in status from a priestly point of view (he came from a noble priestly family) it was he who led the way as the official representative of the King of Persia (Nehemiah 12:36).
‘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; and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God,'
Following the aristocrats and the priests came the chiefs of the singers and musicians, nine in number. These bore the kind of musical instruments prophetically validated by David, as a ‘man of God', for worship. This included Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, whose ancestry traced back to Asaph, the leading musician in David's day, together with eight other named leading Levites. Their names are given. The fact that none are specifically paralleled among the signatories to the covenant in Nehemiah 10:9 suggests that there they had signed the covenant in the name of their wider Levite family and not in their own name. It will be noted that there were seventeen Levite families who signed the covenant, whilst in these processions there were eighteen leading Levites. A leading Levite who was not a head of family must presumably have been co-opted in order to even out the numbers. (But see in this regard the comment on Nehemiah 12:42)
‘And Ezra the scribe was before them.'
Leading the procession, and the aristocrats and chief priests, but probably following the leading singers, came Ezra the Scribe (already mentioned in Nehemiah 12:33), no doubt due to his official position as an appointee of the King of Persia. Whilst Azariah was superior in the priestly hierarchy he was lower than Ezra in political status. He may well have marched alongside Hoshaiah.
‘And by the fountain 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 unto the water gate eastward.'
Having reached the Dung Gate, this procession rounded the southernmost point of Jerusalem and then proceeded northwards up the eastern side of the wall, coming first to the fountain gate, and then to the stairs of the city of David (Nehemiah 3:15). Marching onwards they came to the part of the wall by the one-time palace of David, and then to the water gate (Nehemiah 3:25). These were all well-known landmarks. The assumption must be that from there they proceeded to the Temple. The part of the wall from here to the sheep gate (the gate through which the other procession entered) does not appear to have featured in either procession, discounting the idea that a strict attempt was made to encircle Jerusalem for some numinous or quasi-magical purpose.