Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Nehemiah 3:17
‘After him repaired the Levites:
It would appear that this next section of the wall, up to Nehemiah 3:19 (or 20) was repaired by Levites who had become involved in administration. This may have been because they were looked to for leadership after the devastation of the land by the Babylonians. Note the recurrence of ‘next to him' twice, probably indicating their close relationship, and the reference to ‘their brothers'.
‘Rehum the son of Bani.'
Rehum, son of Bani, was clearly a man of importance needing no further introduction. He and his household repaired a part of the wall beyond the Barracks, a section of the wall which led up to the High Priest's palace (Nehemiah 3:20). He may well have been a descendant of the Rehum mentioned in Ezra 2:2 as one of the ten important men who returned with Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel. (Although that Rehum may have been one of the chief priests who arrived with Zerubbabel - Nehemiah 12:2). A Rehum was a signatory to Nehemiah's covenant (Nehemiah 10:25).
Bani was also the name of a Levite who signed Nehemiah's covenant (Nehemiah 10:13), and it was in fact the name of two Levites who are mentioned in connection with Temple worship in Ezra's time (Nehemiah 9:4). Uzzi, son of Bani, would later be an overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:22).
The name Bani was also given to a Gadite, who was one of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:36); to a Levite whose son was appointed for service in the tabernacle in David's time (1 Chronicles 6:46); to a Judahite whose son lived in Jerusalem after the exile (1 Chronicles 9:4); to a family head whose descendants came back with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:10) and had taken idolatrous foreign wives (Ezra 10:29); to a man who had taken an idolatrous foreign wife (Ezra 10:38), whose brothers ‘the sons of Bani' had also taken idolatrous foreign wives; to a leader of the people who signed Nehemiah's covenant (Nehemiah 10:14). It was thus a very common name making identifications difficult.
‘Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district.'
Next to Rehum operated Hashabiah along with men from Keilah, the district over half of which Hashabiah was ruler. This may be the Hashabiah who signed Nehemiah's covenant (Nehemiah 10:11), and was one of the chiefs of the Levites mentioned in Nehemiah 12:24. The other half of Keilah was ruled over by his fellow-Levite, Bavvai, who was repairing the next section (Nehemiah 3:18).
The name Hashabiah also applied to a Levite who dwelt in Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:15); to a Levite whom Ezra induced to return from exile with him (Ezra 8:19); to one of the twelve priests set apart by Ezra to take care of the gold, the silver, and the vessels of the temple on their return from exile (Ezra 8:24); to a Levite who was the grandfather of Uzzi, an overseer of Levites in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:22); and to a priest who was head of a father's house in the days of Joiakim, son of Joshua the High Priest (Nehemiah 12:21). Any connection of any of these with Hashabiah the ruler is tentative in the extreme.
More generally the name applied to two Levites of the family of Merari (1 Chronicles 6:45; 1 Chronicles 9:14); to a son of Jeduthun (1 Chronicles 25:3); to a Hebronite chief of a clan of warriors who had charge of West Jordan in the interests of YHWH and the king of Israel in the time of David (1 Chronicles 26:30); to a Levite who was a "ruler" (1 Chronicles 27:17); and to one of the Levite chiefs in the time of Josiah, who gave liberally toward the sacrifices (2 Chronicles 35:9).
Keilah was a town in the Shephelah (Joshua 15:43), possibly the Kelti of the Amarna letters. David relieved it from the pressure of the Philistines in Saul's time, but having done so had to leave because he could not trust the inhabitants not to hand him over to Saul (1 Samuel 23:1). It is probably now Khirbet Qila which is on a hill commanding the ascent to Hebron south from Socoh.