Nehemiah 12:45

And both the singers and the porters kept R.V. And they kept … and so did the singers and the porters. The verse, according to the rendering of the R.V. states first that the priests and Levites performed the due ceremonial obligations, and then that the same strict conformity to rule was practised by the singers and porters. The verb -kept" has to be supplied in the second clause.

This is preferable to the suggestion that the second clause is one of a different character, = -and the singers and the porters were at their post according to the commandment of David" &c. The ground for this alternative rendering is the supposition that the singers and porters would not be subject to the same laws of purification.

kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification The word rendered -ward" means here -that which has to be observed," -a charge," in the same sense in which it occurs in Numbers 9:23 -they kept the charge of the Lord;" 2 Chronicles 13:11 -For we keep the charge of the Lord our God." Cf. Genesis 26:5.

It is therefore to be distinguished from its more concrete use in Nehemiah 12:9; Nehemiah 12:24; Nehemiah 13:30, where it refers to the -posts" of the Levites.

according to the commandment… and of Solomon his son The reference is one of a general character to the regulations of the Temple services ascribed by the Chronicler to David (1 Chronicles 23-26) and Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:14).

-And of Solomon." The word -and" must have accidentally dropped out of the Hebrew text, and must be restored.