Nehemiah 11:10-14

3. Priestly leaders.

TEXT, Nehemiah 11:10-14

10

From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,

11

Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God,

12

and their kinsmen who performed the work of the temple, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,

13

and his kinsmen, heads of fathers-' households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,

14

and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim.

COMMENT

Nehemiah 11:10 is almost identical with 1 Chronicles 9:10.

Nehemiah 11:11 we recognize from the genealogy of Ezra (Ezra 7:1-2). This list is very condensed; if you are interested in the way genealogies are used in the Scriptures, you might compare these two in Nehemiah and Ezra with 1 Chronicles 6:8-14; 1 Chronicles 9:11; no two are alike, and no one is complete.

Note the similar length of the genealogies of the other two priestly lines in Nehemiah 11:12-13. For the importance of these lengthy lists, see comments on Ezra 2:59-62.

In Nehemiah 11:14 the mention of valiant warriors is a surprise. Priests were excluded from military service. Since the entire passage, Nehemiah 11:10-14, is paralleled by 1 Chronicles 9:10-13, we can supplement this description from that, where they are called very able men for the work of the service of the house of God. Of course, the Lord's work is a warfare too, but this phrase need not be translated this way: in Ruth 2:1 the same words are translated, a man of great wealth. We could even say, manly man of holinesssee Word Studies on WEALTHY, Nehemiah 4.

WORD STUDY

LOT (Nehemiah 11:1, Goral; sound like gravel?): a small stone. Sometimes a number of stones, including one or more of an odd color, were shaken in a container and thrown onto the ground, thus deciding matters by chance; or they were shaken together and thrown into a vase, and each person drew one out, seeking for the odd-colored one. Eventually they were made into cubes and the faces numbered to form dice.