Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 12:1
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Neh 12:1-7 Neh 12:1 contains the title of the first list, Neh 12:1-9. "These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel ... and Joshua;" comp. Ezr 2:1-2. Then follow, Neh 12:1, the names of the priests, with the subscription: "These are the heads of the priests and of their brethren, in the days of Joshua." ואחיהם still depends on ראשׁי. The brethren of the priests are the Levites, as being their fellow-tribesmen and assistants. Two-and-twenty names of such heads are enumerated, and these reappear, with but slight variations attributable to clerical errors, as names of priestly houses in Neh 12:12-21, where they are given in conjunction with the names of those priests who, in the days of Joiakim, either represented these houses, or occupied as heads the first position in them. The greater number, viz., 15, of these have already been mentioned as among those who, together with Nehemiah, sealed as heads of their respective houses the agreement to observe the law, Neh 10. Hence the present chapter appears to be the most appropriate place for comparing with each other the several statements given in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, concerning the divisions or orders of priests in the period immediately following the return from the captivity, and for discussing the question how the heads and houses of priests enumerated in Neh 10 and 12 stand related on the one hand to the list of the priestly races who returned with Zerubbabel and Joshua, and on the other to the twenty-four orders of priests instituted by David. For the purpose of giving an intelligible answer to this question, we first place in juxtaposition the three lists given in Nehemiah, chs. 10 and 12. Neh 10:3-9 Neh 12:1-7 Neh 12:12-21 Priests who sealed the Covenant Priests who were Heads of their Houses Priestly Houses and their respective Heads 1. Seraiah 1. Seraiah\* SeraiahMeraiah 2. Azariah 2. Jeremiah\* Jeremiah Hananiah 3. Jeremiah 3. Ezra\* Ezra Meshullam 4. Pashur 4. Amariah\* Amariah Jehohanan 5. Amariah 5. Malluch\* Meluchi Jonathan 6. Malchijah 6. Hattush\* 7. Hattush 7. Shecaniah\* Shebaniah Joseph 8. Shebaniah 8. Rehum\* Harim Adna 9. Malluch 9. Meremoth\* Meraioth Helkai 10. Harim 10. Iddo Idiah Zecariah 11. Meremoth 11. Ginnethon\* Ginnethon Meshullam 12. Obadiah 12. Abijah\* Abijah Zichri 13. Daniel 13. Miamin\* Miniamin 14. Ginnethon 14. Maadiah\* Moadiah Piltai 15. Baruch 15. Bilgah\* Bilgah Shammua 16. Meshullam 16. Shemaiah\* Shemaiah Jehonathan 17. Abijah 17. Joiarib Joiarib Mathnai 18. Mijamin 18. Jedaiah Jedaiah Uzzi 19. Maaziah 19. Sallu Sallai Kallai 20. Bilgai 20. Amok Amok Eber 21. Shemaiah 21. Hilkiah Hilkiah Hashabiah 22. Jedaiah 22. Jedaiah Nethaneel When, in the first place, we compare the two series in Neh 12, we find the name of the head of the house of Minjamin, and the names both of the house and the head, Hattush, between Meluchi and Shebaniah, omitted. In other respects the two lists agree both in the order and number of the names, with the exception of unimportant variations in the names, as מלוּכי (Chethiv, Neh 12:14) for מלּוּך ( Neh 12:2); שׁכניה ( Neh 12:3) for שׁבניה ( Neh 12:14, Neh 10:6); רחם ( Neh 12:3), a transposition of חרם ( Neh 12:15, Neh 10:6); מריות ( Neh 12:15) instead of מרמות ( Neh 12:3, Neh 10:6); עדיא (Chethiv, Neh 12:16) instead of עדּוא ( Neh 12:4); מיּמין ( Neh 12:5) for מנימין ( Neh 12:17); מועדיה ( Neh 12:17) for מעדיה ( Neh 12:4), or, according to a different pronunciation, מעזיה ( Neh 10:9); סלּי ( Ne…
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