Nehemiah 7

Nehemiah 7:1

The *Jews build Jerusalem’s city wall again An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Nehemiah www.easyenglish.info Robert Bryce and Robert Betts This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 7 v1 So we had finished the construction of the wall. And I had put the doors in place. We had appointed guards for the gates. We had also appointed singers and *Levites for their work. v2 Then I appointed Hanani, my brother, and Hananiah to be in command of Jerusalem. Hananiah was the chief officer of the palace. He was a man whom people could trust. He respected God more than most men did. v3 I said to them, ‘The guards must not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. Order the guards to shut and to lock the gates while they are still on duty. Also, appoint some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem as guards. Some guards must be at particular places. Other guards should be responsible for the area near their own houses.’

Verses 1-3

The people had built the walls of Jerusalem and they had put the doors in place. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem had security at last. But Nehemiah had not finished his work. For 52 days, the people had been anxious about the work on the walls. They had to protect themselves while they built the walls. But now the people needed leaders in the city to direct them. First, Nehemiah appointed singers and *Levites. They would lead the people when they *worshipped God.

Then Nehemiah appointed Hanani his brother and Hananiah to rule over the city. Nehemiah chose men whom people could trust. These men were responsible for local government. So they did not lead the people when they *worshipped God. But Nehemiah still chose men who respected God. He knew that this was important. Men like these would rule the people well and fairly. They would be good models for the people. Some of the other leaders had not been good models (Nehemiah 5:7; 6:17).

Nehemiah realised that it was still important to protect the city. He ordered the guards to shut the gates early and to lock the gates. The guards must not open the gates too early in the morning. They had to wait until the sun was hot. And they would remain on duty while the gates were open. They had to shut and to lock the gates again in the evening.

More people became guards. They protected important points along the wall of the city. Some of the people guarded the walls near their own houses. This was a good idea. They did not have far to travel and they could protect their families.

v4 Jerusalem was a large city. There was a lot of room for people to live in it. But only a few people lived there. The people had not repaired many of the houses.

Verse 4

Although the people had built the walls, they had not repaired many of the houses. So not many people lived in the city, although it was a big city. Nehemiah knew that a city could not be successful without inhabitants.

Nehemiah had to ask people to come and live in the city. This was a harder job for Nehemiah than when he asked them to build the walls. Many of the people had homes and farms outside the city. They had come to Jerusalem so that they could help to build the walls. But now they wanted to return to their homes and to their families.

v5 My God gave me the desire to gather the people together. I called together the chief men, the officials and the people to register them by their families. Then I found the register of the families of the first people who returned from *exile. This is the information in this register:

Verse 5

It seems that Nehemiah prayed about this problem. And God showed him what to do. Nehemiah recorded all the people in a list of their families. Then he found the list of the first people who returned from *exile. Nehemiah could remind the people about their brave *ancestors who returned from *exile. These *ancestors had left their homes in Persia. Then they had walked for many weeks to come back to *Judah. When they arrived in *Judah, they had to build new houses and to farm the land again. The people of Nehemiah’s time had houses and farms because of the work of their *ancestors. Now these people could help to make Jerusalem a great city again.

v6 These are the people in *Judah who returned from *exile. (Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had taken their families into *exile.) The people returned to Jerusalem and *Judah. Each person went back to the town where his family used to live. v7 The leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah.

Verses 6-7

Nehemiah copied the register of the people who returned from *exile in Babylonia. These people came back to *Judah about 90 years before the time of Nehemiah. Zerubbabel and Jeshua led this group of people. Jeshua was the chief priest. The people went back to the towns that God had given to their *ancestors.

We can read about the return of the *Jews from *exile in Ezra chapter 2. Ezra also recorded the list of the people who returned. Ezra’s list is nearly the same as Nehemiah’s list. Perhaps some people did not actually return, although they planned to do so. Perhaps Nehemiah spelt some names in a different way. This might explain why the lists are slightly different.

Most families that went into *exile never returned to *Judah. But those *Jews who returned were part of God’s plan. God had promised by the *prophets that the *Jews would live again in *Judah after the *exile. God would use their *descendants to bless (show his kindness to) every nation. And Jesus, who would save people from the punishment for their *sins, would be among their *descendants. So it was important for *Jews to know about their *ancestors. Then they would know that they really were *Jews.

This is a list of the men of *Israel:

v8 The *descendants of Parosh, 2172.

v9 The *descendants of Shephatiah, 372.

v10 The *descendants of Arah, 652.

v11 The *descendants of Pahath-Moab (the *descendants of Jeshua’s and Joab’s parts of this family), 2818.

v12 The *descendants of Elam, 1254.

v13 The *descendants of Zattu, 845.

v14 The *descendants of Zaccai, 760.

v15 The *descendants of Binnui, 648.

v16 The *descendants of Bebai, 628.

v17 The *descendants of Azgad, 2322.

v18 The *descendants of Adonikam, 667.

v19 The *descendants of Bigvai, 2067.

v20 The *descendants of Adin, 655.

v21 The *descendants of Ater (the *descendants of Hezekiah’s part of this family), 98.

v22 The *descendants of Hashum, 328.

v23 The *descendants of Bezai, 324.

v24 The *descendants of Hariph, 112.

v25 The *descendants of Gibeon, 95.

v26 The men who lived in Bethlehem and Netophah, 188.

v27 The men who lived in Anathoth, 128.

v28 The men who lived in Beth Azmaveth, 42.

v29 The men who lived in Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth, 743.

v30 The men who lived in Ramah and Geba, 621.

v31 The men who lived in Michmash, 122.

v32 The men who lived in Bethel and Ai, 123.

v33 The men who lived in the other town called Nebo, 52.

v34 The *descendants of the other Elam, 1254.

v35 The *descendants of Harim, 320.

v36 The *descendants of Jericho, 345.

v37 The *descendants of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 721.

v38 The *descendants of Senaah, 3930.

v39 This is a list of the priests:

The *descendants of Jedaiah (the *descendants of Jeshua’s part of this family), 973.

v40 The *descendants of Immer, 1052.

v41 The *descendants of Pashhur, 1247.

v42 The *descendants of Harim, 1017.

v43 These are the *Levites:

The *descendants of Jeshua; in fact, the *descendants of Kadmiel (the *descendants of Hodaviah’s part of Kadmiel’s family), 74.

v44 These are the singers:

The *descendants of Asaph, 148.

v45 These are the men who guarded the gates:

The *descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai, 138.

v46 These are the people who served in the *temple:

The *descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

v47 Keros, Sia, Padon,

v48 Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,

v49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,

v50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,

v51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,

v52 Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,

v53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

v54 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

v55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

v56 Neziah and Hatipha.

v57 These are the *descendants of Solomon’s servants:

The *descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,

v58 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,

v59 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon.

v60 The total number of men who served in the *temple and those who were the *descendants of Solomon’s servants, 392.

Verses 7-60

The people who returned to *Judah had different jobs to do. Some were priests and *Levites and some were singers. They led the people when they *worshipped God. Some of the people guarded the *temple and the gates and some were servants in the *temple.

v61 These are the people from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But they could not prove that they really belonged to the families of *Israel:

v62 The *descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda, 642.

v63-64 And some priests searched for their family registers, but they could not find them. So they could not prove who their *ancestors were. These priests were the *descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. (Barzillai had married a woman from the family of Barzillai from Gilead and he took her family’s name.) Because their family registers were missing, these men were unholy. So they were not able to do the priests’ work. v65 The chief officer therefore ordered these men not to eat the most sacred food. At that time, there was no priest who could use the Urim and Thummim to make a decision. These men would have to obey the chief officer until such a priest arrived.

Verses 61-65

Some of the people could not prove who their *ancestors were. Some of these people were priests. God appointed the *descendants of Aaron (who was the brother of Moses) to be priests. So the priests had to prove that they were *descendants of Aaron. Otherwise, they could not serve as priests.

God gave some priests the Urim and Thummim. (Urim and Thummim means ‘perfect lights’. These objects were probably precious stones.) Somehow, these priests used these objects to know what God was telling the people to do. The priest would wear these objects in his jacket, over his heart (Leviticus 8:8).

But at that time there was no priest who could use the Urim and Thummim to make a decision.

So the men who had no family records needed such a priest. That priest would use the Urim and Thummim in order to ask God for direction. Then God would show that priest what to do about these men. These men could not prove their *ancestors. But perhaps God would allow them to serve as priests in the end. But until that happened, these men could not work as priests. The work of the priests was sacred and important. So the chief officer would not allow anyone who might not be a priest to work in the *temple.

v66 The total number of all the people was 42 360.

v67 There were also 7337 male and female servants and 245 male and female singers.

v68 There were 736 horses and 245 mules (strong animals that could carry people).

v69 There were 435 camels and 6720 donkeys (small animals that could carry people).

v70 Some of the leaders of the families gave gifts to the work.

The chief officer of *Judah gave these things to the store of the *temple:

8.5 kilos of gold

50 bowls

530 sets of special clothes for the priests to wear.

v71 Some of the leaders of the families gave these things to the store of the *temple:

170 kilos of gold

1200 kilos of silver.

v72 The rest of the people gave a total of:

1100 kilos of silver

67 sets of special clothes for the priests to wear.

Verses 66-72

The *Babylonians had destroyed the *temple when they took the *Jews into *exile.

When the people had returned to *Judah at the time of Zerubbabel, they started to build the *temple. They started the work on the *temple as soon as they could.

Some of the people had become rich when they lived in Babylon and Persia. They were able to give generous gifts for the work of the *temple. The chief officer was a good model for the people, because he was generous also.

Donkeys are animals like small horses. They have long ears. Mules are also like small horses. They are born after male donkeys mate with female horses. The *Jews brought these animals back with them. And they brought their servants too. The *Jews wanted to make their permanent homes in *Judah.

v73 By the 7th month, the people of *Israel had begun to live in their own towns.

This included the priests, the *Levites, the men who guarded the gates and the singers. It also included some of the other people and the servants in the *temple. And it included the rest of the nation of *Israel who began to live in their own towns.

Verse 73

In the past, God had promised to give the country called *Judah to the *Jews. God gave some land to each family (Numbers 34:13-15). When the *Jews returned from *exile, they lived in their own towns. These were the same towns that God had given to their *ancestors.

This register calls the people ‘the people of *Israel’ instead of ‘the people of *Judah’. God gave Jacob the name *Israel when he promised to make Jacob’s *descendants God’s special people. Many years later, the nation divided into two parts. The name of the northern part was *Israel, and people called the inhabitants *Israelites. The name of the southern part was *Judah, and people called the inhabitants *Jews. God allowed the *Assyrians to defeat the *Israelites and to take them into *exile.

The *Israelites never returned from their *exile. (In the end, only a small number of their families would return to join the people in Judah.) So, at the time of this register, only the people in *Judah remained, but they were still God’s special people. And sometimes they called themselves ‘the people of *Israel’.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2006

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3EJews</b%3E ~ all the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Or, just the people from the country called Judah.