---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Nehemiah 12"
description: "CHAPTER 12   :-. PRIESTS AND
LEVITES WHO
CAME UP
WITH ZERUBBABEL. 1. these are the priests—according
to Nehemiah 12:7, \"the chief of
the priests,\" the hea"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/nehemiah/12"
---

CHAPTER 12

. PRIESTS AND
LEVITES WHO
CAME UP
WITH ZERUBBABEL.

**1. these are the priests**—according
to [Nehemiah 12:7](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/7), "the chief of
the priests," the heads of the twenty-four courses into which
the priesthood was divided ([Nehemiah 12:7](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/7)). Only four of the courses returned from the captivity
([Nehemiah 7:39-42](../../../kjv/nehemiah/7/39-42); [Ezra 2:36-39](../../../kjv/ezra/2/36-39)).
But these were divided by Zerubbabel, or Jeshua, into the original
number of twenty-four. Twenty-two only are enumerated here, and no
more than twenty in [Ezra 2:36-15](../../../kjv/ezra/2/36-15). The discrepancy is due to the extremely probable
circumstance that two of the twenty-four courses had become extinct
in Babylon; for none belonging to them are reported as having
returned ([Nehemiah 12:2-5](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/2-5)).
Hattush and Maadiah may be omitted in the account of those persons'
families ([Nehemiah 12:12](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/12)), for these
had no sons.
**Shealtiel**—or Salathiel.
**Ezra**—This was most
likely a different person from the pious and patriotic leader. If he
were the same person, he would now have reached a very patriarchal
age—and this longevity would doubtless be due to his eminent piety
and temperance, which are greatly conducive to the prolongation of
life, but, above all, to the special blessing of God, who had
preserved and strengthened him for the accomplishment of the
important work he was called upon to undertake in that critical
period of the Church's history.

**4. Abijah**—one of the ancestors
of John the Baptist ([Luke 1:5](../../../kjv/luke/1/5)).

**9. their brethren, were over against
them in the watches**—that is, according to some, their
stations—the places where they stood when officiating—"ward
over against ward" (); or, according to others, in alternate watches, in course
of rotation.
. SUCCESSION OF THE
HIGH PRIESTS.

**10. Jeshua begat Joiakim,**
&c.—This enumeration was of great importance, not only as
establishing their individual purity of descent, but because the
chronology of the Jews was henceforth to be reckoned, not as formerly
by the reigns of their kings, but by the successions of their high
priests.

**11. Jaddua**—It is an opinion
entertained by many commentators that this person was the high priest
whose dignified appearance, solemn manner, and splendid costume
overawed and interested so strongly the proud mind of Alexander the
Great; and if he were not this person (as some object that this
Jaddua was not in office till a considerable period after the death
of Nehemiah), it might probably be his father, called by the same
name.

**12. in the days of Joiakim were
priests, the chief of the fathers**—As there had been priests in
the days of Jeshua, so in the time of Joiakim, the son and successor
of Jeshua, the sons of those persons filled the priestly office in
the place of their fathers, some of whom were still alive, though
many were dead.

**23. The sons of Levi . . . were
written in the book of the chronicles**—that is, the public
registers in which the genealogies were kept with great regularity
and exactness.

**27-43. at the dedication of the wall
of Jerusalem**—This ceremony of consecrating the wall and gates
of the city was an act of piety on the part of Nehemiah, not merely
to thank God in a general way for having been enabled to bring the
building to a happy completion, but especially because that city was
the place which He had chosen. It also contained the temple which was
hallowed by the manifestation of His presence, and anew set apart to
His service. It was on these accounts that Jerusalem was called "the
holy city," and by this public and solemn act of religious
observance, after a long period of neglect and desecration, it was,
as it were, restored to its rightful proprietor. The dedication
consisted in a solemn ceremonial, in which the leading authorities,
accompanied by the Levitical singers, summoned from all parts of the
country, and by a vast concourse of people, marched in imposing
procession round the city walls, and, pausing at intervals to engage
in united praises, prayer, and sacrifices, supplicated the continued
presence, favor, and blessing on "the holy city." "*The
assembly convened near Jaffa Gate, where the procession commences.*
Then ([Nehemiah 12:31](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/31)) I brought up
the princes of Judah upon the wall (*near the Valley Gate*), and
appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one
went on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung gate (*through
Bethzo*). And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of
Judah. And ([Nehemiah 12:37](../../../kjv/nehemiah/12/37)) at the
fountain gate, which was over against them, they (*descending by
the Tower of Siloam on the interior, and then reascending*) went
up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall,
above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward (*by
the staircase of the rampart, having descended to dedicate the
fountain structures*). And the other company of them that gave
thanks went over against them (*both parties having started from
the junction of the first and second walls*), and I after them,
and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of
the furnaces even unto the broad wall (*beyond the corner gate*).
And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate (*and
the gate of Benjamin*), and above the fish gate, and the tower of
Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate; and they
stood still in the prison gate (*or high gate, at the east end of
the bridge*). So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks
in the house of God, and I, and half of the rulers with me (*having
thus performed the circuit of the investing walls*), and arrived
in the courts of the temple" [BARCLAY,
*City of the Great King*].

**43. the joy of Jerusalem was heard
even afar off**—The events of the day, viewed in connection with
the now repaired and beautified state of the city, raised the popular
feeling to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and the fame of their
rejoicings was spread far and near.

**44. portions of the law**—that
is, "prescribed by the law."
**for Judah rejoiced for the
priests and . . . Levites that waited**—The cause of this general
satisfaction was either the full restoration of the temple service
and the reorganized provision for the permanent support of the
ministry, or it was the pious character and eminent gifts of the
guardians of religion.

**45. the singers and the porters kept
. . . the ward of the purification**—that is, took care that no
unclean person was allowed to enter within the precincts of the
sacred building. This was the official duty of the porters (), with whom, owing to the pressure of circumstances, it was
deemed expedient that the singers should be associated as assistants.

**47. all Israel . . . sanctified holy
things unto the Levites,**—&c. The people, selecting the
tithes and first-fruits, devoted them to the use of the Levites, to
whom they belonged by appointment of the law. The Levites acted in
the same way with the tithes due from them to the priests. Thus all
classes of the people displayed a conscientious fidelity in paying
the dues to the temple and the servants of God who were appointed to
minister in it.

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