---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Nehemiah 7"
description: "CHAPTER 7   :-. NEHEMIAH
COMMITS THE CHARGE
OF JERUSALEM TO
HANANI AND HANANIAH. 2. I gave my brother Hanani . . .
charge over Jerusalem—If, as is commonl"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/nehemiah/7"
---

CHAPTER 7

. NEHEMIAH
COMMITS THE CHARGE
OF JERUSALEM TO
HANANI AND HANANIAH.

**2. I gave my brother Hanani . . .
charge over Jerusalem**—If, as is commonly supposed, Nehemiah was
now contemplating a return to Shushan according to his promise, it
was natural that he should wish to entrust the custody of Jerusalem
and the management of its civic affairs to men on whose ability,
experience, and fidelity, he could confide. Hanani, a near relative
([Nehemiah 1:2](../../../kjv/nehemiah/1/2)), was one, and with him
was associated, as colleague, Hananiah, "the ruler of the
palace"—that is, the marshal or chamberlain of the viceregal
court, which Nehemiah had maintained in Jerusalem. The high religious
principle, as well as the patriotic spirit of those two men,
recommended them as pre-eminently qualified for being invested with
an official trust of such peculiar importance.
**and feared God above many**—The
piety of Hananiah is especially mentioned as the ground of his
eminent fidelity in the discharge of all his duties and,
consequently, the reason of the confidence which Nehemiah reposed in
him; for he was fully persuaded that Hananiah's fear of God would
preserve him from those temptations to treachery and unfaithfulness
which he was likely to encounter on the governor's departure from
Jerusalem.

**3. Let not the gates of Jerusalem be
opened until the sun be hot,** c.—In the East it is customary to
open the gates of a city at sunrise, and to bar them at sunset—a
rule which is very rarely, and not except to persons of authority,
infringed upon. Nehemiah recommended that the gates of Jerusalem
should not be opened so early a precaution necessary at a time when
the enemy was practising all sorts of dangerous stratagems, to ensure
that the inhabitants were all astir and enjoyed the benefit of clear
broad daylight for observing the suspicious movements of any enemy.
The propriety of regularly barring the gates at sunset was, in this
instance, accompanied with the appointment of a number of the people
to act as sentinels, each mounting guard in front of his own house.

**4. Now the city was large and
great**—The walls being evidently built on the old foundations,
the city covered a large extent of surface, as all Oriental towns do,
the houses standing apart with gardens and orchards intervening. This
extent, in the then state of Jerusalem, was the more observable as
the population was comparatively small, and the habitations of the
most rude and simple construction—mere wooden sheds or coverings of
loose, unmortared stones.
. GENEALOGY OF
THOSE WHO
CAME AT THE FIRST
OUT OF BABYLON.

**5. my God put into mine heart to
gather together the nobles,** c.—The arrangement about to be
described, though dictated by mere common prudence, is, in accordance
with the pious feelings of Nehemiah, ascribed not to his own prudence
or reflection, but to the grace of God prompting and directing him.
He resolved to prepare a register of the returned exiles, containing
an exact record of the family and ancestral abode of every
individual. While thus directing his attention, he discovered a
register of the first detachment who had come under the care of
Zerubbabel. It is transcribed in the following verses, and differs in
some few particulars from that given in . But the discrepancy is sufficiently accounted for from
the different circumstances in which the two registers were taken
that of Ezra having been made up at Babylon, while that of Nehemiah
was drawn out in Judea, after the walls of Jerusalem had been
rebuilt. The lapse of so many years might well be expected to make a
difference appear in the catalogue, through death or other causes; in
particular, one person being, according to Jewish custom, called by
different names. Thus Hariph () is the same as Jorah (), Sia ([Nehemiah 7:47](../../../kjv/nehemiah/7/47)) the
same as Siaha ([Ezra 2:44](../../../kjv/ezra/2/44)), &c.
Besides other purposes to which this genealogy of the nobles, rulers,
and people was subservient, one leading object contemplated by it was
to ascertain with accuracy the parties to whom the duty legally
belonged of ministering at the altar and conducting the various
services of the temple. For guiding to exact information in this
important point of enquiry, the possession of the old register of
Zerubbabel was invaluable.
[Ezra 2:44](../../../kjv/ezra/2/44). OF THE
PRIESTS.

**39. The priests**—It appears
that only four of the courses of the priests returned from the
captivity; and that the course of Abia () is not in the list. But it must be noticed that these four
courses were afterwards divided into twenty-four, which retained the
names of the original courses which David appointed.

**70. And some of the chief of the
fathers,** c.—With [Nehemiah 7:69](../../../kjv/nehemiah/7/69)
the register ends, and the thread of Nehemiah's history is resumed.
He was the *tirshatha,* or governor, and the liberality
displayed by him and some of the leading men for the suitable
equipment of the ministers of religion, forms the subject of the
remaining portion of the chapter. Their donations consisted
principally in garments. This would appear a singular description of
gifts to be made by any one among us but, in the East, a present of
garments, or of any article of use, is conformable to the prevailing
sentiments and customs of society.
**drams of gold**—that is,
*darics.* A daric was a gold coin of ancient Persia, worth £1
5*s.*

**71. pound of silver**—that is,
*mina* (sixty shekels, or £9).

**73. So . . . all Israel, dwelt in
their cities**—The utility of these genealogical registers was
thus found in guiding to a knowledge of the cities and localities in
each tribe to which every family anciently belonged.

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