Deeper Commentary
Nehemiah 10:1 Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the
son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah- Nehemiah was presumably not personally
guilty of intermarriage with Gentiles which is the context of this covenant
(Neh. 9:2). But like the Lord Jesus, He was so personally
identified with His people that He identified with them and their failures
that Nehemiah signed the covenant. "Zedekiah" is a form of "Zadok",
perhaps the scribe of Neh. 13:13. The restoration prophecies of Ez. 40-48
emphasized that the Zadokites were to work in the restored temple; but it
seems they too had corrupted themselves and thus precluded the prophecy from
being fulfilled at that time.
Nehemiah 10:2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah- These are the heads of
families, similar to the list in Neh. 12 of those of a previous generation
who went up with Zerubbabel; so far more were involved in intermarriage than
just those listed here. Seraiah was the family of Eliashib the High Priest,
so the corruption was throughout.
Nehemiah 10:3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah- We note how even
those priestly families with "Yah" in their names had intermarried with
the world around them; they had a name that they lived but were dead, as
we too can have.
Nehemiah 10:4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch- Shebaniah is the
Shechaniah of Neh. 12:3.
Nehemiah 10:5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah- We would expect to read
"Iddo" in this list, according to the list in Neh. 12:4,16. Perhaps he
refused to sign, felt he wasn't guilty, or refused to repent.
Nehemiah 10:6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch- "Ginnethon" means "gardener"
and reads strangely amongst the other priestly names, most of which have
spiritual overtones. Yet the priests were not intended to do agricultural
work but to be supported by the tithes. It could be that this name is a
reflection of the way that some priestly families were just so in name
only and had no real dedication to spiritual things. The failure of the
priesthood to teach and even know God's word is evidence enough of that.
Nehemiah 10:7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin- "Meshullam" means "allied
to", perhaps reflecting how this family were guilty of being allied to
Gentile enemies of Israel in marriage (Neh. 6:18).
Nehemiah 10:8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these were the priests-
There are 21 names listed here, of which 15 are found listed as heads of
priestly houses who returned with Joshua and Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:2-7).
They are also in Neh. 12:11-20 as heads of priestly families so
these are not individuals as much as families. Perhaps there was an effort
to restore the 24 courses of priests used in Solomon's temple, but there
are only 21 listed here, as if to say that they never quite got to the
full restoration intended.
Nehemiah 10:9 The Levites: namely, Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of
the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel- As noted on :2, these are the names of
the heads of families who had returned in previous generations with
Zerubbabel and then Ezra (Ezra 2:40; 3:9; Neh. 7:43,44; 9:5). So far more
were involved in intermarriage than just those listed here.
Nehemiah 10:10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah,
Hanan- "Kelita" means 'maimed'; perhaps the family were distinguished
by some congenital defect which precluded them from priestly service, and
yet they chose to still work as Levites and to return and be involved in
the work as far as possible. Clearly an example for us today. See on :17.
Nehemiah 10:11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah- "Rehob" is a Syrian name, not
a Hebrew name. Perhaps this reflects the degree of assimilation; or
perhaps there were some Gentiles who had been accepted into the Levitical
clans by previous intermarriage. The idea of marrying only within the
family of God would therefore have been hard for them to accept; the
failures of previous generations lead to weakness in later generations.
Nehemiah 10:12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah- "Zaccur", 'to bring to
remembrance', is exactly what Nehemiah wanted God to do to the exiles
(s.w. Neh. 1:8); and indeed He did passionately 'remember' them (s.w. Jer.
31:20). But they didn't respond, for the most part, for they did not
remember Yahweh from afar off as they were intended to (Jer. 51:50; Ez.
6:9).
Nehemiah 10:13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu- Only a very few of the family of
Hodiah had returned initially, but they had apparently grown into a
significant family at this time (Ezra 2:40). Increase in numbers was at
those times perceived as a sign of Divine blessing, so perhaps this
individual family was faithful.
Nehemiah 10:14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahathmoab, Elam, Zattu,
Bani-
Nehemiah 10:15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai- "Bebai" isn't a Hebrew word; some of the exiles had so assimilated that
they only had local Persian names.
Nehemiah 10:16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin- "Adin"
is s.w. "given to pleasures" (Is. 47:8). And yet the message of return to
restore the Kingdom was somehow attractive even to such a person.
Nehemiah 10:17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur- "Ater" means handicapped.
Perhaps the family were distinguished by some congenital defect which
precluded them from priestly service, and yet they chose to still work as
Levites and to return and be involved in the work as far as possible.
Clearly an example for us today. See on :10,27.
Nehemiah 10:18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai- "Hashum" is "wealthy"; a
strange name for a family of Levites who were supposed to be humble
servants of the sanctuary. As strange a paradox as wealthy Christians in a
world of need.
Nehemiah 10:19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nobai- The meaning of these names
all seem to have more relevance to place names than people. The lists in
Ezra 2 are clearly divided between the names of families and the
geographical names of the areas they came from. It's possible that here
the two ways of listing have been somehow merged.
Nehemiah 10:20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir- "Hezir" is the word
translated "pig" or "swine" in Lev. 11:7; Dt. 14:8; Ps. 80:13; Prov. 11:22
etc. A strange name for a family of Levites who were supposed to be
sanctified to God's service. As strange a paradox as worldly Christians.
Nehemiah 10:21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua- "Meshezabel" is a
Babylonian word meaning 'delivered by God'; the Chaldee word for
"delivered" used in Dan. 6:14,16,20 etc. We see here how some were so
assimilated into Babylonian culture, and yet still had a sense of Divine
deliverance.
Nehemiah 10:22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah- Pelatiah, 'Yah has
delivered', appears to be the Hebrew form of the Babylonian "Meshezabel"
noted on :21. Clearly some retained the sense of Yahweh [as opposed to the
more generic 'el'] more than others.
Nehemiah 10:23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub- "Hoshea" is the word just
used for how Yahweh had 'saved' His people through 'saviours' by pure
grace (Neh. 9:27).
Nehemiah 10:24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek- "Hallohesh" means enchanter
or magician- a reflection of how corrupted the Levites had become.
Nehemiah 10:25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah- "Rehum" is a Babylonian
name, shared by one of the Samaritan opposition (Ezra 4:8,9); again
reflecting how thoroughly some of the Levites had assimilated into
Babylonian culture.
Nehemiah 10:26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan- Some of these Levitical families
such as Anan are mentioned nowhere else; they may have been more recently
arrived families who had come from Persia.
Nehemiah 10:27 Malluch, Harim and Baanah- "Harim" means 'snub nosed'.
Perhaps the family were distinguished by some congenital defect which
precluded them from priestly service, and yet they chose to still work as
Levites and to return and be involved in the work as far as possible.
Clearly an example for us today. See on :10,17.
Nehemiah 10:28 The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the
porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated
themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives,
their sons, and their daughters, each one who had knowledge, and
understanding-- The people “separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters… they clave to
[NEV "joined with"] their brethren” (:29). Close fellowship with one’s brethren arises from having gone out from the surrounding world, unto the things of God’s word. That, at least, was the theory. In reality, those exiles who returned found this separation very difficult. In fact, the account of Judah’s separation from the surrounding peoples reads similar to that of the purges from
idolatry during the reign of the kings.
The account of Judah’s separation from the surrounding peoples reads similar to that of the purges from idolatry during the reign of the kings. They separated / purged, and then, within a few years, we read of them doing so again. Initially, the exiles separated from the peoples of the land (Ezra 6:21); by Ezra 9:1 they are in need of separating again; and by Ezra 10:11 likewise; then they separate (Ezra 10:16), only to need another call to separation by the time of Nehemiah 9:2; 13:3. They obviously found it extremely difficult to be separated from the surrounding world unto God’s law (Nehemiah 10:28). There was a powerful logic- either separate from the world around, or be separated from the people of God (Ezra 10:8). It’s a separation- one way or the other.
Nehemiah 10:29 they joined with their brothers, their nobles- The
nobles are mentioned as the brothers of the humble Levites. The common
experience of conviction of sin, repentance and forgiveness is the
greatest basis for unity in practice between persons of varying social
status.
And entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes- The restoration prophets, including more recently Zechariah, had explained consistently that Judah had broken the old covenant. The only way to reconnection with Yahweh was through accepting the new covenant which was offered. So this attempt to reestablish their loyalty to the old covenant, the law of Moses, was misplaced. And they didn't keep it in any case.
Nehemiah 10:30 and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of
the land, nor take their daughters for our sons-
“The
people of the land” were to have a part in the new system of things (Ez.
45:16,22; 46:3,9), and yet this very phrase is repeatedly used concerning
the Samaritan people who lived in the land at the time of the restoration
(Ezra 4:4; 10:2,11; Neh. 9:24; 10:30,31). God’s intention was that they
should eventually be converted unto Him; it was His intention that
Ezekiel’s temple be built at the time of the restoration under Ezra. And
yet Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5 criticize the Jews who returned and built the
temple for continuing to oppress the stranger / Gentile. Israel would not.
This agreement not to intermarry was agreed in the passion of the moment;
for once Nehemiah returned to Persia, we read that the people began doing
so again.
Nehemiah 10:31 and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on
the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on the Sabbath, or
on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction
of every debt- The book of Nehemiah ends with the record of how they
did exactly this. These agreements were therefore made on the cusp of a
wave of religious enthusiasm, doubtless fuelled by a group mentality. We
learn from this that God is looking for personal relationship and loyalty;
and that great promises of devotion made in a group setting on the cusp of
waves of emotional dedication are not lasting. Spirituality and personal
relationship with Yahweh is far more profound than this.
Nehemiah 10:32 Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves
yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our
God-
The
Mosaic Law had required a half shekel temple tax, but God reduced it-
again, such was His desire to work with them and have them as His people
(Ex. 30:11-16 cp. Neh. 10:32,33). But still they feared, still they didn’t
fully believe, still they saw the establishment of God’s Kingdom as only
their concern insofar as it coincided with their self-interest; and so the
promised establishment of the Messianic Kingdom just didn’t come. Or it
could be that the famine in the land meant that Nehemiah realized that the
half shekel couldn't be paid so he was driven to amend the Mosaic law on
his own initiative. The situation was therefore driving him to realize
that the old covenant just couldn't be kept by them; as noted on :29, they
were intended to look to the new covenant.
Nehemiah 10:33 for the show bread, and for the continual meal offering,
and for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons,
for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to
make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God-
The implication is that these things had not been done up to this point by
the returned exiles. The restoration prophets, including more recently
Zechariah, had explained consistently that Judah had broken the old
covenant. The only way to reconnection with Yahweh was through accepting
the new covenant which was offered. So this attempt to reestablish their
loyalty to the old covenant, the law of Moses, was misplaced. And they
didn't keep it in any case.
Nehemiah 10:34 We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for
the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our
fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of
Yahweh our God, as it is written in the law- LXX "And we cast lots
for the office of wood-bearing, we the priests, and the Levites, and the
people, to bring wood into the house of our God, according to the house of
our families". The bearing of wood and drawing of water was to be done by
the Levites and Nethinim. But clearly there was no interest in doing the
humble duties of God's house. We noted on Ezra 2 and elsewhere how few
Levites returned, and how later Ezra had no Levites come forward to return
with him. This lack of interest in humble service led to the situation
later where in Malachi's time, nobody would even close the doors unless
they were paid. Attitudes to menial service are significant and are
highlighted here. The humble service of wood carrying was clearly
unpopular, perhaps because it was perceived as women's work, as it is in
much of the developing world today. At the very end of his ministry,
Nehemiah still had to try to arrange for it (Neh. 13:31). As it is to this
day; for there are very few real 'workers' amongst the people of God.
Nehemiah 10:35 and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first
fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to the house of
Yahweh- It was a common pagan idea to offer the frist fruits of
harvest to their gods, and this was also practiced later amongst the
Greeks and Romans. It can be inferred from this commitment to Yahweh that
this had not been done by Israel. We see their sad and tragic situation;
they gave their first fruits to nobody. They had been so tragically
adrift, not with Yahweh nor fully with other gods.
Nehemiah 10:36 also the first born of our sons, and of our livestock, as
it is written in the law, and the first born of our herds and of our
flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in
the house of our God-
Again we note that there was an attempt to return to
the law of Moses; whereas the restoration prophets
had explained consistently that Judah had broken the old covenant. The
only way to reconnection with Yahweh was through accepting the new
covenant which was offered. So this attempt to reestablish their loyalty
to the old covenant, the law of Moses, was misplaced. And they didn't keep
it in any case.
Nehemiah 10:37 and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and
our wave offerings, and the fruit of all kinds of trees, the new wine and
the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the
tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the
tithes in all the cities of our tillage- Hag. 1:8 describes the need to go up onto the mountain and build the
temple- as if to recall attention to Ezekiel’s opening vision of the
temple as built on a mountain. But Judah would not, and therefore the
Kingdom blessings of corn, new wine and oil, as well as fruitfulness on
the mountains, were all withheld (Hag. 1:11). These are all aspects of the
promised Messianic Kingdom (e.g. Joel 2:19,24; Jer. 31:12). The very same
sequence of words occurs in Neh. 5:11; 10:37,39; 13:5- instead of giving
those things to Yahweh, the Jews stole them from each other, and jibbed
about paying them as tithes to Him. And thereby they precluded the
possibility of Yahweh richly blessing all His people with those very same
things in a Kingdom setting. As with all those who are rejected from God’s
purpose, they effectively rejected themselves from His Kingdom by their
behaviour, rather than Him rejecting them Himself.
Nehemiah 10:38 The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when
the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the
tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house-
GNB "Priests who are descended from Aaron are to be with the Levites when
tithes are collected, and for use in the Temple the Levites are to take to
the Temple storerooms one-tenth of all the tithes they collect". This
hints at distrust between Levites and priests and tensions between them.
In Ezra 2:42, the number of
ordinary Levites compared to priests is very low (4289 priests, and 341
Levites). There were far more Levites than there were priests in the
overall population, but it seems the Levites didn't want to return and do
the dirty work; everyone wanted to be religious leaders. Hence Ezra's
problem in finding Levites to return (Ezra 8:15). We can note that it was
this tension between Levites and priests which resulted in Korah's
rebellion (Num. 16:1-10).
Nehemiah 10:39 For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall
bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to
the rooms, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests who
minister, and the porters, and the singers. We will not forsake the house
of our God-
They vowed not to forsake the house of their God, and yet Nehemiah concludes with the record that this is exactly what they did (Neh. 10:39; 13:11).
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