BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
N E H E M I A H
CHAP. XII.
In this chapter are preserved upon record,
I. The names of the chief of the priests and the Levites that came up
with Zerubbabel,
II. The succession of the high priests,
III. The names of the next generation of the other chief priests,
IV. The eminent Levites that were in Nehemiah’s time,
V. The solemnity of dedicating the wall of Jerusalem,
VI. The settling of the offices of the priests and Levites in the
temple,
| The Priests and Levites That Returned. | B. C. 444. |
|
|
|
1 Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah,
Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
3 Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnetho, Abijah,
5 Miamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chief of the
priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.
8 Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah,
Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and
his brethren.
9 Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, were over against
them in the watches.
10 And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and
Eliashib begat Joiada,
11 And Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddua.
12 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the
fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13 Of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14 Of Melicu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
15 Of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
16 Of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17 Of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;
18 Of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
19 And of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
20 Of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
21 Of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethaneel.
22 The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan,
and Jaddua, were recorded chief of the fathers: also the
priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian.
23 The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written
in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the
son of Eliashib.
24 And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and
Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them,
to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of
David the man of God, ward over against ward.
25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub,
were porters keeping the ward at the thresholds of the gates.
26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the
son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of
Ezra the priest, the scribe.
We have here the names, and little more than the names, of a great many
priests and Levites, that were eminent in their day among the returned
Jews. Why this register should be here inserted by Nehemiah does not
appear, perhaps to keep in remembrance those good men, that posterity
might know to whom they were beholden, under God, for the happy revival
and re-establishment of their religion among them. Thus must we
contribute towards the performance of that promise,
The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. Let the
memory of the just be blessed, be perpetuated. It is a debt we still
owe to faithful ministers to remember our guides, who have
spoken to us the word of God,
Heb. xiii. 7.
Perhaps it is intended to stir up their posterity, who succeeded them
in the priest’s office and inherited their dignities and preferments,
to imitate their courage and fidelity. It is good to know what our
godly ancestors and predecessors were, that we may learn thereby what
we should be. We have here,
1. The names of the priests and Levites that came up with the first out
of Babylon, when Jeshua was high priest. Jeremiah and Ezra are
mentioned with the first
(v. 1),
but, it is supposed, not Jeremiah the prophet nor Ezra the scribe; the
fame of the one was long before and that of the other some time after,
though both of them were priests. Of one of the Levites it is said
(v. 8)
that he was over the thanksgiving, that is, he was entrusted to
see that the psalms, the thanksgiving psalms, were constantly sung in
the temple in due time and manner. The Levites kept their turns in
their watches, reliving one another as becomes brethren,
fellow-labourers, and fellow-soldiers.
2. The succession of high priests during the Persian monarchy, from
Jeshua (or Jesus), who was high priest at the time of the restoration,
to Jaddua (or Jaddus), who was high priest when Alexander the Great,
after the conquest of Tyre, came to Jerusalem, and paid great respect
to this Jaddus, who met him in his pontifical habit, and showed him the
prophecy of Daniel, which foretold his conquests.
3. The next generation of priests, who were chief men, and active in
the days of Joiakim, sons of the first set. Note, We have reason to
acknowledge God’s favour to his church, and care of it, in that, as one
generation of ministers passes away, another comes. All those who are
mentioned
v. 1,
&c., as eminent in their generation, are again mentioned, though with
some variation in several of the names,
&c., except two, as having sons that were likewise eminent in their
generation–a rare instance, that twenty good fathers should leave
behind them twenty good sons (for so many here are) that filled up
their places.
4. The next generation of Levites, or rather a latter generation; for
those priests who are mentioned flourished in the days of Joiakim the
high priest, these Levites in the days of Eliashib,
Perhaps then the forementioned families of the priests began to
degenerate, and the third generation of them came short of the first
two; but the work of God shall never fail for want of instruments. Then
a generation of Levites was raised up, who were recorded
chief of the fathers
(v. 22),
and were eminently serviceable to the interests of the church, and
their service not the less acceptable either to God or to his people
for their being Levites only, of the lower rank of ministers. Eliashib
the high priest being allied to Tobiah
(ch. xiii. 4),
the other priests grew remiss; but then the Levites appeared the more
zealous, as appears by this, that those who were now employed in
expounding
and in praying
were all Levites, not priests, regard being had to their personal
qualifications more than to their order. These Levites were some of
them singers
(v. 24),
to praise and give thanks, others of them porters
(v. 25),
keeping the ward at the thresholds of the gates, and both according
to the command of David.
| The Dedication of the Wall. | B. C. 444. |
|
|
|
27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought
the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem,
to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings,
and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.
28 And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together,
both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the
villages of Netophathi;
29 Also from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba
and Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round
about Jerusalem.
30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and
purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
31 Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and
appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks,
whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the
dung gate:
32 And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of
Judah,
33 And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,
34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
35 And certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets; namely,
Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of
Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of
Asaph:
36 And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai,
Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments
of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them.
37 And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they
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.
38 And the other company of them that gave thanks went over
against them, 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;
39 And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate,
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.
40 So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the
house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me:
41 And the priests; Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah,
Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
42 And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and
Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers
sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.
43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced:
for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and
the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard
even afar off.
We have read of the building of the wall of Jerusalem with a great deal
of fear and trembling; we have here an account of the dedicating of it
with a great deal of joy and triumph. Those that sow in tears
shall thus reap.
I. We must enquire what was the meaning of this dedication of the wall;
we will suppose it to include the dedication of the city too
(continens pro contento–the thing containing for the thing
contained), and therefore it was not done till the city was pretty
well replenished,
It was a solemn thanksgiving to God for his great mercy to them in the
perfecting of this undertaking, of which they were the more sensible
because of the difficulty and opposition they had met with in it.
2. They hereby devoted the city in a peculiar manner to God and to his
honour, and took possession of it for him and in his name. All our
cities, all our houses, must have holiness to the Lord written upon
them; but this city was (so as never any other was) a holy city,
the city of the great King
(Ps. xlviii. 2 and Matt. v. 35):
it had been so ever since God chose it to put his name there, and as
such, it being now refitted, it was afresh dedicated to God by the
builders and inhabitants, in token of their acknowledgment that they
were his tenants, and their desire that it might still be is and that
the property of it might never be altered. Whatever is done for their
safety, ease, and comfort, must be designed for God’s honour and glory.
3. They hereby put the city and its walls under the divine protection,
owning that unless the Lord kept the city the walls were
built in vain. When this city was in possession of the
Jebusites, they committed the guardianship of it to their gods, though
they were blind and lame ones,
With much more reason do the people of God commit it to his keeping who
is all-wise and almighty. The superstitious founders of cities had an
eye to the lucky position of the heavens (see Mr. Gregory’s works, p.
29, &c.); but these pious founders had an eye to God only, to his
providence, and not to fortune.
II. We must observe with what solemnity it was performed, under the
direction of Nehemiah.
1. The Levites from all parts of the country were summoned to attend.
The city must be dedicated to God, and therefore his ministers must be
employed in the dedicating of it, and the surrender must pass through
their hands. When those solemn feasts were over
they went home to their respective posts, to mind their cures in the
country; but now their presence and assistance were again called for.
2. Pursuant to this summons, there was a general rendezvous of all the
Levites,
Observe in what method they proceeded.
(1.) They purified themselves,
v. 30.
We are concerned to cleanse our hands, and purify our
hearts, when any work for God is to pass through them. They
purified themselves and then the people. Those that would be
instrumental to sanctify others must sanctify themselves, and set
themselves apart for God, with purity of mind and sincerity of
intention. Then they purified the gates and the wall. Then may
we expect comfort when we are prepared to receive it. To the pure
all things are pure
(Tit. i. 15);
and, to those who are sanctified, houses and tables, and all their
creature comforts and enjoyments, are sanctified,
This purification was performed, it is probable, by sprinkling the
water of purifying (or of separation, as it is called,
on themselves and the people, the walls and the gates–a
type of the blood of Christ, with which our consciences being purged
from dead works, we become fit to serve the living God
and to be his care.
(2.) The princes, priests, and Levites, walked round upon the wall in
two companies, with musical instruments, to signify the dedication of
it all to God, the whole circuit of it
(v. 36);
so that it is likely they sung psalms as they went along, to the praise
and glory of God. This procession is here largely described. They had a
rendezvous at one certain lace, where they divided themselves into two
companies. Half of the princes, with several priests and Levites, went
on the right hand, Ezra leading their van,
The other half of the princes and priests, who gave thanks likewise,
went to the left hand, Nehemiah bringing up the rear,
At length both companies met in the temple, where they joined their
thanksgivings,
The crowd of people, it is likely, walked on the ground, some within
the wall and others without, one end of this ceremony being to affect
them with the mercy they were giving thanks for, and to perpetuate the
remembrance of it among them. Processions, for such purposes, have
their use.
(3.) The people greatly rejoiced,
v. 43.
While the princes, priests, and Levites, testified their joy and
thankfulness by great sacrifices, sound of trumpet, musical
instruments, and songs of praise, the common people testified
theirs by loud shouts, which were heard afar off, further than the more
harmonious sound of their songs and music: and these shouts, coming
from a sincere and hearty joy, are here taken notice of; for God
overlooks not, but graciously accepts, the honest zealous services of
mean people, though there is in them little of art and they are far
from being fine. It is observed that the women and children
rejoiced; and their hosannas were not despised, but recorded to
their praise. All that share in public mercies ought to join in public
thanksgivings. The reason given is that God had made them rejoice
with great joy. He had given them both matter for joy and hearts to
rejoice; his providence had made them safe and easy, and then his grace
made them cheerful and thankful. The baffled opposition of their
enemies, no doubt, added to their joy and mixed triumph with it. Great
mercies call for the most solemn returns of praise, in the courts of
the Lord’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem!
| The People’s Attention to Their Duty. | B. C. 444. |
|
|
|
44 And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for
the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for
the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities
the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah
rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.
45 And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their
God, and the ward of the purification, according to the
commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.
46 For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief
of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.
47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of
Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every
day his portion: and they sanctified holy things unto the
Levites; and the Levites sanctified them unto the children of
Aaron.
We have here an account of the remaining good effects of the universal
joy that was at the dedication of the wall. When the solemnities of a
thanksgiving day leave such impressions on ministers and people as that
both are more careful and cheerful in doing their duty afterwards, then
they are indeed acceptable to God and turn to a good account. So it was
here.
1. The ministers were more careful than they had been of their work;
the respect the people paid them upon this occasion encouraged them to
diligence and watchfulness,
The singers kept the ward of their God, attending in due time to
the duty of their office; the porters, too, kept the ward of
the purification, that is, they took care to preserve the purity of
the temple by denying admission to those that were ceremonially
unclean. When the joy of the Lord thus engages us to our duty, and
enlarges us in it, it is then an earnest of that joy which, in
concurrence with the perfection of holiness, will be our everlasting
bliss.
2. The people were more careful than they had been of the maintenance
of their ministers. The people, at the dedication of the wall, among
other things which they made matter of their joy, rejoiced for the
priests and for the Levites that waited,
v. 44.
They had a great deal of comfort in their ministers, and were glad of
them. When they observed how diligently they waited, and what pains
they took in their work, they rejoiced in them. Note, The surest way
for ministers to recommend themselves to their people, and gain an
interest in their affections, is to wait on their ministry
(Rom. xii. 7),
to be humble and industrious, and to mind their business. When these
did so the people thought nothing too much to do for them, to encourage
them. The law had provided then their portions
(v. 44),
but what the better were they for that provision if what the law
appointed them either was not duly collected or not justly paid to
them? Now,
(1.) Care is here taken for the collecting of their dues. They were
modest, and would rather lose their right than call for it themselves.
The people were many of them careless and would not bring their dues
unless they were called upon; and therefore some were appointed
whose office it should be to gather into the treasuries, out of the
fields of the cities, the portions of the law for the priests and
Levites
(v. 44),
that their portion might not be lost for want of being demanded. This
is a piece of good service both to ministers and people, that the one
may not come short of their maintenance nor the other of their duty.
(2.) Care is taken that, being gathered in, they might be duly
paid out,
v. 47.
They gave the singers and porters their daily portion, over and above
what was due to them as Levites; for we may suppose that when David and
Solomon appointed them their work
(v. 45, 46),
above what was required from them as Levites, they settled a fund for
their further encouragement. Let those that labour more abundantly in
the word and doctrine be counted worthy of this double honour. As for
the other Levites, the tithes, here called the holy things, were
duly set apart for them, out of which they paid the priests their tithe
according to the law. Both are said to be sanctified; when what
is contributed, either voluntarily or by law, for the support of
religion and the maintenance of the ministry, is given with an eye to
God and his honour, it is sanctified, and shall be accepted of him
accordingly, and it will cause the blessing to rest on the house
and all that is in it,
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.