Bible Commentaries
Nehemiah 7

Verses 1-73

A List of those who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel

2. Hanani] after carrying information to Nehemiah respecting the condition of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:2), he must have returned with him to Judaea.

3. Until the sun be hot] By this time the mass of the citizens would be astir. While they stand by] RV ’while they (i.e. the sentries) stand on guard.’

4. The houses were not builded] i.e. the area of the city was not yet fully occupied with buildings.

5. Reckoned by genealogy] It was proposed to take a census of all the persons of Jewish descent, with a view to transferring part of the country population to the capital. Particulars derived from such a census appear in Nehemiah 11:4. Here, however, the subject is for a time dropped, and the register that follows relates to the period of Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 7:7).

7-73. The names here enumerated are repeated, with certain small differences, from the list contained in Ezra 2.

70. Basons] used in connexion with the sacrifices. Five hundred and thirty priests’ garments] For this should perhaps be substituted ’five hundred pounds of silver and thirty priests’ garments,’ a change which would make the quantities named in Nehemiah 7:70-72 approximate closely to those given in Ezra 2:69.

73. And when the seventh month came] These words in RV are connected with the subject of Nehemiah 8, the seventh month (Tishri) being probably the one immediately following the sixth (Elul) mentioned in Ezra 6:15.