11:1–2 Some “leaders” (“princes” in 9:32, 34) determine to live in Jerusalem, but other inhabitants are needed. Their ancestors once cast lots to apportion the land (Num. 26:55–56; Josh. 14:2) and recently cast lots to determine the work schedule for the wood offering.216 Now lots are cast to determine whom God will “bring” into Jerusalem to repopulate the city. This key verb (“to bring”) recently referred to the offering of firstfruits and contributions brought to the house of the Lord (Neh. 10:34–39). Some of these were called the “tithes from our ground” (10:37–38). Now, one in ten families, or a tithe, become living sacrifices. They are brought not into the holy temple but into Jerusalem, “the holy city” (11:1, 18; Isa. 48:2; Joel 3:17; Dan. 9:24) while nine out of ten remain in other cities.

The sacrificial imagery persists with the Hebrew verb nadab (“willingly offered”; Neh. 11:2), used of making freewill offerings for temple construction (1 Chron. 29:5–6, 9; Ezra 1:6; 2:68). More pointed are the military connotations of voluntary service (Judg. 5:2, 9; cf. Ps. 110:3). These chosen and volunteering families rightly receive a blessing that God would prosper their commitment. For returnees, even a limited loss of agricultural income, along with the abandonment of ancestral lands (cf. Neh. 11:3), would add to the disruption already associated with relocation.

11:3–6 The two groups inside and outside of Jerusalem are reintroduced (v. 3). This prepares for the two major units that follow (vv. 4–24, 25–36). Each group comprises the traditional strata of the community attested in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 (i.e., laymen [“Israel”], priests, Levites, etc.).217 Rather than identification by family names (Parosh, Shephatiah, etc.), tribal and clan names are used, evoking the exodus/settlement imagery.218 The “chiefs of the province” (11:3) are the various family heads listed throughout verses 4–24. They are contrasted with those outside of Jerusalem, who each remain “on his [own] property,” i.e., his ancestral possession (vv. 3, 20; Lev. 25:10; 1 Chron. 9:2).

The lay tribes, Judah and Benjamin (Neh. 11:4), were loyal to the southern kingdom (1 Kings 12:21–23) and representative tribes of the return (Ezra 1:5). The parallel list at 1 Chronicles 9:2–21 includes the northern tribes Ephraim and Manasseh (1 Chron. 9:3), perhaps to represent all Israel.219 Two sons of Judah, Athaiah and Maaseiah, are identified by their clans, Perez and Shelah, respectively.220 The description of the sons of Perez as “valiant men” has a military connotation elsewhere in these books (Ezra 8:22; Neh. 2:9; 11:14). The defense of Jerusalem is an important aspect of its repopulation (7:2–3; cf. 4:13, where defense is established by clans).221

11:7–9 Sallu is the only named descendant of Benjamin (cf. 1 Chron. 9:7–9). Benjamin’s men of valor nearly double the Judahite totals (Neh. 11:8).222 Joel as “overseer” (cf. vv. 14, 22) and Judah as “second over the city” may have succeeded Hanani and Hananiah (7:2) as military leaders. A less likely option is that Judah is in charge of the city’s second or “New Quarter” (cf. NIV).

11:10–14 The list that follows the lay leaders presents the priestly houses whose members repopulated Jerusalem.223 One approach to the list counts five of these priestly houses (Jedaiah, Jachin, Seraiah, Adaiah, and Amashsai).224 The latter two names are associated with the important priestly houses of Pashhur and Immer, who returned with Zerubbabel, while the preexilic “Jedaiah” is linked with the house of Jeshua (Neh. 7:39–42//Ezra 2:36–39). Several of these names are also found in the earlier priestly divisions established by David (1 Chron. 24:7, 17). With this first approach, “ruler of the house of God” refers to Seraiah and the names that follow trace his genealogy as the last preexilic high priest (2 Kings 25:18; Jer. 52:24; cf. Ezra 7:1–2). Alternatively, if Jachin is a scribal error for “son of,” then the initial list may provide the genealogy of Jedaiah, who is further identified as high priest. The problem is that we know of no postexilic high priest by this name. It is therefore proposed that Jedaiah is known elsewhere by the alternative spellings Joiada or Jehoiada, the successor to Eliashib (Neh. 12:10) and contemporary of Nehemiah (13:28).225

In either case, 822 persons who willingly inhabit Jerusalem include those associated with the liturgical service within the temple itself, i.e., “the work of the house.” The others that follow may hold less ceremonial duties, such as teaching or defense. The phrase “mighty men of valor” provides an even stronger sense of military function for some of these families than that expressed in 11:6.226

11:15–18 Six Levites are mentioned. Shemaiah (cf. 1 Chron. 9:14) is the first of three Levitical chiefs, followed by Shabbethai and Jozabad, who have recently instructed the people in the Law (Neh. 8:7) and were present early in Ezra’s ministry (Ezra 10:15, 23). The latter two oversee the “outside work of the house of God” (Neh. 11:16). This probably indicates physical maintenance of the building and collection of tithes and offerings as supplies (10:38).

The singers are here included among the Levites (cf. 7:44; 12:8–9). Mattaniah, a name long associated with the sons of Asaph (cf. 1 Chron. 9:15; 2 Chron. 29:13), receives special mention as praise leader.227 Bakbukiah as “second among his brothers,” likely refers to his role as leader of the antiphonal choir (Neh. 12:9, 25; cf. Ezra 3:11).228 Abda is attached by descent to Jeduthun. The latter had joined Asaph and Heman as the three families appointed by David to lead worship (1 Chron. 25:1).

11:19–21 Akkub and Talmon are representative familial names of gatekeepers (Ezra 2:42//Neh. 7:45; 12:25). The gatekeepers primarily protect the silver and sanctity of the temple, although their tasks are extensive (1 Chron. 9:17–34). At times gatekeepers are identified as Levites (1 Chron. 9:26; 2 Chron. 23:4; 34:12–13).

The “rest of Israel” (Neh. 11:20) signals the remainder of laymen, along with priests and Levites, who live outside of the city “on his property” (v. 3), here called “his inheritance.” The verse therefore concludes the list of those who inhabit Jerusalem. The expected treatment of the “temple servants” usually found immediately after the gatekeepers (cf. v. 3; Ezra 2:43–53; 7:7, 24; Neh. 7:46–56, 73a) instead follows 11:20 as the first of three supplemental notes (11:21–24). The “temple servants” are not included in the former list because they are already living in Jerusalem “on Ophel,” the hill southeast of the Jerusalem temple complex (cf. 3:26–27).229

11:22–24 A second note identifies Uzzi, the great-grandson of Mattaniah (cf. v. 17), as overseer of the Levitical singers (cf. vv. 9, 14b, 17). His choral supervision is defined as the “work of the house of God” (v. 22). The “command” (v. 23) refers either to David’s initial organization of musicians (12:24; 1 Chronicles 25) or to provisions for worship from the Persian king, including prayers and sacrifices for him (Ezra 6:10; 7:20, 23). The “fixed provision” likely specifies this regular support for the singers as at Nehemiah 12:47, or perhaps the organization of their regular duties (NIV).

The concluding note clearly refers to the Persian king. Pethahiah is otherwise unknown. His commission to be at the king’s side (i.e., “hand”; 11:24 ESV mg.) means that he represents local affairs to the Persian authorities.230 He is descended from Zerah, the third and final major clan of Judah, absent from verses 4–5 (1 Chron. 9:6).

11:25–30 The villages from Dibon through En-rimmon are south, located in the Negeb, while the remainder (Zorah through Azekah) are westward, in the Shephelah.231 Kiriath-arba (v. 25; i.e., Hebron) and Beersheba, providing the southernmost limit, belonged to preexilic Judah but are now under Edomite-Arab control within the province of Idumea (cf. 2:19).232 Providing the northernmost limit, the Hinnom Valley sets the southern and western geographical borders of Jerusalem (cf. Josh. 15:8).

The list marks out the ideal provincial boundaries of Judah. A majority of the seventeen places named are also found in approximately the same order at Joshua 15:13–39, where the allotments for Judah are described.233 This, combined with the description of the people as “encamped” (Neh. 11:30)—an unusual way to describe their settlement—may be an attempt to evoke the ancient land settlement. The people are presented as encamped around the centrally located Jerusalem (“holy city”; vv. 1, 18), even as allotments were once granted a people around the centrally placed tent of meeting (Joshua 15–19, esp. 18:1). “Our list, then, fits very well with the exodus-settlement pattern which we have observed at several points in our reading of Ezra-Nehemiah. . . . The idea of the land as an encampment around the sanctuary, a reproduction of the arrangement during the wilderness journeying, is based on ancient tradition.”234

11:31–36 Most of the fifteen places of Benjaminite habitation are located in the hill country and coastal plain (cf. Ezra 2:26–33). Geba through Bethel move generally northward from Jerusalem into the central hill country, Benjamin’s original allotment. Anathoth through Ananiah are slightly northeast of the city, tracing a north-to-south trajectory. Ramah and Hazor (not the Hazor of Josh. 11:1) are located just west of Geba. Gittaim through Ono are in the coastal plain, with some located outside of the northwest border of the province.235 With some Levitical family groups (“divisions”) formerly of Judah now dwelling among Benjamin, the picture of a worshiping community around the holy city is complete (Neh. 11:36).236

12:1–9 Four priestly family or clan names were identified as those who returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua in 538 BC (Ezra 2:36–39//Neh. 7:39–42). Now 12:1–7 offers a more extensive list of twenty-two family names. These are presented as personal names but also represent the restoration of the priestly divisions known in Zerubbabel’s day (Ezra 6:18). Aside from the name Hattush (Neh. 12:2) and variations in spellings there is significant overlap with the names in Joiakim’s day (vv. 12–21). Apparently these names persist as the names of priestly divisions.237 On “Ezra” (vv. 1, 13), cf. comment on 10:2–8. There is significant correspondence with the signers of the covenant at 10:2–8, although neither Iddo (12:4, 16) nor the final six names, Joiarib through Jedaiah, appear there.238

Eight Levitical family names follow (vv. 8–9). Jeshua, Binnui, and Kadmiel are three family heads (cf. 10:9). Judah (= Hodaviah) may also be included as a family name (Ezra 2:40//Neh. 7:43). The remaining four names, here listed among the first returnees, identify individuals also lately encountered. Sherebiah returned with Ezra and served in the recent covenant renewal (Ezra 8:24; Neh. 8:7; 9:4–5; 10:12). These join Mattaniah as liturgical musicians in charge of songs of thanksgiving. Bakbukiah and Unni round out the antiphonal choir (cf. 11:17).

12:10–11 Jehozadak, father of Jeshua, was the high priest of the exile (1 Chron. 6:4–15). The current list is a selective rather than comprehensive continuation of that high priestly line. It spans from the known service of Jeshua at the first return (538 BC) to the less certain time of Jaddua (c. 400 and beyond). Eliashib was known to be high priest in Nehemiah’s day, nearly a hundred years after Jeshua (Neh. 3:1; 445). Joiakim falls between Jeshua and Eliashib in the early fifth century, likely in office at Ezra’s arrival.239 Historical questions persist regarding the identities of Jonathan and Johanan (12:11, 23), as well as Jaddua (v. 11).240

12:12–21 The priestly divisions (“heads of [the] fathers’ houses”; v. 12) in the days of Joiakim (cf. comment on 12:10–11) are identified by twenty-one names. Above we noted twenty-two parallel names in Jeshua’s day (vv. 1–7), with only Hattush (v. 2) absent from the current list in verses 12–21 (perhaps accidently lost in transmission). The paired names (e.g., Seraiah/Meraiah; Jeremiah/Hananiah; etc.) make clear that the initial name identifies the priestly division (or family name) while the second provides the personal name of the priest who headed the family in Joiakim’s day. As also noted above, Joiarib to Jedaiah (cf. vv. 6–7) are not found among the signers of the covenant (10:2–8). Nearly all of these personal names are unknown to us. However, Zechariah may refer to the prophet whose ministry also overlapped with the high priest Jeshua (Ezra 5:1; 6:14). Iddo, Zechariah’s grandfather (Zech. 1:1, 7), is here the name of a priestly division (cf. Neh. 12:4). The head of the family for the Miniamin division has been lost in transmission (v. 17).

12:22–23 Several notes on sources follow. In the previous section (vv. 12–21), priests during the high priesthood of Joiakim were listed “as heads of [the] fathers’ houses” (vv. 12–21). The current note further informs the reader that, as with the priests, Levites were also registered by family name rather than as individuals.241 Such recording spanned the period from Eliashib to his son Johanan (v. 23). The latter was mentioned briefly above in the comment on 12:10–11; as with Jaddua, his name raises questions concerning his identity. According to a letter from the Elephantine papyri (407 BC), Johanan served as high priest in 410 and is referred to as “Jehohanan.”242 These verses further claim that the Levitical family names were recorded in the “Book of the Chronicles,” which is not the biblical book but perhaps refers to a temple archive. The referent of “Darius the Persian” is uncertain. If referring to Darius I (522–486), this historical marker fits the literary context of lists already encountered (vv. 1–7, 12–21) and indicates that priestly registration recommenced as early as his reign (cf. Ezra 6:1, 18).243

12:24–26 Four or possibly five Levitical family heads are provided (“chiefs” = “heads,” as at vv. 12, 22, 23).244 Jeshua and Kadmiel are ancestral names (Ezra 2:40; 3:9) and the personal names of those who joined with Hashabiah (= Hashabneiah) and Sherebiah in leading worship (Neh. 9:4–5) and signing the covenant (10:9–12; cf. Ezra 8:18–19). “Stood opposite them” (cf. Neh. 12:9) again refers to antiphonal singing. David had organized the Levites as singers and gatekeepers (Ezra 3:10; 1 Chronicles 25–26; 2 Chron. 8:14). Establishment of the former was in keeping with prophetic instruction (2 Chron. 29:25). The phrase “watch by watch” applies elsewhere to the rotating duties of the gatekeepers (cf. 1 Chron. 26:16). Here it is linked to the thanksgiving offering of the choir (1 Chron. 23:30), which prepares for Nehemiah 12:31.

It is best to take the first three Levitical names in verse 25 as equivalent to those in 11:17 (Obadiah = Abda). Likewise, Talmon and Akkub, identified as gatekeeper family names at 11:19, are joined by Meshullam (= Shallum; Ezra 2:42//Neh. 7:45; 1 Chron. 9:17).

The priestly houses of Joiakim’s day were known (Neh. 12:12–21). The summarizing historical note (v. 26) stresses that the Levitical families treated in verses 22–25 also served from the time of Joiakim. All are now joined with the subsequent ministries of Nehemiah and Ezra to illustrate the unified and ongoing renewal of temple worship throughout the period.