Nehemiah 11
New English Translation
The Population of Jerusalem
11 So the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to settle in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine[a] remained in other cities. 2 The people gave their blessing on all the men who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem.
3 These are the provincial leaders[b] who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities, 4 some of the descendants of Judah and some of the descendants of Benjamin settled in Jerusalem.)
Of the descendants of Judah:
Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, from the descendants of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, from the descendants of Shelah.[c] 6 The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.
7 These are the descendants of Benjamin:
Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, 8 and his followers,[d] Gabbai and Sallai—928 in all. 9 Joel son of Zicri was the officer in charge of them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second-in-command over the city.
10 From the priests:
Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jakin, 11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor in the temple of God, 12 and their colleagues[e] who were carrying out work for the temple—822; and Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, 13 and his colleagues who were heads of families[f]—242; and Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and his colleagues[g] who were exceptional men—128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.
15 From the Levites:
Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, leaders[h] of the Levites, were in charge of the external work for the temple of God; 17 Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the praise[i] leader who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his colleagues; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 The sum total of the Levites in the holy city was 284.
19 And the gatekeepers:
Akkub, Talmon and their colleagues who were guarding the gates—172.
20 And the rest of the Israelites, with the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own property.
21 The temple attendants were living on Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over them.[j]
22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers responsible for the service of the temple of God. 23 For they were under royal orders[k] which determined their activity day by day.[l]
24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was an adviser to the king[m] in every matter pertaining to the people.
25 As for the settlements with their fields, some of the people of Judah settled in Kiriath Arba and its neighboring villages,[n] in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its settlements, 26 in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet, 27 in Hazar Shual, in Beer Sheba and its villages, 28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29 in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam and their settlements, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its villages. So they were encamped from Beer Sheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
31 Some of the descendants of[o] Benjamin settled in Geba,[p] Micmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 in Anathoth, Nob, and Ananiah, 33 in Hazor, Ramah, and Gittaim, 34 in Hadid, Zeboyim, and Neballat, 35 in Lod, Ono, and[q] the Valley of the Craftsmen.[r] 36 Some of the Judean divisions of the Levites settled in Benjamin.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 11:1 tn Heb “nine of the hands.” The word “hand” is used here in the sense or a part or portion.
- Nehemiah 11:3 tn Heb “the heads of the province.”
- Nehemiah 11:5 tc The translation reads מִן־הַשֵּׁלָנִי (min hashelani, “from the Shelahite”) rather than the MT reading בֶּן־הַשִּׁלֹנִי (ben hashiloni, “the son of the Shilionite”). See 1 Chr 9:5.
- Nehemiah 11:8 tn Heb “those behind him.” Some scholars emend the text to וְאֶחָיו (veʾekhayv, “his brothers”).
- Nehemiah 11:12 tn Heb “brothers” (also in vv. 13, 14, 17, 19).
- Nehemiah 11:13 tn Heb “heads of fathers.”
- Nehemiah 11:14 tc The translation reads with the LXX וְאֶחָיו (veʾekhayv, “and his brothers”) rather than the MT reading וַאֲחֵיהֶם (vaʾakhehem, “and their brothers”).
- Nehemiah 11:16 tn Heb “who were of the heads.”
- Nehemiah 11:17 tc The translation reads with the Lucianic Greek recension and Vulgate הַתְּהִלָּה (hattehillah, “the praise”) rather than the MT reading הַתְּחִלָּה (hattekhillah, “the beginning”).
- Nehemiah 11:21 tn Heb “the temple attendants.” The pronoun “them” has been substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Nehemiah 11:23 tn Heb “the commandment of the king was over them.”
- Nehemiah 11:23 tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
- Nehemiah 11:24 tn Heb “to the hand of the king.”
- Nehemiah 11:25 tn Heb “its daughters.” So also in vv. 27, 28, 30, and 31.
- Nehemiah 11:31 tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta וּמִבְּנֵי (umibbene, “and some of the descendants of”; cf. NLT) rather than the MT reading וּבְנֵי (uvene, “and the sons of”).
- Nehemiah 11:31 tc Heb “from Geba.” It is preferable to delete the preposition “from” read by the MT.
- Nehemiah 11:35 tc The translation reads וְגֵי (vegey, “and the valley”) rather than the MT reading גֵּי (gey, “the valley”). The original vav (ו) probably dropped out accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word.
- Nehemiah 11:35 tn Heb “Ge-harashim,” which could be left untranslated as a place name.
Nehemiah 11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Population of the City Increased
11 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city Jerusalem, while nine-tenths remained in the other towns.(A) 2 And the people blessed all those who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
3 These are the leaders of the province who lived in Jerusalem, but in the towns of Judah all lived on their property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.(B) 4 And in Jerusalem lived some of the Judahites and the Benjaminites. Of the Judahites: Athaiah son of Uzziah son of Zechariah son of Amariah son of Shephatiah son of Mahalalel, of the descendants of Perez;(C) 5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch son of Col-hozeh son of Hazaiah son of Adaiah son of Joiarib son of Zechariah son of the Shelahnite.[a] 6 All the descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were four hundred sixty-eight valiant warriors.
7 And these are the Benjaminites: Sallu son of Meshullam son of Joed son of Pedaiah son of Kolaiah son of Maaseiah son of Ithiel son of Jeshaiah.(D) 8 And his brothers[b] Gabbai, Sallai: nine hundred twenty-eight. 9 Joel son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in charge of the city.
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin,(E) 11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah son of Meshullam son of Zadok son of Meraioth son of Ahitub, officer of the house of God, 12 and their associates who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and Adaiah son of Jeroham son of Pelaliah son of Amzi son of Zechariah son of Pashhur son of Malchijah, 13 and his associates, heads of ancestral houses, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai son of Azarel son of Ahzai son of Meshillemoth son of Immer, 14 and their associates, valiant warriors, one hundred twenty-eight; their overseer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.
15 And of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub son of Azrikam son of Hashabiah son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the leaders of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God;(F) 17 and Mattaniah son of Mica son of Zabdi son of Asaph, who was the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua son of Galal son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.(G)
19 The gatekeepers Akkub, Talmon, and their associates, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two. 20 And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, all of them in their inheritance. 21 But the temple servants lived on Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.(H)
22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani son of Hashabiah son of Mattaniah son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, the singers, in charge of the work of the house of God.(I) 23 For there was a command from the king concerning them and a settled provision for the singers, as was required every day.(J) 24 And Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, of the descendants of Zerah son of Judah, was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people.
Villages outside Jerusalem
25 And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,(K) 26 and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 in Hazar-shual, in Beer-sheba and its villages, 28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29 in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they camped from Beer-sheba to the valley of Hinnom. 31 The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and Ono, the valley of artisans. 36 And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin.
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