Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 3:17
After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.
17. the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani ] Here it may be noticed that the community is mentioned first, its representative afterwards. This variation from the usage in Neh 3:7-8 is perhaps intended to give prominence to the work of the Levites or of a particular band of them.
Rehum, whose name is the same as that of one of the chief colleagues of Zerubbabel at the Return from Exile (Ezr 2:2), is perhaps to be identified with the Rehum in Neh 10:25. Bani is mentioned in Neh 9:5.
the ruler of the half part of Keilah ] R.V. the ruler of half the district of Keilah. This is in all probability to be identified with the Keilah of Jos 15:44; 1Sa 23:1, a town about 15 miles S. W. of Jerusalem.
in his part ] R.V. for his part, i.e. for the district which he represented, in distinction from the district mentioned in the verse following.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The constant mention of priests, Levites, and Nethinims, sufficiently indicates that the writer is here concerned with the sacerdotal quarter, that immediately about the temple.
Neh 3:18
Bavai – Or, Binnui Neh 3:24; Neh 10:9.
The armoury at the turning of the wall – literally, the armoury of the corner. The northwestern corner of the special wall of the city of David seems to be intended. See Neh 3:1 note.
Neh 3:20
The other piece – Rather, another piece. The notice of Baruchs first piece, like that of Malchijahs and Hashubs Neh 3:11, seems to have slipped out of the text.
Neh 3:22
The word here translated plain is applied in the rest of Scripture almost exclusively to the Ghor or Jordan valley. Compare, however, Neh 12:28.
Neh 3:24
The turning of the wall – The northeastern angle of the city of David seems here to be reached. At this point a tower lay out Neh 3:25, or projected extraordinarily, from the wall, being probably a watch-tower commanding the Kidron valley and all the approaches to the city from the southeast, the east, and the northeast.
Neh 3:25
The kings high house is almost certainly the old palace of David, which was on the temple hill, and probably occupied a position directly north of the temple.
That was by the court of the prison – Prisons were in old times adjuncts of palaces. The palace of David must have had its prison; and the prison gate Neh 12:39 was clearly in this quarter.
Neh 3:26
The marginal reading is better. On the Nethinims see 1Ch 9:2 note.
Ophel was the slope south of the temple (see the marginal reference y note); and the water-gate, a gate in the eastern wall, either for the escape of the superfluous water from the temple reservoirs, or for the introduction of water from the Kidron valley when the reservoirs were low.
Neh 3:27
The foundations of an outlying tower near the southeast angle of the temple area in this position have been recently discovered.
Neh 3:28
The horse gate was on the east side of the city, overlooking the Kidron valley. It seems to have been a gate by which horses approached and left the old palace, that of David, which lay north of the temple Neh 3:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani,…. Who was one of them, as he that follows was another:
next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah: a city of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:4
in his part; either with the men of that part of Keilah under his jurisdiction, or at the expense of that part of it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(17) The Levites.The circuit is coming round to the Temple.
Rehum the son of Bani.The Levites were under him as a body.
In his part.The other part of the Keilah district (now Kila) is in the next verse.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Keilah Situated about five miles northwest of Hebron, and some fifteen southwest of Jerusalem. See Jos 15:44 ; 1Sa 23:1.
In his part That is, for his district. He represented the part of Keilah which he governed, just as Bavai represented, as mentioned in the next verse, the other half of Keilah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘After him repaired the Levites:
It would appear that this next section of the wall, up to Neh 3:19 (or 20) was repaired by Levites who had become involved in administration. This may have been because they were looked to for leadership after the devastation of the land by the Babylonians. Note the recurrence of ‘next to him’ twice, probably indicating their close relationship, and the reference to ‘their brothers’.
Neh 3:17
‘Rehum the son of Bani.’
Rehum, son of Bani, was clearly a man of importance needing no further introduction. He and his household repaired a part of the wall beyond the Barracks, a section of the wall which led up to the High Priest’s palace (Neh 3:20). He may well have been a descendant of the Rehum mentioned in Ezr 2:2 as one of the ten important men who returned with Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel. (Although that Rehum may have been one of the chief priests who arrived with Zerubbabel – Neh 12:2). A Rehum was a signatory to Nehemiah’s covenant (Neh 10:25).
Bani was also the name of a Levite who signed Nehemiah’s covenant (Neh 10:13), and it was in fact the name of two Levites who are mentioned in connection with Temple worship in Ezra’s time (Neh 9:4-5). Uzzi, son of Bani, would later be an overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem (Neh 11:22).
The name Bani was also given to a Gadite, who was one of David’s mighty men (2Sa 23:36); to a Levite whose son was appointed for service in the tabernacle in David’s time (1Ch 6:46); to a Judahite whose son lived in Jerusalem after the exile (1Ch 9:4); to a family head whose descendants came back with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:10) and had taken idolatrous foreign wives (Ezr 10:29); to a man who had taken an idolatrous foreign wife (Ezr 10:38), whose brothers ‘the sons of Bani’ had also taken idolatrous foreign wives; to a leader of the people who signed Nehemiah’s covenant (Neh 10:14). It was thus a very common name making identifications difficult.
Neh 3:17
‘Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district.’
Next to Rehum operated Hashabiah along with men from Keilah, the district over half of which Hashabiah was ruler. This may be the Hashabiah who signed Nehemiah’s covenant (Neh 10:11), and was one of the chiefs of the Levites mentioned in Neh 12:24. The other half of Keilah was ruled over by his fellow-Levite, Bavvai, who was repairing the next section (Neh 3:18).
The name Hashabiah also applied to a Levite who dwelt in Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah (Neh 11:15); to a Levite whom Ezra induced to return from exile with him (Ezr 8:19); to one of the twelve priests set apart by Ezra to take care of the gold, the silver, and the vessels of the temple on their return from exile (Ezr 8:24); to a Levite who was the grandfather of Uzzi, an overseer of Levites in Jerusalem (Neh 11:22); and to a priest who was head of a father’s house in the days of Joiakim, son of Joshua the High Priest (Neh 12:21). Any connection of any of these with Hashabiah the ruler is tentative in the extreme.
More generally the name applied to two Levites of the family of Merari (1Ch 6:45; 1Ch 9:14); to a son of Jeduthun (1Ch 25:3); to a Hebronite chief of a clan of warriors who had charge of West Jordan in the interests of YHWH and the king of Israel in the time of David (1Ch 26:30); to a Levite who was a “ruler” (1Ch 27:17); and to one of the Levite chiefs in the time of Josiah, who gave liberally toward the sacrifices (2Ch 35:9).
Keilah was a town in the Shephelah (Jos 15:43), possibly the Kelti of the Amarna letters. David relieved it from the pressure of the Philistines in Saul’s time, but having done so had to leave because he could not trust the inhabitants not to hand him over to Saul (1Sa 23:1-13). It is probably now Khirbet Qila which is on a hill commanding the ascent to Hebron south from Socoh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 3:17 After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.
Ver. 17. After him repaired the Levites ] Who therefore were not beggarly (as many would make ministers in our days, if they might have their will), but had somewhat to spare for pious uses. For when they are said to repair, the meaning is, they bore the charge of the work, and took care that it was done.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Keilah. Now Kila, about fifteen miles southeast of Jerusalem, in the Hebron mountains. See 1Sa 23:1-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the ruler: Neh 3:16, 1Ch 23:4
Keilah: Jos 15:44, 1Sa 23:1, 1Sa 23:2-13
Reciprocal: Ezr 8:19 – Hashabiah Neh 3:9 – the ruler Neh 8:7 – Bani Neh 10:25 – General Neh 11:22 – Bani Eze 31:17 – that were