Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 7:43
The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, [and] of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four.
43. and of the children of Hodevah ] R.V. of the children of Hodevah. Marg. ‘Another reading is Hodeiah.’ See on Ezr 2:40; Ezr 3:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
[See comments on Ne 7:6].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Enrolling Of The Levites ( Neh 7:43 ).
Compared with 4,289 priests who returned, only 74 Levites returned, to which we might add the 148 singers (128 in Ezra 2) and the 138 (139 in Ezra 2) gate-keepers, making 360 (341 in Ezra 2) in all, although it would appear that the writer of the list did not include the singers and gatekeepers as Levites, although he may have assumed that his readers would know that they were Levites. These small numbers tie in with the fact that when Ezra later gathered those who were returning with him he says, ‘I viewed the people and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi’, a situation which he set about remedying (Ezr 8:15). The Levites were clearly not enthusiastic about returning. This is partly explicable by the fact that as the Levites only assisted the priests in the Temple, it was something that was not so appealing as being a fully fledged priest (as Ezr 8:15 confirms), and partly by the fact that the priests would have been exiled in large numbers as people of importance, whilst the Levites may well have been seen as ‘the poor of the land’, and thus not exiled in large numbers. The lowly state of the Levites as compared with the priests is brought out in Eze 44:10-31. It is clear from Ezekiel 44 that the Levites bore a large part of the blame for the encouragement of idolatrous worship in pre-Exilic days.
Neh 7:43
‘The Levites.’
Details are now given of the generality of Levites, who would assist the priests in worship, who were among those who returned. This will then be followed by the more specialist singers and gatekeepers, who may not at this time have described themselves as ‘Levites’, although they were originally. We must be careful, however, not to read too much into silence. The musicians are clearly seen as Levites in Neh 3:10, a short while later.
Neh 7:43
‘The sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, seventy four.’
The two orders of Levites who returned are the sons of Jeshua, (the son of Azaniah – Neh 10:4) and the sons of Kadmiel, who was ‘of the sons of Hodaviah’. Ezr 2:40 reads, ‘the sons of Joshua, of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodaviah’, an alternative rendering of the name. The addition, “of the sons of Hodevah,” is applied to Kadmiel, in order to distinguish him from other Levites of a similar name. Kadmiel appears to be a typically Levite name. The Jeshua and Kadmiel mentioned here were heads of father’s houses in the past.
According to Ezr 3:9 Jeshua and Kadmiel were chiefs of two orders of Levites in the times of Zerubbabel and Joshua, who had oversight of the workmen of the house of God. These chiefs may originally have been given these names, or they may have taken the name of their ancestors in celebration of the return from Exile. Two men of the same names (probably grandsons. At this time the naming of grandsons after their grandfathers was common practise) played their part in the ceremony of praising God for the return (Neh 9:4-5), and in sealing the covenant of Nehemiah (Neh 10:9) and these names reoccur as names of orders of Levites in Neh 12:8. In the MT a ‘Jeshua the son of Kadmiel’ is mentioned in Neh 12:24.
With regard to Hodaviah, there is no mention of the sons of Hodaviah in the lists of Levites in Chronicles. It was, however, the name of one of the heads of the half-tribe of Manasseh on the East of the Jordan (1Ch 5:24), and of a Benjamite, who was the son of Hassenuah (1Ch 9:7). It was also the name of a son of Elioenai, and a descendant of David (1Ch 3:24). Thus it was a regular Jewish name.
The limited number of Levites is revealing. The Law gave them nine tenths of the tithes, but that was because when the Law was given the numbers of Levites were very large. This is clear evidence against the suggestion that the Law of Moses as we have it was mainly composed by Ezra, as used to be suggested.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 7:43-45
43The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, 74.
44The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.
45The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hittite, the sons of Shobai, 138.
Neh 7:43 Hodevah In Ezr 2:40 this is spelled Hodariah. This name is not found in 1Es 5:26; it has Bannas and Sudias.
Neh 7:44 Asaph He was appointed by David as Levitical musician (cf. 1 Chronicles 25; 2Ch 25:12). He became the head of a family of musicians (cf. Ezr 2:41; Ezr 3:10; Neh 11:17; Neh 11:22; Neh 12:35).
148 In Ezr 2:41 the number is 128 (as it is in 1Es 5:27).
Neh 7:45 138 In Ezr 2:45 the number is 139 (as it is in 1Es 5:28).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Hodevah: Ezr 2:40, Hodaviah, Neh 3:9, Judah
Reciprocal: Ezr 3:9 – Judah Neh 10:9 – Jeshua