Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 11:4
And at Jerusalem dwelt [certain] of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez;
4. And at Jerusalem ] R.V. And in Jerusalem. In the Chronicles list after ‘the children of Benjamin’ are mentioned ‘and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh.’
Athaiah the son of Uzziah, &c.] In 1Ch 9:4 the house of Perez is represented by ‘Uthai the son of Ammihud.’ The suggestion that ‘Athaiah’ and ‘Uthai’ are identical appears plausible at first sight. But the names of their respective ancestors are different; and it is possible that two different men are intended. If the great similarity of the names forbids us to believe that two separate personages can be referred to, we must conclude that the two lists are epitomes and have preserved different representative names from the completer genealogy in the original document.
Mahalaleel ] R.V. Mahalalel.
Perez ] or Pharez. Cf. Gen 38:29 ; 1Ch 4:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the margin reference notes. Both accounts appear to be extracts from a public official register which Nehemiah caused to be made of his census. The census itself seems to have been confined to the dwellers at Jerusalem. The subjoined table exhibits the differences between the accounts of the entire population of Jerusalem as given in Nehemiah and in Chronicles:
|
| 1 Chron | Nehemiah |
| Tribes of Judah |
|
|
| Of Pharez | | 468 |
| Of Zerah | 690 | |
| Tribe of Benjamin | 956 | 928 |
| Tribe of Levi | | |
| Priests | 1760 | 1192 |
| Levites | | 284 |
| Porters | 212 | 172 |
According to Nehemiahs numbers, supplemented from Chronicles, the entire adult male population of the city was 3,734, which would give a total population of 14,936. According to Chronicles, supplemented from Nehemiah, the adult males were 4,370, and consequently the entire population, would have been 17,480. As the Nethinims and the Israelites of Ephraim and Manasseh 1Ch 9:3 are not included in either list, we may conclude that the actual number of the inhabitants, after the efforts recorded in Neh 11:1-2, was not much short of 20,000.
Neh 11:16
The outward business of the house of God – Such as the collection of the newly-imposed tax Neh 10:32, the providing of the regular sacrifices, the renewal of vestments, and the like.
Neh 11:17
The principal to begin the thanksgiving – i. e., the precentor, or leader of the choir.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The children of Judah and of Benjamin; for to these two tribes this city anciently and most properly belonged, although some also of other tribes dwelt in it; of which, and other things relating to this catalogue, see 1Ch 9:3, &c.
Athaiah, and his family and relations with him, and under him as their head, as appears from Neh 11:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. at Jerusalem dwelt certain of thechildren of JudahThe discrepancy that is apparent between this[Ne 11:4-36] and thelist formerly given in 1Ch9:1-9, arose not only from the Jewish and Oriental practice ofchanging or modifying the names of persons from a change ofcircumstances, but from the alterations that must have been producedin the course of time. The catalogue in Chronicles contains those whocame with the first detachment of returned exiles, while the list inthis passage probably included also those who returned with Ezra andNehemiah; or it was most probably made out afterwards, when severalhad died, or some, who had been inserted as going on the journey,remained, and others came in their stead.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin,…. It belonging partly to one tribe and partly to the other, and so inhabited by both, as it originally was,
Jos 15:63
of the children of Judah; Athaiah; called Uthai, 1Ch 9:4 whose lineage is traced through Uzziah, Zechariah, Amariah, Shephatiah, Mahalaleel,
of the children of Perez; a son of Judah, see 1Ch 9:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) Perez.In 1 Chronicles 9 the descendants of Perez (or Phares) are not given; but the descendants of Zerah, present there, are absent here. This may be a question of the right reading of the text.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(4-19) The heads in Jerusalem: as compared with 1 Chronicles 9, by no means complete. Judah and Benjamin are represented, with priests and Levites and porters.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Of The Children Of Judah ( Neh 11:4-6 ).
Comparison with the list in 1 Chronicle 9 indicates that there is not a single duplication. The names in each are totally distinctive. This demonstrates that they are referring to different times. The ones named in 1 Chronicles 9 may be those who had settled in Jerusalem, because it was ‘their own city’, prior to this time, with the ones described here seen as moving to live in Jerusalem at the instigation of Nehemiah.
Neh 11:4
‘Of the children of Judah:;
Neh 11:4
‘Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez; 11:5 ‘And Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite.’ 11:6 ‘All the sons of Perez who dwelt in Jerusalem were four hundred, and sixty eight valiant men.’
It will be noted that of the sons of Judah only sons of Perez are specifically mentioned. This may, of course, be because when the lots were taken a choice was initially made between the sons of Zerah and the sons of Perez, and it was the sons of Perez who were chosen. And these were then chosen out of the sons of Perez. And/or it may be because the sons of Zerah were already there in considerable numbers (1Ch 9:6), because it was their home city. The reference to ‘the Shilonite’ (or Shelanite per Num 26:20) takes Maaseiah’s descent back to Shelah, the son of Judah (Gen 38:5; Gen 38:26).
‘Maaseiah the son of Baruch the son of Col-hozeh.’ In Neh 3:15 we learn of Shallun, the son of Col-hozeh, who was ruler of part of Mizpah, and oversaw the building of part of the wall. He may well have been Baruch’s brother. Note the title ‘valiant men’ which has military connotations (although admittedly it could mean ‘men of substance’). They were here as defenders of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 11:4 And at Jerusalem dwelt [certain] of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez;
Ver. 4. Certain of the children of Judah, &c. ] Yea, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh too, 1Ch 9:3 ; where the same is set down as here, but the number is greater. And why? Here only those are reckoned who inhabited Jerusalem by lot; but there the volunteers also. See Neh 11:2 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dwelt: 1Ch 9:3, 1Ch 9:4-9
Perez: The variation of Pharez and Perez is only found in the translation; the original being uniformly [Strong’s H6557]. Gen 38:29, Rth 4:18, Pharez, Mat 1:3, Luk 3:33, Phares
Reciprocal: Num 26:20 – Pharez 1Ch 2:4 – Pharez Ezr 8:8 – Shephatiah
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
11:4 And at Jerusalem dwelt [certain] of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of {b} Perez;
(b) Which came from Perez the son of Judah.