Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 12:31
Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great [companies of them that gave] thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:
31. the princes of Judah ] i.e. all the nobles of the nation.
upon the wall ] Much turns upon the meaning of the preposition here used. The words in the Hebrew, ‘from above, with respect to the wall’ have been considered by some to mean ‘beyond, at a little distance from the wall;’ by others ‘over against the wall.’ But a comparison with its use in 2Ch 13:4 (= ‘upon’), Jon 4:6 (= ‘over’) shows that the rendering of the English version may very well be defended.
two great companies of them that gave thanks ] R.V. two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession. Literally ‘And I appointed two great thanksgivings and processions.’ The LXX. rendered . The Vulg. ‘statui duos magnos choros laudantium’ is clearly the origin of the A.V. rendering. The Hebrew word for ‘procession’ occurs only here in the O.T.
whereof one went on the right hand dung gate ] We have here to supply the words ‘whereof one went,’ which seem to have slipped out of the text. They are needed in order to correspond with ‘the other company’ in Neh 12:38, ‘the right hand;’ facing towards the Temple, the procession moving to the right marched along the southern wall. The starting point seems to have been ‘the valley gate’ of Neh 2:13. ‘Towards the dung gate.’ Cf. Neh 3:14.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
31 42. Nehemiah’s description of the dedication of the walls
Two processions headed by the priests and Levites started from near the Valley or Jaffa Gate, and proceeded, the one by the northern, the other by the southern wall, together accomplishing the complete circuit, and meeting one another in the open space on the eastern side of the Temple.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I brought up – Note the resumption of the first person, which has been laid aside since Neh 7:5, and which is confirmed now to the end of the book. It is generally allowed that we have here once more a memoir by Nehemiah himself.
The two companies or choirs, having ascended the wall on its western face, near the modern Jaffa Gate, stood looking eastward toward the city and temple; then the southern choir, being on the right, commenced the circuit of the southern wall, while the choir upon the left proceeded round the northern wall Neh 12:38-39, until both met on the eastern wall, between the water and the prison gates.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. Then I brought up the princes] Perhaps this verse should be read thus: “Then I caused the princes of Judah to go upon the wall, and appointed two great choirs, [to sing praises,] and two processions, one on the right hand, c.
The following seems to have been the order of the procession: he divided the priests, the Levites, the magistrates, and the people into two companies each company to go round one half of the wall. They began at the dung gate, one party going to the right and the other to the left, till they met at the great space opposite to the temple, where they all offered many sacrifices to God, and rejoiced with exceeding great joy; shouting so that the noise was heard a great way off.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The princes of Judah, and half of the people with them, as it is expressed afterwards, Neh 12:38.
Upon the wall; for the wall was broad and strong, and so ordered that men might conveniently walk upon it, as at this day it is in many cities.
On the right hand; towards the south and east.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall,…. Which was so broad as to walk upon it, and there was a procession of the princes on it at its dedication, and here is described the manner of it; the princes of Benjamin must be included here:
and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks; he divided the people who were met together to praise God on this occasion into two companies: whereof
one went on the right hand upon the wall; that is, on the southern part of it:
towards the dung gate; of which see Ne 2:13 some Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Ben Melech, give a different sense of , which we render “two companies”, and take them to be two eucharistical loaves of leavened bread, with which a rite or ceremony was performed at the enlargement of a court or city; at the utmost boundary of which those were carried, and one was eaten and the other burnt r; which rite is thus described by Maimonides s,
“how do they add to a city? the sanhedrim make two eucharistical sacrifices, and they take the leavened bread in them, and the sanhedrim go after the two eucharistical sacrifices, which follow one another, and they stand with harps, and psalteries, and cymbals, at every corner and at every stone in Jerusalem, and say, I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted up, &c. (#Ps 30:1) until they come to the end of the place they consecrate, there they stand and eat the thanksgiving loaf, one of the two, and the other is burnt.”
r Miss. Shebuot, c. 2. sect. 2. & Maimon, & Bartenora in ib. s Hilchot, Beth-habechirah, c. 6. sect. 12. Vid. Selden. de Synedr. l. 3. c. 13. sect. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. The processional and dedication ceremonies are described.
TEXT, Neh. 12:31-43
31
Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate.
32
Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,
33
with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,
34
Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,
35
and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,
36
and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.
37
And at the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.
38
The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the broad wall,
39
and above the Gate of Ephraim, by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate, and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
40
Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me;
41
and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with the trumpets;
42
and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan. Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah their leader,
43
and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.
COMMENT
Neh. 12:31 begins the descriptive of a processional of dignitaries and choirs in two columns almost the entire length of the wall, around the city.
Neh. 12:32-36 give the personnel included in one column.
In Neh. 12:36, the kind of instruments associated with David are used, with the explanation that he was the man of God; so we see their effort to conform even in small details to the tried and proven paths to evoke Gods pleasure. At the front of that procession, right behind the choir, was Ezra.
In Neh. 12:37 their route is traced from a point south of the city to another on the east.
Meanwhile, Neh. 12:38-39, a second column began at the same southern point and followed along the west wall and apparently circled more than half of the city. Following the choir and leading the rest of this procession was Nehemiah.
In Neh. 12:40, both columns arrived at the Temple where the choirs and some of the dignitaries stationed themselves for the ceremonies to follow.
Neh. 12:41-42 list the priestly participants and the choir leader, and mention the singers and the instrumental accompaniment.
In Neh. 12:43 there is one more word for joy in the Hebrew text than in English: five times there is rejoicing or joy! Amid it all was the offering of innumerable sacrifices, and thrilled by it all were men, women, and this time without question, children.
The impression made by the pageantry, the dignitaries (Ezra and Nehemiah both may have been recalled from Babylon and Persia for the occasion), the music, and the smell and sight of sacrifices, must have been awe-inspiring.
WORD STUDIES
PURIFY (Neh. 12:27): the basic idea of the Hebrew word is brightness or splendor; i.e. it causes something to shine or be bright. It signifies to be or become clean or pure: to cleanse or purify. It can be done for three reasons. (1) Of physical purity: Eze. 39:12 describes the cleansing of the land from corpses. Num. 8:6-7 speaks of washing and completely shaving the Levites to prepare them for Gods service. (2) Of ceremonial purity: Eze. 43:26 speaks of cleansing the altar for the new Temple of which Ezekiel had a vision, A leper who had been healed would be purified in a ceremony administered by a priest: Lev. 14:11. (3) Of moral purity: Mal. 3:3 uses the figure of purifying metal from dross as a parallel of a persons moral cleansing. Jer. 33:8 speaks of cleansing through Gods forgiveness.
DEDICATION (Neh. 12:30 : Hanukkah): Sometimes a study of word derivations leads one down some strange and unexpected paths. There are three words formed from the same base, all of which have one common meaning: to choke. Apparently from this come the ideas of being narrow or of closing. A collar is placed around the neck of an animal and it is strangled down so that it can be initiated into mans service and trained for usefulness: thus it becomes dedicated, or consecrated to certain purposes. Each of the italicized words is a translation of one of the forms of this word. Our English word, neck, is derived from this same base (note the N and K, also in Hanukkah). So a wall was collared for mans service.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(31) The princes.The chiefs were assembled somewhere on the south-west wall, and then divided into two companies.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. The princes of Judah are here, as usual, the political chiefs or representatives of the new community. It was important for all these, as well as for Nehemiah himself, to appear in the great processions which were so prominent a part of the ceremonies of the day.
Two great companies of them that gave thanks Or, two great choirs. One of these was to go, as a body of musicians, before each of the great processions.
One went on the right toward the dung gate The two processions seem to have started near the valley gate, (Neh 2:13,) and this one going southward, passed round the southwestern corner of the city, near which was the dung gate. See on Neh 2:13; and Plan, page 444.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Composition Of The First Company Who Went Towards The Dung Gate, The Fountain Gate And The Stairs Of David ( Neh 12:31-37 ).
It is almost certain that the processions commenced from the Valley Gate, through which Nehemiah had previously gone to examine the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 2:13). This was in the West wall, and was roughly equidistant from the East gate of the Temple which would be the final destination, both when going round the wall clockwise and when going round anticlockwise. This is confirmed by the fact that the first procession then proceeded towards the Dung Gate which was at the southern end of Jerusalem (Neh 12:31 b), whilst the other procession moved towards the tower of the furnaces, and the broad wall (Neh 12:38), which were northwards of the Valley Gate. For the relevant geography see chapter 3, especially Neh 12:11-14.
Such giving of praise to YHWH as they walked around the wall of Jerusalem was not unique to this occasion. Psa 48:12-14 may be seen as suggesting that such processions regularly took place on some festal occasions;
‘Walk about Zion,
And go round about her,
Count her towers,
Mark well her bulwarks,
Consider her palaces,
That you may tell it to the following generation,
For this God is our God for ever and ever,
He will be our guide even unto death.’
It will be noted that the purpose for doing this in the Psalmist’s case was so that they might be aware of what God had done for them in order that they might proclaim His glory to others. They were surrounding Jerusalem with praise, thereby calling down God’s blessing on it.
Neh 12:31
‘Then I brought up the princes of Judah on (or ‘beside’) the wall,’
Nehemiah now returns to the first person singular as he continues on the story of the completion of the wall with a description of this final act of dedication. The last reference in the first person singular was Neh 7:5 but that had included the details provided in Neh 7:6-73. In chapter Neh 8:1 to Neh 12:30 he is referred to in the third person. But that does not necessarily mean that he did not write the whole book, only that the material in that section was obtained from different records available to him rather than from his own account of the building of the wall, records which he did not materially alter.
Here he describes how he gathered ‘the princes of Judah’ to the wall in order to commence the celebration. This refers not only to the aristocrats of the tribe of Judah, but to all leaders of the nation in wider Judah, including Benjamin. He was gathering together the aristocrats of the whole nation, a nation which as we have seen, extended far beyond the Persian province of Judah. Whether they gathered on the wall and proceeded to march round the top of the wall, or gathered beside the wall and marched round the walls in that way, we do not know. The Hebrew text can indicate either.
Neh 12:31
And I appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession; (of which one went) on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate:’
Gathered with the aristocrats were the singers and musicians who had been summoned, and the whole were divided into two groups each of which would march in the opposite direction to the other, one anticlockwise, the other clockwise, giving thanks musically as they marched. One of the groups thus initially marched southwards in the direction of the Dung Gate. It would appear that the singers and musicians led the way, praising God as they went, and that these were followed by Hoshaiah and half the aristocrats of Judah. These included seven leading priests (including Ezra) who blew their priestly trumpets (an instrument exclusive to the priests). It would have been a stirring and moving sight. The other group, following a similar pattern, went northwards towards the tower of the furnaces and the broad wall.
Neh 12:32
‘And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah,’
We do not know who Hoshaiah was. He was clearly one of the chief leaders of Judah, and possibly deputy to Nehemiah himself. Following him was the group consisting of half the aristocrats of ‘Judah’. But it is a nice touch that, whilst we learn later that Ezra led the procession (Neh 12:36), no doubt as an official appointee of the King of Persia, here we are informed that the aristocrats were led by a high official of Judah
Neh 12:33-35
‘And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, and certain of the priests’ sons, with trumpets.’
And along with them marched seven leading priests, together with other priests (unless we translate as ‘even certain of the priests’ sons’, the phrase being explicatory of the seven), all blowing sacred trumpets. The names of the seven are given, and as there were also seven in the other party (Neh 12:41) we have no real reason to doubt the accuracy of the report. Azariah, Meshullam, Shemaiah and Jeremiah were also named as signatories of the covenant of Nehemiah (Neh 10:2; Neh 10:7-8). Ezra we know of (see also Neh 12:36 b) and he is presumably mentioned after Azariah (a parallel name to Ezra) because of Azariah’s superior status in the priestly hierarchy. There is no reason why Judah and Benjamin should not have been the names of priests, although they are not mentioned elsewhere as priests. But whilst Ezra is named as second in status from a priestly point of view (he came from a noble priestly family) it was he who led the way as the official representative of the King of Persia (Neh 12:36).
Neh 12:35-36
‘Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God,’
Following the aristocrats and the priests came the chiefs of the singers and musicians, nine in number. These bore the kind of musical instruments prophetically validated by David, as a ‘man of God’, for worship. This included Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, whose ancestry traced back to Asaph, the leading musician in David’s day, together with eight other named leading Levites. Their names are given. The fact that none are specifically paralleled among the signatories to the covenant in Neh 10:9-13 suggests that there they had signed the covenant in the name of their wider Levite family and not in their own name. It will be noted that there were seventeen Levite families who signed the covenant, whilst in these processions there were eighteen leading Levites. A leading Levite who was not a head of family must presumably have been co-opted in order to even out the numbers. (But see in this regard the comment on Neh 12:42)
Neh 12:36
‘And Ezra the scribe was before them.’
Leading the procession, and the aristocrats and chief priests, but probably following the leading singers, came Ezra the Scribe (already mentioned in Neh 12:33), no doubt due to his official position as an appointee of the King of Persia. Whilst Azariah was superior in the priestly hierarchy he was lower than Ezra in political status. He may well have marched alongside Hoshaiah.
Neh 12:37
‘And by the fountain gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.’
Having reached the Dung Gate, this procession rounded the southernmost point of Jerusalem and then proceeded northwards up the eastern side of the wall, coming first to the fountain gate, and then to the stairs of the city of David (Neh 3:15). Marching onwards they came to the part of the wall by the one-time palace of David, and then to the water gate (Neh 3:25-26). These were all well-known landmarks. The assumption must be that from there they proceeded to the Temple. The part of the wall from here to the sheep gate (the gate through which the other procession entered) does not appear to have featured in either procession, discounting the idea that a strict attempt was made to encircle Jerusalem for some numinous or quasi-magical purpose.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Those Taking Part In The Ceremony Are Divided Into Two Great Companies Who Proceed To Circumnavigate The Wall, One Company Going One Way And The Other Company The Other ( Neh 12:31-43 ).
Nehemiah now divided the representatives of Judah (i.e. the new Israel) into two great companies who together would give thanks as they circumnavigated the wall, one company going one way and the other the other. We cannot be sure whether they actually walked on top of the wall, or whether they walked alongside the wall (the Hebrew is not clear on this). But while the details may not be fully clear the ceremony followed an established pattern:
First in each case went a company of those who gave thanks (Neh 12:31; Neh 12:38). These may well have been composed of the singers and musicians who had been gathered together as previously described in Neh 12:27-29.
These were then followed, in the one case by Hoshaiah (Neh 12:32), and in the other by Nehemiah ( Neh 12:38; Neh 12:40). Hoshaiah was clearly a man of great importance, a leader of the Jews, possibly deputy to Nehemiah.
Hoshaiah was then followed by half the ‘princes’ of Judah (Neh 12:32), and Nehemiah by the other half (Neh 12:40). By the princes of Judah are meant, not the leaders of that tribe, but the aristocrats of greater Judah, including Benjamin. They included the aristocrats and clan leaders of the whole community of the new Israel.
These were then followed in each case by seven prominent named priests, possibly accompanied by other priests, who blew the trumpets (Neh 12:33-35 a, 41).
After them came the leading named Chief Musicians, Zechariah (Neh 12:35 b) and possibly Jezrahiah (Neh 12:42), who in each case were accompanied by eight leading Levitical musicians singing loudly (Neh 12:36; Neh 12:42).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 12:31-37
31Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate. 32Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, 33with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah , 35 some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 36and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.
Neh 12:31-43 This is the official dedication of the walls. How soon it followed their construction is uncertain. It was a religious occasion much like Joshua’s covenant renewal at Shechem. It is unusual to dedicate a wall in the OT, but in reality it offered protection for the holy city and its holy temple.
Neh 12:31 two great choirs These two processionals started on the top of the western wall about in the middle (south of the temple). This was exactly where Nehemiah had started his nighttime reconnoitering (cf. Neh 2:13-16). Ezra led one group (Neh 12:36) south, counter clockwise, while Nehemiah followed with the other one north, clockwise (cf. Neh 12:38). They met on the eastern wall level with the temple (the Gate of the Guard, Neh 12:39).
For specific locations see notes at Nehemiah 3.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
companies of them that gave thanks. Heb, celebrations; “celebrations”, or thanksgivings, put for the choirs who rendered them, by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Neh 12:31-37
Neh 12:31-37
THE GRAND PROCESSION ATOP THE WALL TO THE TEMPLE
“Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies which gave thanks and went in procession. One went to the right upon the wall to the Dung Gate; and after them went Hosahaiah and half of the princes of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe went before them. At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.”
“Upon the wall … upon the wall” (Neh 12:31). Many of the older scholars thought that the grand processions, one moving clockwise, the other counter clockwise, circled the wall around the city, walking on the ground; but the text here flatly declares that they marched atop the wall. This is to be trusted as the way it happened. Excavations by Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem have indicated that, “Nehemiah’s wall was nine feet wide.” As Hamrick noted, “That was ample room for a procession to move along the top of it.”
These verses concern only half the procession; there were two, one led by Ezra the priest the scribe, and the other by the governor Nehemiah. Both began in the area between the Dung Gate and the Valley Gate, Ezra moving northward around the eastern wall of the city, and Nehemiah and his procession heading northward around the western wall, both processions coming together in the vicinity of the temple.
E.M. Zerr:
Neh 12:31-37. One group was to climb up to the top of the wall and turn to the right. They were to be distributed along on the wall in the order named, and there they were to engage in praise service.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the princes: 1Ch 13:1, 1Ch 28:1, 2Ch 5:2
two great: Neh 12:38, Neh 12:40
dung gate: Neh 2:13, Neh 3:13, Neh 3:14
Reciprocal: Neh 11:17 – to begin Psa 48:12 – Walk
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 12:31-33. Then I brought up the princes And half of the people with them, as it is expressed afterward, Neh 12:38. Upon the wall For the wall was broad and strong, and so built that men might conveniently walk upon it, as at this day it is in many cities. Whereof one went on the right hand Toward the south and east. Azariah and Ezra Not the scribe, as is evident from Neh 12:36, but another Ezra.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:31 Then {i} I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great [companies of them that gave] thanks, [whereof one] went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:
(i) Meaning, Nehemiah.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The dedication ceremonies 12:31-47
One large choir mounted the city wall and walked around it counterclockwise, evidently beginning at the Valley Gate (Neh 12:31-37). Another choir mounted it, probably at the same place, and proceeded in a clockwise direction (Neh 12:38-39). Both groups appear to have sung as they walked (Neh 12:42). They met at the temple (Neh 12:40-42). There the priests offered many sacrifices and the people rejoiced greatly (Neh 12:43). This was the same wall that Tobiah had earlier claimed would be so weak that even a fox walking on it would break it down (Neh 4:3)!
"The final consummation of Nehemiah’s work had been reached. The city was protected by a wall and could resist any attempt of the neighboring nations to attack it. This was one of the main reasons for the joy. The other was that the people had demonstrated that they could perform a major task as a unit, and this proved to be a great stimulus to their morale." [Note: Fensham, pp. 257-58.]
Nehemiah also reestablished the temple service as David had organized it (Neh 12:44-47). He did for the second temple what David had done for the first temple.
This was the greatest day in the history of the restoration community. Israel was now back in the land more securely and scripturally than it had been since the first exiles had returned. Nehemiah had succeeded in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, reestablishing the Mosaic Law as Israel’s authority, and reorganizing the temple ministry in harmony with God’s will.