Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 11:25
And for the villages, with their fields, [some] of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjath-arba, and [in] the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and [in] the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and [in] the villages thereof,
25. And for the villages, with their fields ] The preposition ‘for’ = ‘with respect to.’ The verse takes up the thread which had been interrupted by the parenthesis (21 24).
at Kirjath-arba, and in the villages thereof ] R.V. in Kirjath-arba and the towns (Marg. Heb. daughters thereof).
Kirjath-arba, the old name of Hebron (Gen 23:2; Jos 14:15), the capital of the tribe of Judah (cf. 2Sa 2:1-4). Rawlinson conjectures that ‘during the captivity the old name had reasserted itself.’ Its employment here is certainly peculiar. But it is more probable that the ancient name reproduces the formal language of the official register. It is noticeable that in Joshua, which contains so many of the towns mentioned in this passage, Hebron is called by its archaic name (Jos 15:54). Kirjath-arba, or the city of Arba, was traditionally so called after Arba, one of the Anakim or pre-Canaanite princes. According to others it means ‘the city of four quarters,’ ‘a Tetrapolis.’ Its modern name El-Khalil, ‘the Friend (of God),’ preserves the memory of the patriarch Abraham, who dwelt there (Genesis 13, 14, 18, 23).
It should be observed that hitherto we have had no mention of the Jews after the exile re-occupying Hebron.
‘the towns (Heb. daughters) thereof.’ By this expression is denoted the hamlets and villages adjacent to a principal town, which were dependent on it in some degree for supplies and for protection, and were originally offshoots. Cf. Num 21:25; Num 21:32; Jos 15:45; Jdg 11:26.
Dibon Jekabzeel ] Probably the same as Dimonah and Kabzeel, which occur in connexion with Moladah in Jos 15:21-22; Jos 15:26.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Kirjath-arba – i. e., Hebron. In the absence of the Hebrews during the captivity, the place had recovered its old name Jos 15:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Kirjath-arba: this and most of the other places here named had been destroyed by the Chaldeans; but the Jews now repaired the best of the ruinated houses, and by degrees rebuilt others.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. some of the children of Judahdwelt at Kirjath-arbaThe whole region in which the villageshere mentioned were situated had been completely devastated by theChaldean invasion; and, therefore, it must be assumed, that thesevillages had been rebuilt before “the children dwelt in them.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And for the villages, with their fields,…. The cities and villages in the country, an account of the inhabitants of them next follows:
some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof; the same with Hebron, Jos 15:54
and at Dibon; the same with Dimonah, Jos 15:22
and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof; the same with Kabzeel, one of the uttermost cities of the tribe of Judah southward,
Jos 15:21, of which city was Benaiah, one of David’s worthies,
2Sa 23:20, from hence to the end of Ne 11:30 mention is made of various cities and towns, in the tribe of Judah, inhabited by the men of it, which are to be met with in Jos 15:1 excepting Jeshua and Mekonah, Ne 11:26, of which we nowhere else read.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The inhabitants of the towns of Judah and Benjamin. – The heads who, with their houses, inhabited country districts are here no longer enumerated, but only the towns, with their adjacent neighbourhoods, which were inhabited by Jews and Benjamites; and even these are but summarily mentioned.
Neh 11:25-30 The districts inhabited by the children of Judah. “And with respect to the towns in their fields, there dwelt of the sons of Judah in Kirjath-arba and its daughters,” etc. The use of as an introductory or emphatic particle is peculiar to this passage, ,egassap being elsewhere customary in this sense; comp. Ew. 310, a. denotes a respect to something. , properly enclosures, signifies, according to Lev 25:31, villages, towns, boroughs, without walls. , fields, field boundaries. , the villages and estates belonging to a town; as frequently in the lists of towns in the book of Joshua. Kirjath-arba is Hebron, Gen 23:2. Jekabzeel, like Kabzeel, Jos 15:21. , its enclosed places, the estates belonging to a town, as in Jos 15:45. Jeshua, mentioned only here, and unknown. Moladah and Beth-phelet, Jos 15:26-27. Hazar-shual, i.e., Fox-court, probably to be sought for in the ruins of Thaly; see rem. on Jos 15:28. Beersheba, now Bir es Seba; see rem. on Gen 21:31. Ziklag, at the ancient Asluj, see Jos 15:31. Mekonah, mentioned only here, and unknown. En-rimmon; see rem. on 1Ch 4:32. Zareah, Jarmuth, Zanoah, and Adullam in the plains (see Jos 15:33-35), where were also Lachish and Azekah; see on 2Ch 11:9. – In Neh 11:30 the whole region then inhabited by Jews is comprised in the words: “And they dwelt from Beer-sheba (the south-western boundary of Canaan) to the valley of Hinnom, in Jerusalem,” through which ran the boundaries of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Jos 15:8).
Neh 11:31-35 The dwellings of the Benjamites. Neh 11:31 The children of Benjamin dwelt from Geba to Michmash, Aija, etc. Geba, according to 2Ki 23:8 and Jos 14:10, the northern boundary of the kingdom of Judah, is the half-ruined village of Jibia in the Wady el Jib, three leagues north of Jerusalem, and three-quarters of a league north-east of Ramah (Er Ram); see on Jos 18:24. Michmash ( or ), now Mukhmas, sixty-three minutes north-east of Geba, and three and a half leagues north of Jerusalem; see rem. on 1Sa 13:2. Aija ( or , Isa 10:28), probably one with , Jos 7:2; Jos 8:1., the situation of which is still a matter of dispute, Van de Velde supposing it to be the present Tell el Hadshar, three-quarters of a league south-east of Beitin; while Schegg, on the contrary, places it in the position of the present Tayibeh, six leagues north of Jerusalem (see Delitzsch on Isa. at Isa 10:28-32, etc., translation), – a position scarcely according with Isa 10:28., the road from Tayibeh to Michmash and Geba not leading past Migron (Makhrun), which is not far from Beitin. We therefore abide by the view advocated by Krafft and Strauss, that the ruins of Medinet Chai or Gai, east of Geba, point out the situation of the ancient Ai or Ajja; see rem. on Jos 7:2. Bethel is the present Beitin; see on Jos 7:2. The position of Nob is not as yet certainly ascertained, important objections existing to its identification with the village el-Isawije, between Anta and Jerusalem; comp. Valentiner (in the Zeitschrift d. deutsch. morgld. Gesellsch. xii. p. 169), who, on grounds worthy of consideration, transposes Nob to the northern heights before Jerusalem, the road from which leads into the valley of Kidron. Ananiah ( ), a place named only here, is conjectured by Van de Velde (after R. Schwartz), Mem. p. 284, to be the present Beit Hanina (Arab. hnna ), east of Nebi Samwil; against which conjecture even the exchange of and raises objections; comp. Tobler, Topographie, ii. p. 414. Hazor of Benjamin, supposed by Robinson ( Palestine) to be Tell ‘Assur, north of Tayibeh, is much more probably found by Tobler, Topographie, ii. p. 400, in Khirbet Arsr, perhaps Assur, Arab. sur , eight minutes eastward of Bir Nebla (between Rama and Gibeon); comp. Van de Velde, Mem. p. 319. Ramah, now er Rm, two leagues north of Jerusalem; see rem. on Jos 18:25. Githaim, whither the Beerothites fled, 2Sa 4:3, is not yet discovered. Tobler ( dritte Wand. p. 175) considers it very rash to identify it with the village Katanneh in Wady Mansur. Hadid, , see rem. on Ezr 2:33. Zeboim, in a valley of the same name ( 1Sa 13:18), is not yet discovered. Neballat, mentioned only here, is preserved in Beith Nebala, about two leagues north-east of Ludd (Lydda); comp. Rob. Palestine, and Van de Velde, Mem. p. 336. With respect to Lod and Ono, see rem. on 1Ch 8:12; and on the valley of craftsmen, comp. 1Ch 4:14. The omission of Jericho, Gibeon, and Mizpah is the more remarkable, inasmuch as inhabitants of these towns are mentioned as taking part in the building of the wall (Neh 3:2, Neh 3:7).
Neh 11:36 The enumeration concludes with the remark, “Of the Levites came divisions of Judah to Benjamin,” which can only signify that divisions of Levites who, according to former arrangements, belonged to Judah, now came to Benjamin, i.e., dwelt among the Benjamites.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. Towns occupied in Judah and Benjamin.
TEXT, Neh. 11:25-36
25
Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its towns, in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,
26
and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet,
27
and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns,
28
and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns,
29
and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth,
30
Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom.
31
The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Mich-mash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns,
32
at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33
Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34
Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35
Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.
36
And from the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.
COMMENT
Neh. 11:25-30 list the populated towns of Judah, south of Jerusalem. Kiriath-arba is the ancient name for Hebron. Many of these towns are also named in Joshua 15, when Israel was entering the land. The distance from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom at the edge of Jerusalem, from one extreme to the other, is 50 miles: a little farther than they had occupied previously, in Ezra.
Neh. 11:31-35 list the settlements in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem (cf. Jos. 18:21-28).
Neh. 11:36 speaks of the necessity of transferring Levites occasionally to serve both areas.
WORD STUDY
LOT (Neh. 11:1, Goral; sound like gravel?): a small stone. Sometimes a number of stones, including one or more of an odd color, were shaken in a container and thrown onto the ground, thus deciding matters by chance; or they were shaken together and thrown into a vase, and each person drew one out, seeking for the odd-colored one. Eventually they were made into cubes and the faces numbered to form dice.
SUMMARY
In order to increase the population and strengthen the situation of Jerusalem (where no one seemed to want to live), lots were cast and one tenth of the people were chosen as residents; the others remained in the villages. Names are given of families of the people of Israel, priests, Levites, and gatekeepers of the Temple. Temple servants lived just outside the wall. The Persian king furnished aid for the Levites, and the people had a representative at the Persian court.
A list of settlements, both in Judah and Benjamin, follows; Levites were stationed in both areas.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(25) The children of Judah are now described very generally with respect to their distribution.
Kirjath-arba.Hebron no longer, the ancient name being now recovered.
In the villages thereof.Literally, the daughters thereof; being a different word from the villages at the beginning.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. And for the villages Or we may render, now in respect to the villages. The writer thus turns to an enumeration of the towns or villages of the province in which children of Judah and Benjamin dwelt.
Kirjath-arba The same is Hebron. See on Jos 10:3.
Dibon is probably identical with the Dimonah of Jos 15:22, and Jekabzeel with the Kabzeel of Jos 15:21; towns in the extreme south of Judah, whose sites have not been clearly identified.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Towns In The Former Judean Uplands ( Neh 11:25 ).
These towns in the former Judean uplands were on the whole outside the Persian Province of Judah, but had seemingly been resettled by the returnees. This is in no way an attempt to list all the towns in Judah. Rather the aim was to indicate how widespread God’s people were throughout the ancient land.
Neh 11:25
‘And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kiriath-arba and its towns, and in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,
‘As for the villages, with their fields.’ Probably better translated ‘as for the towns with their surrounding countryside.’ ‘Kiriath-arba and its towns’ indicated Hebron and its satellite towns (Jdg 1:10), and by this time the area was at least partly Idumaean. The Edomites had occupied a southern Judah devastated by the Babyonian invasion, as they fled from the Arab invasion of Edom. Dibon is unknown, but is possibly the Dimonah of Jos 15:22. Jekabzeel was probably south of Hebron in the Negeb, and so clearly in ‘foreign’ territory (that is, outside the Persian province of Judah). It is clear, therefore, that in order to take up residence in their native cities, some Jews had taken up residence outside of the Persian province of Judah, in cities which contained Jewish inhabitants who had not been much affected by the Exile.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Dwellingplaces Of The Children Of Judah Outside Jerusalem ( Neh 11:25-30 ).
Meanwhile, as Neh 11:20 tells us, ‘the residue of Israel, of the priests and the Levites, were all in the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.’ We are now therefore given details of some of these, demonstrating that they have again taken up God’s inheritance. They had not, of course, returned to an empty land. The poor of the land, who had been left behind by the Babylonians, and would have been numerous, would have taken possession of these cities (Jer 39:10); as would Jews who returned, having fled before the invasion (Jer 40:11), together with others who were taking advantage of an empty land, whilst most of southern Judah had been occupied by the Edomites as they fled from the invading Arabs. It would appear also that the Negeb still retained a substantial Judean population. Thus there was a good sprinkling of Jews throughout ancient Judah, although in many cases a lack of leadership. The returnees had settled among all these peoples.
It should be noted that this is not a comprehensive list of Judean cities. Bethlehem, for example, is not mentioned. It is rather intended to indicate the widespread nature of the land occupied by the returnees, and it is significant that a considerable number of the towns were outside the Province of Judah (Persian version). The first to be mentioned are ‘the people of Judah’. They ‘encamped’ from Beer-sheba in the extreme south, to the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem (compare Jos 15:8). The use of the verb is interesting. It suggests either the newness of their arrival, or that they were like ancient Israel who ‘encamped’ around the Tabernacle. But the overall aim appears to be to indicate that God’s people once more occupied the whole of God’s land, not just the Persian province of Judah (Yehud). Beersheba, for example, was in the Negeb, well outside the province of Judah. Thus it is apparent that some of the returning Jews had settled outside the province of Judah, and yet were seen as a part of the revived people of God.
The use of the word ‘encamped (dwelt in tents)’ may well be intended to connect this description back to the wilderness period, when Israel literally all dwelt in tents. (Note how elsewhere the command for Israelite soldiers to return home is in terms of ‘return to your tents’ e.g. 2Sa 20:1; 1Ki 12:16; Jdg 7:8). It was as though they were again encamped around God’s sanctuary, as they had been of old (Numbers 1-2). Behind the word may be a desire to emphasise that they were taking part in a new Exodus, seeing themselves as encamped and travelling towards the establishment of the kingdom of God, with ‘the holy city’ as its fulcrum. This would especially be so as many of the returnees were dwelling outside contemporary Judah (i.e. the Persian province). Or it may be that they saw Judah as encamped around the holy city, in the same way as in Numbers 1-2 the tribes encamped around the Tabernacle. (Such ideas recurred later at Qumran).
The impression of partaking in a new Exodus with a view to the establishment of the new kingdom of God is possibly brought out by the fact that certain cities are selected and listed very much as in the Book of Joshua, even using ancient names. Possibly it was seen as a new ‘conquest’. We must not, however, assume too much for there are far more names mentioned in the Book of Joshua than are mentioned here, and the Benjamite towns mentioned later are not on the whole mentioned by Joshua. On the other hand the ancient names may have deliberately been taken up by the returnees with this in mind. Consider how Kiriath-arba, the ancient name for Hebron, is used. The name may well have been revived by the returnees in order to emphasise their ancient roots.
The towns are listed in three groups which we may roughly see as:
Towns in the former Judean uplands (Neh 11:25).
Towns in and around the Negeb ( Neh 11:26-29 a).
Towns in the Shephelah (Neh 11:29-30).
The purpose is seemingly in order to indicate that Judah had been reoccupied as it was of yore. It is giving an impression of comprehensiveness, ignoring the fact that much of southern Judah was now occupied by the Edomites.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 11:25 And for the villages, with their fields, [some] of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and [in] the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and [in] the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and [in] the villages thereof,
Ver. 25. In the villages thereof ] Heb. In the daughters: for villages seem to be so to the greater cities.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 11:25-36
25Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its towns, in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,
26and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet,
27and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns,
28and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns,
29and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth,
30Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. 31The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns,
32at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.
36From the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.
Neh 11:25-36 The list of cities in chapter 3 which relates those who worked on the city wall is different from this list. The only name that is the same is Zamoah. This is hard to explain for the lists are supposed to be a list of the surrounding cities with Jewish populations. The possibilities are (1) that these cities mark the extent of the boundaries of Judah and Benjamin, not the cities close to Jerusalem or (2) that these are cities in the pre-exilic land allocations of Judah (cf. Neh 11:25-30) and Benjamin (cf. Neh 11:31-36) in which the returnees settled.
Neh 11:25 Kiriath-arba This is the ancient name for Hebron (cf. Gen 23:2), which Isaiah 20 miles south of Jerusalem (cf. Jos 14:15; Jos 15:54; Jos 20:7; Jdg 1:10).
and its towns This is literally the Hebrew idiom daughters.
Dibon This is possibly the same as Dimonah. See Jos 15:21-26.
Jekabzeel A village in southern Judah close to Edom. See Jos 15:21.
Neh 11:25; Neh 11:28; Neh 11:32; Neh 11:34 Jekabzeel. . .Meconah. . .Ananiah. . .Neballat These are cities which appear only here in the Bible.
Neh 11:26 Moladah See Jos 15:26; Jos 19:2; 1Ch 4:28.
Beth-pelet This is a village in southern Judah. See Jos 15:27.
Neh 11:27 Hazar-Shual, in Beersheba Both are mentioned in Jos 15:28.
Neh 11:28 Ziklag See Jos 15:31; Jos 19:5; 1Sa 27:6; 1Sa 30:1; 1Sa 30:14; 1Sa 30:25.
Neh 11:29 En-rimmon See Jos 15:32.
Zorah See Jos 15:33.
Jarmuth Like Lachish this was originally an Amorite city. See Jos 10:3; Jos 10:5; Jos 10:23; Jos 12:11; Jos 15:35.
Neh 11:30 Zanoah, Adullam Both are mentioned in Jos 15:34-35.
Lachish This was a major walled city (e.g., Joshua 10; Jos 12:3-16; 1Ch 11:9; 1Ch 22:9).
Azekah This is a city of Judah located on the coastal plain. See Jos 15:35.
Beersheba This is about 32 miles south of Jerusalem. The current Persian land allocation for Judah did not extend that far north.
the valley of Hinnom One of the valleys in Jerusalem known as the location of the worship of the Phoenician fire god Molech. This valley was later used as the garbage dump for Jerusalem. Jesus uses it to describe Hell – Gehenna.
SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead?
Neh 11:31 Geba This was a northern city of Benjamin. Its name means height or hill. See Jos 18:24.
Michmash and Aija Both are mentioned in Isa 10:28-30. They were located near Bethel. Aija means ruins and may be a way of referring to Ai.
Neh 11:32 Anathoth This was a Levitical city three miles north of Jerusalem (cf. Jos 21:18). It was Jeremiah’s hometown (cf. Jer 1:1).
Nob Another Levitical city two miles north of Jerusalem (cf. 1Sa 21:1; 1Sa 22:9; 1Sa 22:11; 1Sa 22:19; Isa 10:32).
Neh 11:33 Hazor Often these village names, like the people, are hard to identify because there are several by the same name. Hazor is a good example.
1. a major Canaanite walled city in the north of Palestine (cf. Joshua 11; Jos 12:19; Jos 19:36)
2. a small city in the south of Judah (cf. Jos 15:23; 1Ki 9:15)
3. another city in southern Judah (Hazor-Hadattah, cf. Jos 15:25)
4. a small post-exilic city north of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 11:35)
5. this term even refers to countries or chiefdoms east of Arabia (cf. Jer 49:28; Jer 49:30; Jer 49:33)
As an added point, people are hard to identify because
1. in this period Levites and priests often used the names of ancestors
2. in this period the Jewish families named their children after their grandfathers
Ramah This is a city of Benjamin five miles north of Jerusalem. See Jos 18:25; Jdg 4:5; Jdg 19:13; Ezr 2:26.
Gittaim The name means two wine presses and was northwest of Jerusalem. See 2Sa 4:3.
Neh 11:34-35 Hadid. . .Lod and Ono See Ezr 2:33 and Neh 7:37.
Neh 11:35 the valley of craftsmen The ancient guilds lived close together (cf. 1Ch 4:14).
Neh 11:36 As Neh 11:25-30 describe the restored land of Judah in this Persian period, so Neh 11:31-35 describe the extent of the land of Benjamin. The Levites lived in all areas of the restored land (cf. TEV).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
villages. Hebrew daughters, i.e. of the mother city.
with their fields = in their fields: i.e. unwalled (Lev 25:31). Compare, for the names that follow, Jos 15:13, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Neh 11:25-36
Neh 11:25-36
A ROSTER OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES NEAR JERUSALEM
“And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kireath-arba and the towns thereof, and in Dihon and the towns thereof, and in Jekabzeel and the villages thereof, and in Jeshua, Moladah, and Beth-pelet, and in Hazar-shual and in Beer-sheba and the towns thereof, and in Ziklag and in Meconah and in the towns thereof, and in En-rimmon, and in Zorah, and in Jarmuth, Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and the fields thereof, Azekah and the towns thereof. So they encamped from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom. The children of Benjamin also dwelt from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Beth-el and the towns thereof, at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazer, Ramah, Gittaim, Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. And of the Levites, certain courses in Judah were joined to Bethlehem.”
There is hardly a place-name in this list that is not loaded with many associations concerning events and persons mentioned in the long history of Israel; and it is impossible to note all of such connections here. Kiriath-arba, for example is Hebron; but during the long absence of Israel, it had again become known by its ancient name. As Hebron, it was one of the cities of Refuge; Ziklag is the city that the king of Gath gave to David; Anathoth was the home of Jeremiah; Nob is where Saul murdered the priests; Adullam was noted for a nearby cave where David was a fugitive from Saul; Lachish, the second largest city of Judea was taken by Sennacherib; the valley of Ono was the place to which Sanballat and Tobiah sought to lure Nehemiah to his death; Beer-sheba, the southernmost place in ancient Israel was frequently mentioned; Ramah featured prominently in the history of Ahab; “Lod, now Ludd, is the Lydda of Acts of Apostles; it was on the eastern edge of the Shephelah, about nine miles southeast of Joppa.” Bethel, another famous town, was where Jeroboam I installed one of his golden calves. “It is strange that Gibeon, Mizpah and Jericho are not mentioned, although they are listed in Nehemiah 3.” Perhaps this should alert us to the truth that this record is abbreviated.
This brings us near to the dedication of the wall, related in the next chapter; but Nehemiah was by no means finished with providing security and safety for Jerusalem. There yet remained the treacherous infiltration of the holy city itself by the godless Tobiah, aided and abetted by the High Priest himself; and that would be the subject of the final chapter.
E.M. Zerr:
Neh 11:25-35. The subject matter of all these verses is practically the same, hence I have grouped them into one paragraph. It has to do with the more open parts of the country. The fields attached to the towns or villages were for the production of crops and cattle. These members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had the use of the land by right of inheritance. They were dispersed over the territory at points of advantage. Some of the places mentioned are familiar to us; among them are Kirjath-arba, Beer-sheba, Ziklag, Adullam, Lachish, Michmash, Bethel, Anathoth and Nob.
Neh 11:36. The Levites were not given landed estates under the law, but were to dwell in cities within the possessions of the other tribes. This verse means that sections of the tribe of Levi were located throughout the possessions of Judah and Benjamin.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Kirjatharba: Jos 14:15
Dibon: Jos 15:22, Dimonah
Jekabzeel: Jos 15:21, Kabzeel
Reciprocal: 1Ch 9:22 – in their
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2. The residents of the outlying towns 11:25-36
The towns south of Jerusalem, from the Hinnom Valley just south of the city as far as Beersheba, were those in the territory belonging to the tribe of Judah. Those north of Jerusalem stretching to the neighboring province of Samaria were towns of Benjamin. These were the two sections of the Persian province of Yehud (Judah). Nehemiah mentioned 17 prominent towns in Judah here (Neh 11:25-30), and 15 in Benjamin (Neh 11:31-35). The Levites lived among the general population, as when the Israelites first entered the Promised Land under Joshua, in order to be a good influence and to act as spiritual resource persons (Neh 11:36).
"In a time when self-centeredness seems to dominate Western life-styles, the Word of God calls us to work and live together as a community, to be dependent upon one another, and to help one another in achieving the task God has set before us." [Note: Breneman, p. 263.]