70 And some of the heads of families gave money for the work. The Tirshatha gave into the store a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests' robes.
Then the chiefs of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, made offerings; these were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered. And they came with their offerings before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for every two of the chiefs, and for every one an ox. And the Lord said to Moses, Take the things from them, to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting; and give them to the Levites, to every man what is needed for his work. So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon for their work; And four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari for their work, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing; because they had the care of the holy place, taking it about on their backs. And the chiefs gave an offering for the altar on the day when the holy oil was put on it; they made their offering before the altar. And the Lord said to Moses, Let every chief on his day give his offering to make the altar holy. And he who made his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah: And his offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice for burning; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of Issachar, made his offering: He gave one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar. On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the children of Zebulun: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon. On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, chief of the children of Reuben: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur. On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the children of Simeon: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai. On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, chief of the children of Gad: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Reuel On the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the children of Ephraim: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud. On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, chief of the children of Manasseh: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur. On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, chief of the children of Benjamin: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni. On the tenth day Ahiezer; the son of Ammishaddai, chief of the children of Dan: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ochran, chief of the children of Asher: His offering was one silver plate; a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ochran. On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, chief of the children of Naphtali: His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering; One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice; One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering; One male of the goats for a sin-offering; And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan. These were the offerings given for the altar by the chiefs of Israel, when the holy oil was put on it: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve gold spoons; The weight of every silver plate was a hundred and thirty shekels, and of every basin seventy; the weight of all the silver of the vessels was two thousand and four hundred shekels, by the scale of the holy place; The weight of the twelve gold spoons of spice for burning was ten shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels;
And because this house of God is dear to me, I give my private store of gold and silver to the house of my God, in addition to all I have got ready for the holy house; Even three thousand talents of gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of the best silver, for plating the walls of the house: Gold for the gold things, and silver for the silver things, and for every sort of work to be done by the expert workmen. Who then will come forward, offering himself this day for the Lord's work? Then the heads of families and the chiefs of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the controllers of the king's business, freely gave themselves; And they gave for the use of the house of the Lord, five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. And those who had stones of great price gave them to the store of the house of the Lord, under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people were glad because their offerings were freely given, for with a true heart they freely gave what they had to the Lord; and David the king was full of joy.
And some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, gave freely of their wealth for the building up of the house of God in its place: Every one, as he was able, gave for the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, five thousand pounds of silver and a hundred priests' robes. So the priests and the Levites and the people and the music-makers and the door-keepers and the Nethinim, took up their places in their towns; even all Israel in their towns.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Nehemiah 7
Commentary on Nehemiah 7 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 7
Nehemiah having built the wall, and set up the doors, appointed two persons to take the charge of the city, and set watches for the safety of it, and to take special care about opening and shutting the gates of it, Nehemiah 7:1, and concerned he was for the peopling of it, and having found a register of the first comers to it, gives their names, Nehemiah 7:4 and some account of the freewill offerings made for the work they came about, Nehemiah 7:70.
Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors,.... Which was not done when Sanballat sent his first letter, but now was, Nehemiah 6:1,
and the porters and the singers, and the Levites were appointed; not to attend the doors of the gates of the wall, but to return to their service in the temple, who had been employed in one thing or another, while the wall and gates were building and repairing; see Nehemiah 3:17.
That I gave my brother Hanani,.... Who first brought him the melancholy account of the state of Jerusalem, Nehemiah 1:2,
and Hananiah the ruler of the palace; the king's palace, in which the viceroy of the king of Persia dwelt, and now Nehemiah; to these two men he gave
charge over Jerusalem; committed it to their care during his absence, who may be supposed now to return to Persia, as he had promised, Nehemiah 2:6,
for he was a faithful man; this is said of Hananiah, and given as a reason why such a trust was committed to him; Hanani's character was well known, and his journey from Jerusalem to Shushan was a full proof of his hearty concern for the interest of it:
and feared God above many; Hananiah was exemplary in his fear of God, few were equal to him, and none exceeded him; or of many days, as Jarchi; of a long time he had feared the Lord, and served him many years.
And I said unto them, let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot,.... Or until the heat of the day, or near noon; at least not till the sun had been up some time, and shone out clearly, and caused much heat; that if any enemies were near, or lying in wait, they might be discovered, and the inhabitants also up and ready to defend themselves:
and while they stand by; according to Aben Ezra, Hanani and Hananiah were to be present at the opening and shutting of the gates, and so Grotius; but these being the chief rulers, it is not likely; but rather those whom they appointed to look after them, these were to stand by while their servants did it; they were not to leave it wholly to them, but to see it done themselves:
let them shut the doors, and bar them; or "lay hold"F1ואחזו "et tractate", Junius & Tremellius; "contrectate eas", Piscator. on them, handle them to see whether they are shut fast or not:
and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, and everyone to be over against his house; no foreigners were to be of the watch, only inhabitants, and those everyone in their turn, and to be placed over against where they dwelt; and so it might be thought would be the more careful and diligent in their watch.
Now the city was large and great,.... The circumference of it, all within the wall; for that was built on its old foundation, and enclosed as much ground as ever it did: HecataeusF2Apud Euseb. Praepar. par. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. & apud Joseph. contr. Apion, l. 1. c. 22. , an Heathen writer, says the circumference of Jerusalem was fifty furlongs, which was more than six miles; but JosephusF3De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 3. makes the circuit of it but thirty three furlongs or about six miles:
but the people were few therein; in comparison of the largeness of the place; for though there were 42,360 that came up at first with Zerubbabel, and many more with Ezra, yet a great number chose to settle in the towns and cities in the country, Jerusalem being in such a desolate condition:
and the houses were not builded; some were, but they were but few, many of them still lay in ruins.
And my God put into mine heart,.... Every good motion in him, and whatever he thought of that was conducive to the good and welfare of Jerusalem, Nehemiah always ascribed it to God; see 2 Corinthians 3:5
to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy; that their number might be known, and of what families they were, and in what cities they formerly dwelt; and this was not only of use for the present purpose of Nehemiah, but was of service hereafter to show the pedigree of families, and that it might be clearly known from whence the Messiah sprung:
and I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first; from Babylon to Jerusalem, along with Zerubbabel, as appears from Nehemiah 7:7, and this was of great use to him, whereby he would know not only their names and number, but to what city they belonged, and who to the city of Jerusalem, that they might be called upon to come, and rebuild their houses, and take up their residence there:
and found written therein; the names of the persons and families after mentioned.
These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity,.... Who were of the province of Judea, as it was now reduced, and came up out of the captivity of Babylon through the edict of Cyrus; see Ezra 2:1, where the same preface is given to the list of names as here; and from hence to the end of Nehemiah 7:69 the same account is given of persons and families as there, with some little difference of numbers and names; in some instances there are more in this list, in others fewer, which may be thus accounted for; that list was made in Babylon, when, upon the edict of Cyrus, the Jews, who intended to go up with Zerubbabel, gave in their names, and they were registered; but this was made when they came to Jerusalem; now some of those that gave in their names changed their minds, and tarried in Babylon, and some might die by the way, which makes the numbers fewer in some instances; and others who did not give in their names at first, but, being better disposed towards their own country, followed after and joined those which were returning, and increased the number of others; to which may be added what Abendana observes, that in Ezra an account is given of those that came out of the captivity by the companies, in which they came not genealogized, and had a mixture of persons of other families in them, and some that had no genealogy; but afterwards, when they were genealogized according to their families, a register of their genealogies was made, and is what Nehemiah now found, and here gives; and, as for difference of names, that may be owing to the carelessness of copiers, or to the different pronunciation of names, or some men might have two names; the matter is of no great moment.
And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work,.... Of building the city and the temple, and for that service, Ezra 2:68,
the Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drachms of gold; each of which was one pound sterling, and so amounted to so many pounds: of these "dracmons", or "darics", a Persian coin, mention is made in Ezra 2:69, they were golden staters, or shekels and had their name as is said, not from Darius, the father of Xerxes, though it is certain, from HerodotusF4Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 166. , that he coined golden money; but from some other king of the same name, more ancientF5Scholiast. in Aristoph. Eccles. p. 741, 742. So Harpocration. Lexic. in voce δαρδικος, and Suidas on the same word. , which must be Darius the Mede; and if they are the same with the Adarcon in Ezra 8:27 as they seem to be, then those in 1 Chronicles 29:7 were pieces of money not so called in the times of David, but of Ezra, the writer of that book: whether this Tirshatha was Zerubbabel, or Nehemiah, is not easy to say, since this donation is not the same with that in Ezra, not made at the same time nor are the gifts the same, nor the persons that gave them. Zerubbabel was Tirshatha when the Jews came out of Babylon, and Nehemiah now:
fifty basins; which were vessels, in the which the blood of the sacrifices was received and out of which it was sprinkled:
five hundred and thirty priests' garments; which were laid up in the wardrobe, and used on occasion.
And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work,.... To be put into the treasure, out of which the expenses of the temple, and service of it were defrayed:
twenty thousand drachms of gold; which were so many pounds of our money, and somewhat more: for, according to Bishop CumberlandF6Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 115. , a drachm of gold was of the value of twenty shillings and four pence: and 2200 pounds of silver; "the maneh", or pound, with the Jews, was of the value of sixty shekels, Ezekiel 45:12 and so is reckoned by our BrerewoodF7De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. to be of our money seven pounds and ten shillings; he reckoning a shekel at half a crown, whereas it was little more than two shillings and four pence; and so sixty of them, or a "maneh", came to about seven pounds; wherefore this sum here was seven times so many pounds of silver.
And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drachms of gold,.... Worth as many pounds of our money, and somewhat more:
and two thousand pound of silver; of which See Gill on Nehemiah 7:71,
and threescore and seven priests' garments; having been so long in Babylon, and no use of sacrifices, and so not of garments to minister in, no care was taken to provide any; which seems to be the reason why so many were given, when they returned to their own land, and sacrificed.
So the priests and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities,.... The same is said in Ezra 2:70; see Gill on Ezra 2:70,
and, when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities; the month Tisri, answering to part of September, in which month was the feast of tabernacles; at this time of the year they were in their cities when they came forth out of Babylon, and so they were now; see Ezra 3:1.