Nehemiah 11:17

The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani,.... He was the supervisor of them, that looked after them that they did their work in ministering to the priests, as they had occasion for them; this man's genealogy is further traced through Hashabiah and Mattaniah, to Micha the son of Asaph, Neh 11:17,

of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God; which, according to Jarchi, was to take care of the repairs of the temple and other things; but one would think rather that part of the service of the house which lay in singing the songs of it is respected.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Neh 11:17 And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, [was] the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

Ver. 17. To begin the thanksgiving in prayer] To set tunes to psalms of praise, and to begin those tunes, as precentor, chief chanter.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 11:17. To begin the thanksgiving in prayer — In the public and solemn prayers and praises, which were constantly joined with the morning and evening sacrifice, at which the singers were present, and praised God with a psalm or hymn, which this man began.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:17 a descendant of Asaph: David had chosen Asaph and his sons to provide music for the Temple worship (1 Chr 25:1-8). Asaph’s descendants took up this role again when the new Temple was built.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, he began the Psalm, and was the chanter.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer--that is, the leader of the choir which chanted the public praise at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. That service was always accompanied by some appropriate psalm, the sacred music being selected and guided by the person named.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. The principal to begin the thanksgiving] The precentor, pitcher of the tune, or master-singer.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. Micha] R.V. Mica.

was the principal] R.V. who was the chief. The expression ‘the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer’ is not very intelligible. The Hebrew for ‘the chief to begin’ is literally ‘the head of the beginning (t’khillah) who used to give thanks to the prayer’ i.e. after it. The LXX. and Vulg. Vss. follow a text, which differs in one letter, ‘the head of the praise’ (t’hillah), and gives a good sense, viz. ‘the head or leader of praise, one who gave thanks in the time of prayer,’ (LXX. ἄρχων τοῦ αἴνου καὶ Ἰούδας τῆς προσευχῆς; Vulg. ‘princeps ad laudandum et ad confitendum in oratione.’) But the obscurity of the Hebrew phrase probably arises from its having been a technical title of the leader of the Temple choir, a choregus.

Bakbukiah the second among his brethren] i.e. second to Mattaniah. Bakbukiah probably corresponds to Bakbakkar in 1Ch_9:15, or to Berechiah in 1Ch_9:16.

Abda] This name appears with the same genealogy as Obadiah in 1Ch_9:16.

From the mention of ‘Asaph’ and ‘Jeduthun’ we evidently have in these verses (as in 1Ch_9:14-15) the class of Levites, who, e.g. in Ezr_2:41, stand before ‘the porters,’ i.e. ‘the singers.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Praise. Master of music. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer." Syriac, "leader of the Jews in prayer." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In prayer, i.e. in the public and solemn prayers and praises which were constantly joined with the morning and evening sacrifice, at which the singers were present, and praised God with a psalm or hymn, which this man began.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. The principal to begin the thanksgiving — He was the precentor and chief musician, like Asaph, mentioned in 1Ch_16:5.

Bakbukiah the second — Second in rank; next in position and authority to Mattaniah.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mattaniah ... was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer. i.e. the "leader of the choir," or "precentor." Bakbukiah was second to him among his brethren; i.e. was his chief assistant. Abda (or "Obadiah," 1Ch_9:16) held the third place.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To begin - In the publick and solemn prayers and praises, which were constantly joined with the morning and evening sacrifice, at which the singers were present, and praised God with a psalm or hymn which, this man began.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Mattaniah ... Mika ... Zabdi ... Asaph ... Bakbukiah ... Abda ... Shammua ... Galal ... Jeduthun

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

who began the thanksgiving in prayer

That is, who directed the singers.

Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers

Possible meanings are 1) Bakbukiah was Mattaniah's kinsman and second in authority to Mattaniah or 2) "Bakbukiah, who led a second group of singers."

brothers

Another possible meaning is "associates" or "fellow workers."

the holy city

This expression refers to the city of Jerusalem.

numbered 284

"numbered two hundred and eighty-four." There were 284 Levites in Jerusalem. (See: Numbers)

translationWords

son

descend

pray

holy

Levi

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

the head to begin the thanksgiving in prayer He was the head and the appointed official, and the greatest one who was first to start and to thank in prayer and in singing the songs of the Levites. יְהוֹדֶה is like יוֹדֶה, and the “hey” enters the word unnecessarily, like יוֹסֵף and יְהוֹסֵף.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.