Nehemiah 11:24

Neh 11:24 And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, [was] at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people.

Ver. 24. At the king’s hand] Was his plenipotentiary. {Invested with full power, esp. as the deputy, representative, or envoy of a sovereign ruler; exercising absolute power or authority.}

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 11:24. Pethahiah was at the king’s hand — Or on the king’s part, to determine civil causes and controversies between man and man by the laws of that kingdom; between the king and people, as in matters of tribute or grievances.

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

11:24 The royal adviser informed the king of events in Jerusalem and notified Jewish officials of the king’s public administration of Persian policies.

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

Was chief about the king for all his affairs.

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

Pethahiah . . . was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people--This person was entrusted with judicial power, either for the interest, or by the appointment, of the Persian monarch, and his duty consisted either in adjusting cases of civil dispute, or in regulating fiscal concerns.

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 24. Pethahiah - was at the king's hand] He was the governor appointed by the Persian king over the Jewish nation in those matters in which the civil government interfered with Jewish concerns. He no doubt fixed, levied, and received the tribute.

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

(24) Of the children of Zerah.—This makes the absence of Zerah in the beginning of the chapter very remarkable, and suggests some accidental omission.

At the king’s hand.—Pethahiah was the king’s agent in all the country matters of the “province.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel (R.V. Meshezabel) … Zerah] On ‘Zerah the son of Judah’ see note on Neh_11:4-6.

at the king’s hand] What this exactly meant we are left to conjecture. Pethahiah was in some sort of way an official representative of Jewish interests in connexion with the Persian court. The suggestion (of Reuss) that he resided at Jerusalem, and was the official recipient of the provincial tribute might derive support from the mention of ‘the house of the king’ in Neh_3:25. But it is hard to see how any Jewish official of the Persian court, if he resided in Jerusalem, could be said to be ‘at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people’ in any sense which would not much rather be applicable to Nehemiah himself. Indeed, if this official was a resident in Jerusalem, it is not easy to believe that the time of Nehemiah’s governorship can be referred to.

If he was the Jewish representative at Susa it constitutes an isolated reference in this chapter to a person dwelling outside the borders of Judea.

In spite of this objection it seems more probable that ‘at the king’s hand’ denotes personal residence at the Persian court.

The mention of the fact is parenthetically added in connexion with the royal mandate favourable to the Levites and the singers; and is not therefore, strictly speaking, relevant to the list. The phrase ‘at the hand of’ seems to denote personal attendance, cf. Neh_13:13 ‘next to them,’ 1Ch_18:17 ‘And the sons of David were chief about (lit. ‘at the hand of,’ Vulg. ‘ad manum’) the king,’ 1Ch_23:28 ‘their office was to wait on (lit. ‘at the hand of,’ LXX. ἐπὶ χεῖρα, Vulg. ‘sub manu’) the sons of Aaron.’ In our verse the LXX. renders πρὸς χεῖρα, the Vulg. ‘in manu.’

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.

It is difficult to say what office Pethahiah filled. So far as we know, the only regular officers under the Persian system of government were the satrap, the subsatrap, the permanent royal secretary, the commandant, and the occasional commissary.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

People. They addressed themselves to him, (Haydock) and he gave an exact account to the king (Calmet) of Persia. (Menochius)

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).

At the king’s hand, or, on the kings part, to determine civil causes and controversies between man and man by the laws of that kingdom, which peradventure he understood better than Nehemiah, and therefore was appointed for this work, but still under Nehemiah. Or, according to the king’s appointment, as the hand is used, as Num 4:49, and elsewhere.

In all matters concerning the people; either in civil differences between them, or in things between the king and people; as in matters of tribute, or grievances, &c., wherein this man possibly was chief justiciary under Nehemiah.

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

24. Pethahiah… at the king’s hand — That is, at the court of the Persian monarch. He was at the king’s hand as a private counsellor, having in charge all the interests of the Jewish people. He was allowed frequent access to the king, and so in all matters concerning the people he must have been a most important and responsible agent and representative of his nation at the seat of government.

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

Pethahiah... of the children of Zerah. We have here an indication of the imperfection of the preceding catalogue, which has mentioned no descendants of Zerah among the Jews dwelling in Jerusalem, but made them all sons of Perez (ver. 6). As already observed, a verse equivalent to 1Ch_6:9 must have fallen out between vers. 6 and 7 of this chapter. The exact office borne by Pethahiah cannot be determined; but he evidently held a confidential position, which made him an intermediary for certain purposes between the Persian king and the Jewish people. Perhaps he received and forwarded petitions and complaints.

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

Was, &c. - Or, on the king's part, to determine civil causes and controversies between man and man, by the laws of that kingdom; between the king and people; as in matters of tribute, or grievances.

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

at the king’s hand He was privy to King Darius’s counsel.

for every matter for every matter that concerned the people, to speak to the king on their behalf.

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.