Nehemiah 11:9

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַסְּנוּאָ֛ה

Çᵉnûwʼâh

H5574

“the · Senuah”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Proper

Appears 2× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at 1 Chronicles 9:7

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from the same as H5570

TWOT: None

Senuah or Hasenuah [with the art] = "bristling" - a Benjamite

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
9: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is הַסְּנוּאָ֛ה Senuah H5574 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַסְּנוּאָ֛ה Senuah H5574 occurs in 2 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

1 Chronicles 9:7

Grammatical profile

9 nouns
2 prepositions

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

בֶּן son H1121 ×2
עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם upon H5921 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Nehemiah 11:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Chronicles 9:7 Of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah,

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Nehemiah 11:9 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְיוֹאֵ֥ל בֶּן זִכְרִ֖י פָּקִ֣יד עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם וִיהוּדָ֧ה בֶן הַסְּנוּאָ֛ה עַל הָעִ֖יר מִשְׁנֶֽה

Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Structure differs

The Septuagint has no separate book of Nehemiah. Its Greek text is the second half of Esdras B (2 Esdras), chapters 11–23; Ezra is the first half (1–10).

A verse-for-verse comparison isn’t shown here because the chapters and verses don’t line up. Switch to the LXX edition with the MT / LXX toggle above to read the Greek directly.

On this verse, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from a public-domain English Septuagint. How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Nehemiah 11:9 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Neh 11:9 And Joel the son of Zichri [was] their overseer: and Judah the son of Senuah [was] second over the city.

Ver. 9. Their overseer] Or commissary.

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

overseer--that is, "captain" or "chief."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9. And Joel - was their overseer] Joel was chief or magistrate over those, and Judah was his second or deputy. Perhaps each had a different office, but that of Joel was the chief.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

9. And Joel, &c.] There is nothing in the 1 Chron. list corresponding with this verse.

overseer] Apparently the members of the same tribe or house formed a distinct organization within the city walls, and were under a responsible head or ‘overseer,’ ‘pâqid.’ LXX. ἐπίσκοπος. Vulg. ‘praepositus.’

Judah the son of Senuah (R.V. Hassenuah)] In 1Ch_9:7, Sallu is spoken of as a descendant of ‘Hodaviah the son of Hassenuah.’ Remembering the confusion between ‘Judah’ and ‘Hodaviah’ in Ezr_2:40; Ezr_3:9, it is possible that we have here another trace of textual corruption. ‘Elah … the son of Michri’ is also confused with ‘Joel the son of Zichri,’ 1Ch_9:8.

second over the city] From the context it is evident that the expression refers only to the overseership over the Benjamites, or, at the most, the men of Judah and Benjamin in the city. He was ‘deputy overseer,’ or second in command to Joel. Cf. ‘brethren of the second degree’ 1Ch_15:18, ‘second to him’ 1Ch_16:5. It is not, however, quite certain that the traditional translation adopted in the English version is correct. In the opinion of some scholars the word rendered ‘second’ qualifies ‘the city,’ which in the Hebrew it immediately follows. It will not then denote the rank of Judah the son of Hassenuah, but the quarter of the capital over which he was overseer. Cf. 2Ki_22:14, ‘She (Huldah) dwelt in Jerusalem, in the second quarter.’ 2Ch_34:22; Zep_1:10. On the division of Jerusalem into two districts, for purposes of administration, see Neh_3:9; Neh_3:12. We know from Neh_7:2 that Nehemiah had constituted Hanani and Hananiah ‘overseers’ over Jerusalem. Perhaps Joel and Judah presided over a special community in each district.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two,.... That is, the brethren or relations of Adaiah:

and Amashai; called Maasiai, Ch1 9:12, whose lineage is traced here through Azareel, Ahasai, Meshillemoth, to Immer.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Second. Vicegerent of Joel, (Calmet) or commander of a second part of the city. (Syriac)

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).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Their overseer; the captain of their thousand.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

Their overseer. Probably the commandant of the city under Nehemiah. See 2Ki_25:19, where pakid has this sense. Judah... was second. Next in authority to Joel.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Overseer - The captain of their thousand.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

the official the one appointed.

the second in command after [the official].

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.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Nehemiah, in the Historical, opens this verse with 11 words (9 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Çᵉnûwʼâh (“Senuah”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word Çᵉnûwʼâh carries the sense “Senuah.” How does it shape the verse?
1 Chronicles 9:7 shares the word «Senuah» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“son” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 2 words in this verse.
“son” occurs 2× in this single verse.
9 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 11 words in this verse.