Nehemiah 12:43

Neh 12:43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

Ver. 43. For God had made them rejoice with great joy] By giving them both matter of joy, and hearts to do it aright. Crede mihi res severa est verum gaudium, saith Seneca, true joy is a severe business. Quid nobis cum fabulis, cum risu? saith Bernard. What have we to do with jesting and pastime, &c.? we have meat to eat, pleasure to take, that the world knows not of; we can let out our souls into God the fountain of all good, and rejoice in his word, as one that findeth great spoil, wherein the pleasure is as much as the profit, Psa 119:162.

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_12:43

Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced.

A great rejoicing

A great rejoicing as it should be.

I. Associated with the bites of religion.

II. The outcome of a great deliverance. From captivity to freedom: heathen surroundings to heaven-chosen city and Divinely-built temple. The memory of Gods great goodness should awaken joy--a joy that all may share. The wives also and the children rejoiced.

III. The preparation for strong adhesion to a great cause. Sacred festivals not an end, but a means to an end. (Homiletic Commentary.)

True joy

I. Its right. The God who has given us life wishes also that it shall move joyfully; the God who always anew overwhelms us with favours wishes that they should fulfil their mission; that is, make us happy, in the end holy.

II. Its occasion. Gods grace, which has strengthened, protected, assured, and elevated our lower or higher life.

III. Its kind. It raises itself to God, is a joy in Him; that is, becomes s service to God and our neighbours. (Dr. Schultz.)

The joy of Christian work

Notice--

I. That great sacrifices always precede great joy. Gods best gifts never increase by saving, but by scattering. The sea is in a constant state of evaporation. The mist rises, there are clouds above the hills, there are streams running into the valleys, there is life and greenness everywhere. There are some men who do not believe in evaporation. They believe in getting all they can and keeping all they get. But they are never joyful There is no joy in selfishness. It is against the great law of God, the law of sacrifice by His own Son. What is the meaning of these sacrifices mentioned in the text?

1. The sin-offering. This shadowed the great sacrifice. Morality alone will not save any man, and if you will only admit sin, you admit half the Bible, and the rest has to do with Gods way of getting rid of it.

2. The burnt-offering. This means that we give ourselves up to God entirely; and the happiest men I have met in my life have been men who have handed the keys of every room in their soul up to Christ, without keeping one closed to hide a loved sin.

3. The peace-offering. This was a peculiar offering in Israel. It was a free-will offering. When a man brought the peace-offering, God gave him a feast there and then in his house. A part of the offering was given back to the offerer. This peace-offering is very much like your contributions to-day. You can keep your offerings, but if you do God will keep the feast from you. We in Wales have two sermons in one service very often, and the collection comes before the second sermon. I have watched a man drop the smallest coin into the plate from a richly gloved hand. I have seen a poor old woman unwrapping a two-shilling piece from a paper, from another paper, from a third paper, in which she had wrapped it in order to keep it for the collection. And I have watched them through the second sermon. The tears of joy are coursing down the wrinkled face of the poor Christian woman, but the man who dropped his miserly coin is as dry as Gilboa. It is a remarkable fact that the Almighty never accepted a wild animal as an offering in the olden time. A man was always obliged to offer something he had taken trouble with: the fruit of his own garden, the fruit of his own farm, or from his own flock. I have heard a man say sometimes, If I succeed in this speculation now, I will give to the cause of Christ. Ah! that is a wild hare.

II. Great work for God brings great joy from God. Charles Kingsley has said that every man ought to thank God every morning because he has something to do that must be done that day. Work is the greatest blessing. I was once struck down with complete nervous prostration, and a medical man told me that I must do nothing for a twelvemonth, and that was the hardest work I ever did in my life--to do nothing. I see gentlemen come up along the Menai Straits in their yachts fighting the tempest. On they come like sailors on the ocean-wave, because it is easier to do that than to do nothing. You may see the room in which Louis XVI. worked as a common blacksmith, because it was easier to do that than to do nothing. Prisoners have come to the gaoler many a time, when confined in a room to do nothing, asking him for permission to pick oakum, or anything rather than do nothing. It is possible to do the most common work to God, to Christ, and when every one will do his work to Christ, that is the time when this world will be full of happiness and song. There is joy in serving Christ. Just think, for instance, of the erection of a place of worship: what an investment it is to contribute towards that.

III. This religion of great sacrifice and great joy will tell on our families. The wives also and the children rejoiced. Joyful religion repeats itself to others. Parents should let their children see that they value religion.

1. By making sacrifices for it.

2. By letting them see that they are most anxious for them to become decided Christians.

IV. That the religion of great sacrifices and great joy will be heard of afar off. Then joy was heard afar off. It is the names of self-sacrificers that live--Abraham--Abraham Lincoln--Florence Nightingale--Jesus, the Redeemer of the world. (E. Herber Evans, D. D.)

Sacrifice, a condition of joy

The principle of sacrifice stands at the very threshold of the ever-fascinating study of life, and is found at every turn of the bewildering maze which marks lifes upward pathway of struggle and survival. In merely physical processes, as well as in many vital functions of vegetable and animal life, there are clear foreshadowings of the part which sacrifice plays in the great tragedy of existence. The primitive rock, when subjected to the disintegrating action of the atmospheric agents, yields up its characteristic compactness, and crumbles into soil, which, in turn, surrenders its richness to promote the welfare of multitudinous forms of vegetable growth. In the lower species of animal life the death of the parent is the essential condition of the life of the offspring, and in the higher grades of creatures there is invariably a parental sacrifice in favour of the well-being of the progeny. Notwithstanding that these functions are nothing more than compulsory obedience to the stern mandates of nature, Mr. Herbert Spencer calls them acts of unconscious sacrifice, and so distinguishes them from those voluntary surrenders of self which spring from love to others, and which, strictly speaking, can only be termed sacrifice. The helpless infant survives merely on account of the care which the maternal love lavishes upon it. Let the attention of others be withdrawn, and the child must perish. It lives by the sacrifices which others make for it. The bond of family life is kept intact by a succession of beautiful deeds, springing from the ever-growing tendency to sacrifice the immediate interests of self to promote the good of others. The capacity to enjoy purely egoistic pleasures is heightened by ministering to the wants of others. Indulged selfishness, by producing satiety, defeats itself. But a nobler truth than that is this--that the deepest satisfactions and most lasting joys of life are blossoms on the tree whose roots derive nutriment from the soil of sacrifice. (S. S. Chronicle.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 12:43. For God had made them rejoice with great joy — By restoring the holy city to such a secure condition, that they could praise the Lord there without disturbance or fear. And the children rejoiced — And their hosannas were not despised, but are recorded to their praise. All that share in public mercies ought to join in public thanksgivings. So that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even far off — Either their loud voices and instruments were heard at a great distance, or the fame of it was spread far and near.

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

12:43 This community celebration included everyone. God was the true source of their great joy because his power had enabled them to accomplish the huge task of rebuilding the walls. Psalm 147 might have been written for this occasion.

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

the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off--The events of the day, viewed in connection with the now repaired and beautified state of the city, raised the popular feeling to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and the fame of their rejoicings was spread far and near.

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

(43) Rejoiced.—This verse is full of joy; but before the rejoicing comes the abundant offering of sacrifices.

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

43. Also that day] R.V. And … that day.

great sacrifices] Cf. Ezr_6:17.

God had made them rejoice, &c.] 2Ch_20:27, ‘for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.’

the wives also] R.V. and the women also. The women and children who were present on the occasion of national gatherings (e.g. Neh_8:2) would participate in the festivities.

was heard even afar off] Cf. the very similar statement in Ezr_3:13, ‘for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.’

44–13:4. This section, in which the Memoirs of Nehemiah probably only form the outline of the Compiler’s work, falls into two groups, (a) 44–47, dealing with Levitical organization, and (b) Neh_8:1-4, relations with foreign peoples. The 1st person sing. is dropped.

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.

For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers,.... Persons appointed over the rest to instruct them, and see that they did their work aright, as besides Asaph, Haman, and Jeduthun, and their sons, Ch1 25:2

and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God; such were made by them, some under divine inspiration, which bear the names of David and Asaph, as may be observed in the book of Psalms.

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

Thanksgiving. St. Jerome, Septuagint, and Syriac have read in a different manner from the present Hebrew, (Calmet which has, "for the tithes to gather into them out of the fields of the cities, the portions of (or by) the law assigned to the priests, &c. Tora, "law," has been read, toda, "thanksgiving," by St. Jerome; and sarim, "princes," has been substituted for sadim, "fields." (Haydock) --- The Syriac admits the second reading. (Calmet) --- Septuagint omit the first entirely. "For the tithes, and for the collections in them, brought to the princes of the cities, being the portions for the priests," &c. (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).

Either their loud voices and instruments were heard to a great distance, or the fame of it was spread far and near.

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

43. Joy of Jerusalem — The joy of the people over their completed work, and the prospect of peace and prosperity. Their hosannas, says Wordsworth, “may be caught up and re-echoed by us, when we look forward to the time when the Church militant will have encircled the world, and have completed her mission in preaching the Gospel and in building up her walls; and when the two companies of Gentile and Jew will meet together at the heavenly Zion, and join in one song of united praise to God. Then will the saints see the jewelled walls, and the gates of pearl, and the streets of pure gold, of the heavenly Jerusalem, (Rev_21:11-21,) and will sing hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, and dwell forever there.”

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

Also that day they offered great sacrifices. David had inaugurated the "tabernacle" which he made for the ark of the covenant at Jerusalem with sacrifice, (2Sa_6:17) and had consecrated the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite in the same way. (2Sa_24:25) Solomon, at his dedication of the temple, had sacrificed sheep and oxen "that could not be numbered for multitude". (1Ki_8:5) Zerubbabel had followed this example at the dedication of the second temple; (Ezr_6:17) and we may presume that it was with victims that Eliashib and his brethren the priests had "sanctified" their portion of the wall soon after they completed it. (Neh_3:1) Nehemiah now completed the dedication of the entire circuit of the walls by sacrifices on a large scale. God had made them rejoice with great joy. It is characteristic of Nehemiah to ascribe the universal joy, which another might well have claimed as his own work, to the Divine mercy and forethought, which had brought the matter of the wall to a prosperous and happy issue. The wives also and the children rejoiced. It is seldom that the Jewish women are mentioned as taking that prominent position in joy, which naturally belonged to them in sorrow. (Jud_1:11:40 Jer_31:15 Jer 49:3Jo Jer_1:8, etc.) There is, however, one remarkable example of the kind, besides the present one the rejoicing of the women after the passage through the Red Sea, under the leadership of Miriam. (Exo_15:20) The joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. See Ezr_3:13, and comp. 1Ki_1:40 2Ki_11:13.

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

The children rejoiced - And their hosanna's were not despised, but are recorded to their praise. All that share in public mercies, ought to join in public thanksgivings.

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

rejoice with great joy

"rejoice greatly"

So the joy of Jerusalem could be heard far away

"The joy of Jerusalem" here is a metonym for "the sound that the people of Jerusalem made." This can be translated in active form. AT: "people far away from Jerusalem could hear the sound that the people of Jerusalem made as they celebrated" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

translationWords

sacrifice

joy

joy

Jerusalem

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