Nehemiah 7:73

73. some] R.V. some. The Heb. gives the partitive idea. (LXX. οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ. Vulg. ‘reliquum vulgus.’)

Nethinims] R.V. Nethinim.

Neh_7:73 b–8:12. The Reading of the Law

This verse begins a new section in the work. The style alters. The use of the first pers. sing. is resumed in Neh_12:31. The Compiler has recourse to other material for this narrative. The thread of Nehemiah’s Memoir, which was broken off at Neh_7:5, is therefore not resumed.

and when the seventh month came] R.V. And when the seventh month was come. The R.V. gives the right division of the verse. The second clause introduces a new section. Very similar words occur in Ezr_3:1 after the register of names. The close of the ‘register’ perhaps contained suitable words with which to resume the narrative in both passages. But possibly the Compiler consciously repeats himself and borrows from Ezr_3:1, ‘the seventh month.’ The mention of this date raises the question of the chronology of the following episodes.

The year is not stated. It is not therefore possible to say with certainty that the events described in chap. 8. followed immediately upon the completion of the wall. But, although not stated, this is what is clearly suggested by the compiler of the work. The mention of the 25th of the 6th month (Neh_6:15) is followed by the narrative of the 1st of the 7th month (Neh_7:73; Neh_8:2). As no other year is mentioned, presumably the events are those which occurred in the same year.

The objection which has been raised against this simple view is chiefly based upon the difficulty caused by the strangely sudden reappearance of Ezra. The fact that in 1Es_9:37 ff. the events here described follow immediately upon the expulsion of ‘the strange women’ (Ezra 9) has been by some scholars understood to supply the right order of time. The public reading of the law and the sacred covenant would then have to be placed in the year 457, and ‘the seventh month’ in the second year after Ezra’s arrival. An apparent confirmation of this view is given by Josephus. But the chronology of Josephus in this period is very untrustworthy. Undoubtedly following 1 Esdras, which does not mention Nehemiah, he places Ezra’s activity in the generation before that of Nehemiah, and Ezra’s death before Nehemiah’s arrival at Jerusalem. His treatment of their lives seems to be based on the supposition that they were not contemporaries (see Josephus, Antiquities, xi. 5); in § 1, Ezra appears as a contemporary of Joiakim the High-priest, in § 5 his death is mentioned as occurring at the same time as that of Joiakim the High-priest, who was succeeded by Eliashib. It seems fatal to this view that, in order to maintain it, it is necessary to strike out, as later glosses, the mention of Nehemiah’s name in Neh_8:9, Neh_10:1.

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.

Neh 7:73. So the priests and the Levites, &c.,dwelt in their cities — When all the business before mentioned was finished, the people were sent back, by Nehemiah’s direction, to the several cities to which they belonged; where they remained till the seventh month came, which was five days after the wall was finished, that being on the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month, chap. Neh 6:15.

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

7:73–10:39 This section, perhaps originally a part of Ezra’s personal memoirs, describes how Ezra’s teaching of God’s law brought renewal of the people’s commitment to serve God and follow his instructions. Spiritual revival accompanied the civic work of Ezra and Nehemiah.

7:73 their own towns throughout Israel: Each family settled in the land that had been inhabited by their ancestors before the Exile.

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

Which containeth part of September and part of October.

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

So . . . all Israel, dwelt in their cities--The utility of these genealogical registers was thus found in guiding to a knowledge of the cities and localities in each tribe to which every family anciently belonged.

Next: Nehemiah Chapter 8

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 73. All Israel, dwelt in their cities] It was in reference to this particularly that the public registers were examined; for by them they found the different families, and consequently the cities, villages, c., which belonged to them, according to the ancient division of the lands. It seems that the examination of the registers occupied about a month for as soon as the walls were finished, which was in the sixth month, (Elul,) Ne 6:15, Nehemiah instituted the examination mentioned in this chapter, Ne 7:5; and by the concluding verse we find that the different families had got into their paternal cities in the seventh month, Tisri, answering to a part of our September and October. Thus the register determined every thing: there was no room for complaint, and none to accuse the governor of partiality.

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

And all Israel dwelt in their cities. The document found by Nehemiah (ver. 5) probably ended with these words; (comp. Ezr_2:70) and Ne 7 should here terminate, as it does in the Septuagint. Having completed the account of what happened in the sixth month, Elul, (Neh_6:15) and transcribed the register which he had the good fortune to discover at that date, Nehemiah proceeds to relate events belonging to the seventh month.

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

seventh month

i.e. October; also, Neh 8:2; Neh 8:14.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

gatekeepers

See how you translated this in Nehemiah 7:1.

singers

See how you translated this in Nehemiah 7:1.

some of the people

The implied information is that this refers to some of the Israelites who were not priests or other temple workers. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

all Israel

Possible meanings are: 1) all the groups of Israelites that are listed in this verse or 2) the rest of the Israelites who did not work in the temple.

the seventh month

"month 7." This is the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is during the last part of September and the first part of October on Western calendars. (See: Ordinal Numbers and Hebrew Months)

were settled in their cities

"lived in their own cities"

translationWords

Levi

temple

servant

Israel

life

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