Nehemiah 10:11 — Word Study
WLCמִיכָ֥א רְח֖וֹב חֲשַׁבְיָֽה׃
BSAbrotherʼâch ShebaniahShᵉbanyâh HodiahHôwdîyâh△ KelitaQᵉlîyṭâʼ PelaiahPᵉlâyâh HananChânân
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| מִיכָ֥א | Mica | Noun proper masculine |
| רְח֖וֹב | Rehob | Noun proper masculine |
| חֲשַׁבְיָֽה׃ | Hashabiah | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
| KJV | Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
| ASV | Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
| YLT | Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
| WEB | Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
| BBE | Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, |
All translations agree on the names listed in this verse.
The verse consists of a single main clause listing names, emphasizing their collective significance.
2 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Nehemiah 10:11
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Covenant of Nehemiahgenerated
Nehemiah 10:11 is part of a larger passage where the people of Israel are reaffirming their commitment to God through a written covenant. This verse specifically lists names of individuals who were significant in this commitment, highlighting their roles within the community during the return from exile.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nehemiah 11:15–22 | From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; |
| 2 | Nehemiah 12:24 | The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God. |
| 3 | Ezra 8:19–24 | also Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 3 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — מִיכָ֥א, mi.Kha'generated
The name מִיכָא (Mica) means "who is like God" and is associated with two individuals in the Old Testament, including a Levite involved in the covenant with Nehemiah. The name reflects a theological question about the nature of God and humanity's relationship with Him.
Mica's role in this context emphasizes the importance of individual commitment within the larger community of faith, as he stands among others who have pledged to uphold God's laws.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, consisting of a noun phrase that serves as the subject. The names are presented in a simple list format, emphasizing their collective significance.
The Hebrew word order places the names in a sequence that highlights their importance in the context of the covenant, with no additional modifiers or verbs.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint uses the Greek word αναν to translate מִיכָא, indicating a consistent recognition of this name across both Hebrew and Greek texts.
This choice reflects the translators' intent to maintain the identity of these individuals while adapting the text for a Greek-speaking audience.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Nehemiah 10:11 lists the names of Mica, Rehob, and Hashabiah as part of the covenant community. These individuals are recognized for their roles in reaffirming the people's commitment to God.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Mica is a name meaning 'who is like God' and refers to a Levite who signed a covenant with Nehemiah.
Rehob can refer to a location in Syria and is also the name of several individuals in the Old Testament.
Hashabiah means 'Jehovah has considered' and is a name given to several Levites in the Bible.
These names reflect the community's dedication to God and their commitment to uphold His laws as part of the covenant.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What does the name Mica teach us about our relationship with God?
- How do the names listed in this verse reflect the community's commitment to God?
- In what ways can we honor the commitments we make to God today?
- Why is it important to remember the names of those who have gone before us in faith?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Nehemiah 10:11 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentarySeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Nehemiah 10 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges11. Micha] R.V. Mica.There are 17 names of ‘Levites’ or ‘Levitical houses’: of these 17, we find four, i.e. Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel and Sherebiah, mentioned in Nehemiah 12:8 among ‘those that went up with Zerubbabel’; and seven (i.e. Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Kelita, Hanan and Pelaiah) in Nehemiah 8:7; and eight (i.e. Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Sherebiah, Chenani = Hanan, Hashabneiah = Hashabiah, Hodiah) in Nehemiah 9:4-5. It is to be observed that (a) besides Binnui, we have also Bani and Beninu (see note on Nehemiah 9:4); (b) the names Hodiah and Shebaniah occur twice in the present list; (c) only four names, i.e. Mica, Rehob, Zaccur and Beninu, fail to appear in the other…
Read Cambridge on Nehemiah 10 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Tyndale line
Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah;
Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Strictly literal
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
(10:12) Micha, Rechob, Chashabyah,
Mika, Rehob, Hashabiah,
From the Latin
Micha, Rohob, Hasebia,
Simplified
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text lists the names as מִיכָ֥א רְח֖וֹב חֲשַׁבְיָֽה. The Septuagint matches two of the three names, showing a degree of consistency between the Hebrew and Greek traditions.
מִיכָ֥א רְח֖וֹב חֲשַׁבְיָֽה׃
2 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Nehemiah 10:11
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
מִיכָא (Miyka') refers to Mica, a name associated with two Israelites. It is derived from a variation of another name, מִיכָה (Micah), meaning "who is like God." The entries note Mica as a Levite involved in the Exile and Return, and also as the son of Mephibosheth, with mentions in 2 Samuel and Nehemiah.
H4316 מִיכָא
4316 Miyka' mee-kaw'
a variation for 4318; Mica, the name of two
Israelites:--Micha.
see HEBREW for 04318
מִיכָא (mi.kah) — Mica.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at 1Ch.9.15;
son of: Zichri (H2147K);
father of: Mattaniah (H4983)
Also named: mi.khah (מִיכָה "Mica" H4318L)
§ Micha = "who is like God"
1) son of Mephibosheth
2) a Levite who signed the covenant with Nehemiah
3) father of Mattaniah, a Gershonite Levite and descendant of Asaph
מִיכָא (mi.kah) — Mica.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Neh.10.11
§ Micha = "who is like God"
1) son of Mephibosheth
2) a Levite who signed the covenant with Nehemiah
3) father of Mattaniah, a Gershonite Levite and descendant of Asaph
מִיכָא (mi.kah) — Mica.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.11.22;
father of: Mattaniah (H4983O); also called Micaiah (KJV: Michaiah; NIV: Micaiah) at Neh.12.35;
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
mi'-ka (mikha'): A variant of the name Micah, and probably like it a contracted form of MICAIAH (which see). In the King James Version it is sometimes spelled "Micha."
(1) A son of Merib-baal or Mephibosheth (2Sa 9:12, the King James Version "Micha"). In 1Ch 8:34, he is called "Micah."
(2) The son of Zichri (1Ch 9:15). In Ne 11:17 (the King James Version "Micha"), he is designated "the son of Zabdi," and in Ne 12:35, his name appears as "Micaiah (the King James Version "Michaiah"), the son of Zaccur."
רְחוֹב (Rechob) means "broad place" and refers to a location in Syria and a town in Asher. It is associated with several figures, including a man from Zobah, the father of Hadadezer, and a Levite who sealed a covenant with Nehemiah. The term also marks the northern limit of the spies' exploration in Canaan.
רְחוֹב, רְחֹב n.pr.
loc.:
towards Hamath
in Asher
m.:
Aram. name
post-exilic Levite
base
H7340 רְחוֹב, רְחֹב
7340 Rchob rekh-obe'
or Rchowb {rekh-obe'}; the same as 7339; Rechob, the name of
a place in Syria, also of a Syrian and an Israelite:--Rehob.
see HEBREW for 07339
רְחוֹב (re.chov) — Rehob.
§ Rehob = "broad place"
the northern limit of the exploration of the spies in Canaan; on the road to Hamath
רְחוֹב (re.chov) — Rehob.
§ Rehob = "broad place"
a town in Asher
רְחוֹב (re.chov) — Rehob.
A man of Zobah living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.8.3;
father of: Hadadezer (H1909)
§ Rehob = "broad place"
1) father of Hadadezer the king of Zobah who was killed by David
2) a Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
3) the northern limit of the exploration of the spies in Canaan; on the road to Hamath
4) a town in Asher
5) a second town by the same name also in Asher
רְחוֹב (re.chov) — Rehob.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Neh.10.11
§ Rehob = "broad place"
1) father of Hadadezer the king of Zobah who was killed by David
2) a Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
re'-hob (rechobh; Rhoob, Rhaab):
(1) Etymologically the word means "broad" and might be applied either to a road or a plain. Rehob is given (Nu 13:21) as the northern limit of Israel as reached by the spies. This agrees with the position assigned to Beth-rehob in the narrative of the settlement of the Danites (Jud 18:28). It is mentioned again along with the kingdom of Zobah in connection with the wars of Saul (1Sa 14:47 Septuagint Lag.), and as having been associated with, Zobah and Maacah against David in the Ammonite war and as having been defeated by him (2Sa 10:6). Robinson sought to identify it with Hunin, but it hardly suits the references. Buhl (GAP, 240) following…
Rehob
Street; broad place. (1.) The father of Hadadezer, king of Tobah (2 Sam. 8:3, 12).
(2.) Neh. 10:11.
(3.) The same, probably, as Beth-rehob (2 Sam. 10:6, 8; Judg. 18:28), a place in the north of Palestine (Num. 13:21). It is now supposed to be represented by the castle of Hunin, south-west of Dan, on the road from Hamath into Coele-Syria.
(4.) A town of Asher (Josh. 19:28), to the east of Zidon.
(5.) Another town of Asher (Josh. 19:30), kept possession of by the Canaanites (
The father of Hadadezer king of Zobah, whom David smote at the Euphrates. (2 Samuel 8:3,12) (B.C. before 1043.) A Levite or family of Levites who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:11) (B.C. 410.) The northern limit of the exploration of the spies. (Numbers 13:21) Robinson fixes the position of Rehob as not far from Tell el-Kady and Banias . One of the towns allotted to Asher. (Joshua 19:28) Asher contained another Rehob, (Joshua 19:30) but the situation of these towns is unknown.
1. A Levitical city in Asher, Jos 19:28; 21:31, on the northern border of the Holy Land, called also Beth-rehob, and lying in a valley south of Anti-Lebanon, not far north of Dan, Nu 13:21; Jud 18:28. It was long governed by its own kings, Jud 1:31, but in the time of David was rendered tributary, 2Sa 10:6,8,19. Some think there were two cities of this name in Asher.
2. The father of Hadadezer king of Zobah in Syria, 2Sa 8:3.
The Hebrew word חֲשַׁבְיָהוּ (*Chashabyah*) means 'Jehovah has regarded' and refers to a name associated with several Levites in the Old Testament. It is built from roots meaning 'to consider' and the divine name. The entries highlight various individuals named Hashabiah, including musicians and leaders during different periods, such as the time of David and the return from Babylon.
חֲשַׁבְיָ֫הוּ, חֲשַׁבְיָה n.pr.m. (Yah(u) has taken account)
a temple musician
a Levite, David’s time
a Levite, Josiah’s time
Levite in line of Merari
Levite
Levite, Ezra’s time
head of a family of priests
a builder of the wall
base
H2811 חֲשַׁבְיָהוּ, חֲשַׁבְיָה
2811 Chashabyah khash-ab-yaw'
or Chashabyahuw {khash-ab-yaw'-hoo}; from 2803 and 3050; Jah
has regarded; Chashabjah, the name of nine
Israelites:--Hashabiah.
see HEBREW for 02803
see HEBREW for 03050
חֲשַׁבְיָ֫הוּ (cha.shav.yah) — Hashabiah.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.6.45;
son of: Amaziah (H0558I);
father of: Malluch (H4409)
§ Hashabiah = "Jehovah has considered"
1) a Merarite Levite
2) the 4th of the 6 sons of Jeduthun who had charge of the 12th course
3) one of the descendants of Hebron the son of Kohath
4) the son of Kemuel, who was prince of the tribe of Levi in the time of David
5) a Levite, one of the chiefs of his tribe who officiated for Josiah at his great passover feast
6) a Merarite Levite, one of the chief priests who accompanied Ezra from Babylon; ruler of half the circuit of Keilah and one who repaired a portion of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. He sealed the covenant of reformation after the return from captivity
7) a Levite, son of Bunni in the time of Nehemiah
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
hash-a-bi'-a (chashabhyah):
(1) Two Levites of the family of Merari (1Ch 6:45; 9:14).
(2) A Levite who dwelt in Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah (Ne 11:15).
(3) A son of Jeduthun (1Ch 25:3).
(4) A Hebronite, chief of a clan of warriors who had charge of West Jordan in the interests of Yahweh and the king of Israel (1Ch 26:30).
Hashabiah
Regarded by Jehovah. (1.) Merarite Levite (1 Chr. 6:45; 9:14). (2.) A son of Jeduthun (25:3, 19). (3.) Son of Kemuel (26:30). (4.) One of the chief Levites (2 Chr. 35:9). (5.) A Levite (Neh. 11:22). (6.) One of the chief priests in the time of Ezra (Ezra 8:24). (7.) A chief of the Levites (Neh. 12:24). (8.) Ezra 8:19. (9.) Neh. 3:17.
(whom God regards). A Merarite Levite. (1 Chronicles 6:45) Another Merarite Levite. (1 Chronicles 9:14) The fourth of the six sons of Jeduthun, (1 Chronicles 25:3) who had charge of the twelfth course. ver. 19. (B.C. 1014.) One of the descendants of Hebron the son of Kohath- (1 Chronicles 26:30) The son of Kemuel, who was prince of the tribe of Levi in the time of David (1 Chronicles 27:17) (B.C. 1014.) A Levite one of the "chiefs" of his tribe, who officiated for King Josiah at his great Passover feast. (2 Chronicles 35:9) (B.C. 623). A Merarite Levite who…
the estimation of the Lord