Nehemiah 10:25 — Word Study
WLCרְח֥וּם חֲשַׁבְנָ֖ה מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה׃
BSAHalloheshLôwchêsh PilhaPilchâʼ△ ShobekShôwbêq△
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| רְח֥וּם | Rehum | Noun proper masculine |
| חֲשַׁבְנָ֖ה | Hashabnah | Noun proper masculine |
| מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה׃ | Maaseiah | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
| KJV | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
| ASV | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
| YLT | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
| WEB | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
| BBE | Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, |
All translations agree on the names listed in Nehemiah 10:25.
The verse consists of a single main clause listing the names of the leaders.
2 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 3 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
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 10:25
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 Leaders Who Sealed the Covenantgenerated
Nehemiah 10:25 lists three leaders, Rehum, Hashabnah, and Maaseiah, who were part of the group that sealed a covenant with Nehemiah. This covenant was significant for the restoration of the community after the exile, as it represented a commitment to follow God's law and rebuild Jerusalem. The context highlights the importance of leadership in the renewal of the Israelite community.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nehemiah 3:17–32 | Next to him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and next to him, Hashabiah, ruler of a half-district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 1 reference, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה, ma'aseYahgenerated
The name מַעֲשֵׂיָה (Maaseiah) means 'work of Jehovah.' It is a proper masculine noun, indicating a person associated with God's actions. The parsing as a noun proper masculine shows it refers to a specific individual rather than a common noun.
Maaseiah appears multiple times in the Old Testament, indicating its significance among the Israelites. The name symbolizes God's involvement in the lives of those who bear it, particularly in the context of leadership and service.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations on this page agree on the names listed in Nehemiah 10:25.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, with a noun phrase serving as the subject: רְח֥וּם חֲשַׁבְנָ֖ה מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה. The lack of a verb indicates that this is a list of names, emphasizing their significance as individuals who participated in the covenant.
The names are presented in a clear sequence, which reflects the importance of each leader's role in the community's restoration.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה as σωβηκ, indicating a direct correspondence with the Hebrew name. This choice maintains the identity of the individual while presenting it in the Greek context.
The consistent naming in both texts underscores the significance of these leaders in the restoration narrative.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Nehemiah 10:25 lists three leaders: Rehum, Hashabnah, and Maaseiah. These individuals were part of a group that made a covenant with Nehemiah, committing to the restoration of the community after the exile.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The individuals are Rehum, Hashabnah, and Maaseiah, leaders who sealed a covenant with Nehemiah.
Maaseiah means 'work of Jehovah,' indicating a connection to God's actions.
The covenant represents a commitment to follow God's law and restore Jerusalem after the exile.
These leaders were instrumental in the covenant renewal process, signifying their leadership in the restoration of the Israelite community.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the leadership of Rehum, Hashabnah, and Maaseiah in our own communities?
- How does the meaning of Maaseiah inspire us to recognize God's work in our lives?
- In what ways can we commit to rebuilding and restoring our own communities?
- What does it mean to seal a covenant in our relationships today?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Nehemiah 10:25 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 Colleges3–8, Priests: 9–13, Levites: 14–28, Chiefs of the peopleThe 21 names here given are those of the priestly houses. The list of Neh 12:1-3 agrees with it in 16 names. The number 21 is peculiar; in chap. 12 the number is larger by one. In Ezra 2, Nehemiah 7, only four priestly houses are recorded, viz. Jedaiah, Immer, Pashur and Harim, as having returned with Zerubbabel. Pashur is mentioned in Nehemiah 10:3; Harim in Nehemiah 10:5. The other priestly families had either developed themselves out of these first four, or had arrived from time to time from Babylon. That 21 and not 24 are recorded, is noteworthy. Various conjectures have been hazarded, e.g. that names have dropped out from the…
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
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Tyndale line
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah;
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Strictly literal
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
(10:26) Rechum, Chashabnah, Ma'asseyah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
From the Latin
Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia,
Simplified
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
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
Both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the names listed in this verse, confirming the integrity of the text across these ancient witnesses.
רְח֥וּם חֲשַׁבְנָ֖ה מַעֲשֵׂיָֽה׃
3 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 10:25
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.
רְחוּם (Rechum) primarily refers to a post-exilic name meaning 'compassion.' It denotes a Persian official mentioned in Ezra 4:8 and several individuals who returned from exile, including a Levite and a chief who sealed a covenant with Nehemiah. The entries suggest a connection to gentleness, but the exact nuance is unclear.
רְחוּם, רְחֻם n.pr.m. (compassion, or softness, gentleness?);—post-exilic name
with Zerub.
with Neh.
H7348a רְחוּם, רְחֻם (compassion, or softness, gentleness?);—post-exilic name H7348b רְחוּם Persian official
7348 Rchuwm rekh-oom'
a form of 7349; Rechum, the name of a Persian and of three
Israelites:--Rehum.
see HEBREW for 07349
רְחוּם (re.chum) — Rehum.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.2.2; also called Harim at Neh.10.5; 12.15; Nehum at Neh.7.7;
§ Rehum = "compassion"
1) an man who returned from exile with Zerubbabel
1a) also 'Nehum'
2) a Levite of the family of Bani who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
3) one of the chiefs of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
4) a priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel
רְחוּם (re.chum) — Rehum.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.4.8
§ Rehum = "compassion"
a commander who wrote a letter to the king Artaxerxes in which he opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem
רְחוּם (re.chum) — Rehum.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Neh.3.17;
son of: Bani (H1137L)
§ Rehum = "compassion"
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
re'-hum (rechum, or rechum):
(1) One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community returning from captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:2; Ne 7:7 (by a copyist's error "Nehum"); Ne 12:3; /RAPC 1Es 5:8, "Roimus").
(2) A Persian officer of high rank (literally, "master of judgment, taste, reason") who with others wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes (Ezr 4:8,9,17,23).
Rehum
Merciful. (1.) One of “the children of the province” who returned from the Captivity (Ezra 2:2); the same as “Nehum” (Neh. 7:7).
(2.) The “chancellor” of Artaxerxes, who sought to stir him up against the Jews (Ezra 4:8-24) and prevent the rebuilding of the walls and the temple of Jerusalem.
(merciful). One who went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:2) (B.C. 536.) "Rehum the chancellor." (Ezra 4:8,9,17,23) He was perhaps a kind of lieutenant-governor of the province under the king of Persia. (B.C. 535.) A Levite of the family of Bani, who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:17) (B.C. 445.) One of the chief of the people, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:25) (B.C. 410.) A priestly family, or the head of a priestly house, who went up with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 12:3) (B.C. 536.)
An officer of the king of Persia, in Samaria, during the rebuilding of the temple; by an insidious letter to the king he procured an edict for the discontinuance of this work for a time, probably two years or more preceding 520 B.C., when it was resumed.
חֲשַׁבְנָה (Chashabnah) refers to a chief of the people during the time of Nehemiah, noted for sealing the covenant with him in Nehemiah 10:25. The name is derived from a feminine form of another Hebrew word, suggesting a meaning related to inventiveness or consideration.
חֲשַׁבְנָה n.pr.m. a chief of the people, Nehemiah’s time
base
H2812 חֲשַׁבְנָה
2812 Chashabnah khash-ab-naw'
feminine of 2808; inventiveness; Chashnah, an
Israelite:--Hashabnah.
see HEBREW for 02808
חֲשַׁבְנָה (cha.shav.nah) — Hashabnah.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Neh.10.25
§ Hashabnah = "Jehovah has considered"
one of the chiefs of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
ha-shab'-na (chashabhnah): One who helped to seal the covenant under Nehemiah (Ne 10:25).
(whom Jehovah regards), one of the chief of the "people" who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:25) (B.C. 410.)
Hashabniah, the silence of the Lord
→ One who sealed the covenant Ne 10:25
מַעֲשֵׂיָהוּ (Ma`aseyah) means 'work of Jah' and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament, particularly during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. This name is associated with priests and Levites, including a son of Ahaz and others involved in significant events like the reading of the law. The entries indicate a range of roles and familial connections, highlighting the name's prominence among the Israelites.
מַעֲשֵׂיָהוּ, מַעֲשֵׂיָה, מַעֲשַׂי n.pr.m. (work of י׳)
priest, Je.’s time
29:21.
H4641 מַעֲשֵׂיָהוּ, מַעֲשֵׂיָה, מַעֲשַׂי (work of י׳) . priest, Je.’s time
. 29
. Levites
. officials
. son of Ahaz
. Levite
. Ne
. a
. Ezr
. a priest
4641 Ma`aseyah mah-as-ay-yaw'
or Maaseyahuw {mah-as-ay-yaw'-hoo}; from 4639 and 3050; work
of Jah; Maasejah, the name of sixteen Israelites:--Maaseiah.
see HEBREW for 04639
see HEBREW for 03050
מַעֲשֵׂיָהוּ (ma.a.se.yah) — Maaseiah.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.15.18
§ Maaseiah = "work of Jehovah"
1) a descendant of Jeshua who had taken a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
2) a priest of the sons of Harim who had taken a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
3) a priest of the sons of Pashur who had taken a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
4) a descendant of Pahath-moab who had taken a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
5) father of Azariah
6) one who stood on the right hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people
7) a Levite who assisted when Ezra read the law to the people
8) one of the heads of the people whose descendants signed the covenant with Nehemiah
9) a Benjamite ancestor of Sallu
10) a priest who took part in the musical service at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem under Ezra
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
ma-a-se'-ya, ma-a-si'a (ma`aseyahu, "Yahweh's work"; Maassaia, and Massaias in the Septuagint): A name common in exilic and late monarchic times (Gray, H P N).
(1) A Levite musician named in connection with David's bringing up of the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1Ch 15:18,20).
(2) A Levite captain who aided Jehoiada at the coronation of Joash (2Ch 23:1).
Maaseiah
The work of Jehovah. (1.) One of the Levites whom David appointed as porter for the ark (1 Chr. 15:18, 20).
(2.) One of the “captains of hundreds” associated with Jehoiada in restoring king Jehoash to the throne (2 Chr. 23:1).
(3.) The “king’s son,” probably one of the sons of king Ahaz, killed by Zichri in the invasion of Judah by Pekah, king of Israel (2 Chr. 28:7).
(4.) One who was sent by king Josiah to repair the temple (2 Chr. 34:8). He was governor (Heb. sar, rendered elsewhere in the Authorized Version “prince,” “chief captain,” chief ruler”) of Jerusalem.
(work of the Lord), the name of four persons who had married foreign wives. In the time of Ezra, A descendant of Jeshua the priest. (Ezra 10:18) A priest, of the sons of Harim. (Ezra 10:21) A priest, of the sons of Pashur. (Ezra 10:22) One of the laymen, a descendant of Pahath-moab. (Ezra 10:30) The father of Azariah. (Nehemiah 3:23) One of those who stood on the right hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people. (Nehemiah 8:4) A Levite who assisted on the same occasion. (Nehemiah 8:7) One of the heads of the…
the work of the Lord