Nehemiah 12

DEDICATION OF THE COMPLETED WALL OF JERUSALEM

(Note: in this chapter, we shall use the text of the RSV, which has returned to the order of verses in the KJV).

This chapter exhibits two separate parts: (1) certain lists of priests, High Priests and Levites (Neh_12:1-16); and (2) the elaborate ceremonies of the dedication. Cook classified the lists thus: (1) the chief priestly and Levitical families who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh_12:1-9); (2) the first six of the post-exilic High Priests from Jesuha to Jaddua (Neh_12:19-11); (3) the actual heads of the priestly families in the times of the High Priest Joiakim (Neh_12:12-21); and (4) the chief Levitical families of Nehemiah’s time (Neh_12:22-26). Cook wrote that all of these lists were probably compiled by Nehemiah, except the second; F1 he supposed that list might have been far later due to the mention of Jaddua, mentioned by Josephus as High Priest in the times of Alexander the Great (339 B.C.). This writer rejects that supposition altogether. REGARDING THE PROBLEM OF JADDUA (Neh_12:22)

This is as good a place as any to dispose of the problem centered around the name Jaddua.

(1) There might easily have been several High Priests named Jaddua. If there’s anything about all these Jewish names we have been studying that stands out above everything else, it is that the same names appear again, and again, generation after generation. “For example there were twenty-seven Zechariahs”! F2 And even among the Twelve Apostles there were two Simons and two James. Nehemiah mentions a Jaddua here (Neh_12:11; Neh_12:22), apparently in his times; and Josephus mentions another one more than a century later. The critics will have to come up with something a lot better than this in order to late-date Nehemiah. We simply will not receive any such thing on the premise that only one High Priest was named Jaddua!

(2) We believe that Josephus’ identification of Jaddua as the High Priest in the times of Alexander the Great is an error by Josephus. There’s not a scholar on earth who has not questioned Josephus’ reliability on many things.

(3) It is altogether possible that Jaddua lived to be over a hundred years old and might have been high priest in the times of both Nehemiah and Alexander. Whitcomb stressed this, pointing out that one of the High Priests, “Jehoiada died at the age of 130 (2Ch_24:15).” F3 That possibility is supported by the fact that Jaddua died very soon after his meeting with Alexander the Great, indicating that he might indeed have been a very old man when that happened.

(4) Then there is the very definite possibility that the word Jaddua here is an interpolation. It is this writer’s opinion that overwhelming odds favor this possibility. Williamson admitted that these lists are “defective,” due to copyist’s errors, etc. We appreciate Hamrick, a very recent scholar, and his elaboration of this very point. “Jaddua in verse 22 (Neh_12:22) may have been added by a subsequent editor. In the Hebrew, it reads, ‘and Johanan, and Jaddua’ (cf. KJV), as though the latter name had been inserted by a later hand.” F4

All of these four options may be defended, and indeed have been defended, by able scholars; so one may take his choice. Until the critics effectively refute all four of these options, we shall stick to our conviction that the appearance of the name of Jaddua in this chapter is no adequate basis whatever for late-dating Nehemiah.

There isn’t anything that betrays the enthusiastic bias of critics in favor of late-dating Bible books any better that their ridiculous seizure of one single word in a defective list of names as their sole basis for denying the Word of God, which ascribes this Book to Nehemiah, and not to some mythical ‘chronicler’ living a hundred years later in the times of Alexander the Great. Such an action goes much further in discrediting the critics than it does toward late-dating Nehemiah.

Counting the list of the inhabitants of the province given in Neh. 11, the four we have here in Neh. 12 make five lists in all. “They are all connected with the genealogical register of the Israelite population of the whole province, taken by Nehemiah for the purpose of enlarging the population of Jerusalem.” F5

We shall not discuss these lists in detail. It is sufficient to remember that they served their purpose as far as Nehemiah was concerned. The discrepancies, questions, problems and variations in all of these are insoluble at this period of time, twenty five centuries afterward.

One of the first problems regarding the two lists in Neh. 10 and Neh. 12 is that they do not coincide. “This difference is due to the time elapsed between the taking of the two lists; and also because, the names in Neh. 10 are not the names of orders nor houses, but the names of heads of families.” F6

Footnotes for Nehemiah 12 1: F. C. Cook, Barnes’ Commentary Series, Nehemiah, p. 479. 2: All the Men of the Bible, p. 343. 3: Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 443. 4: Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3.499. 5: C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament Commentaries, Nehemiah, p. 265. 6: Ibid, pp. 268, 270. 7: C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 273. 8: Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 443. 9: The Pulpit Commentary, Nehemiah, p. 132. 10: F. C. Cook, Barnes’ Commentary Series, Nehemiah, p. 481. 11: The New Layman’s Bible Commentary, p. 540. 12: The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 409. 13: Kathleen Kenyon, Jerusalem, Excavating 3,000 Years of History (New York: McGraw-Hill,1967), p. 111. 14: Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 502. 15: C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 282. 16: F. C. Cook, Barnes’ Commentary Series, op. cit., p. 482.

Nehemiah 12:1

PRIESTS AND LEVITES WHO CAME UP WITH ZERUBBABEL

Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah. Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua. Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and] Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren. Also Bakbukiah and Unno, their brethren, were over against them according to their offices. And Jeshua begat Joiakim, and Joiakim begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada, and Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddua.

Neh_12:10 and Neh_12:11 are a parenthesis thrown in at this point as an aid in the chronology. The names are those of the first six High Priests in the period after the exile.

Nehemiah 12:12

LIST OF PRIESTS WHEN JOIAKIM WAS HIGH PRIEST

And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ [houses]: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

Nehemiah 12:22

LIST OF THE LEVITES IN THE DAYS OF THE LAST FOUR HIGH PRIESTS MENTIONED IN Neh_12:10-11

As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ [houses]; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian. The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ [houses], were written in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch. Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters keeping the watch at the store-houses of the gates. These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest the scribe.

In the days of Joiakim (Neh_12:26). That entire list of six High Priests in Neh_12:10-11, raises the question of why four were named in Neh_12:22, whereas, here (Neh_12:26), all of the names in this paragraph are identified as those who lived in the days of Joiakim. This makes it a certainty that the Darius the Persian mentioned here was none other than, Darius Nothus, the second Persian king of that name. F7 This is proved by the Elephantine papyri. F8 It appears that the best explanation of why four High Priests are named in Neh_12:21 is that all four generations of them were living at the same time, which would mean that Jaddua was indeed quite a young child at the time. The text nowhere states that the names given were those of people living throughout the administrations of all four of those High Priests.

Nehemiah 12:27

PREPARATION FOR THE DEDICATION CEREMONIES

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round about Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.

The purification ceremonies probably included the offering of sacrifices and the strict observance of all the prohibitions of the Mosaic law.

The time of this dedication was not long after the completion of the wall, as should have been expected. This writer was astounded that several scholars placed the dedication a decade or so after the wall was completed. Rawlinson made the dedication “thirteen years after the wall was finished.” F9 Cook wrote that, “The dedication was deferred for nearly twelve years.” F10 Such errors are due solely to the scholarly emphasis upon that misplaced name of the High Priest Jaddua in Neh_12:22. Short got it right. “The dedication was only a few days after the completion of the wall.” F11

Although our text does not give us the exact date of the dedication, the historical note in, “2Ma_1:18 gives the date of the dedication as the twenty fifth of the ninth month (Kislew), only three months after the completion of the wall.” F12

Nehemiah 12:31

THE GRAND PROCESSION ATOP THE WALL TO THE TEMPLE

Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession; [whereof one went] on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate: and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them. And by the fountain gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.

Upon the wall. upon the wall (Neh_12:31). Many of the older scholars thought that the grand processions, one moving clockwise, the other counter clockwise, circled the wall around the city, walking on the ground; but the text here flatly declares that they marched atop the wall. This is to be trusted as the way it happened. Excavations by Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem have indicated that, Nehemiah’s wall was nine feet wide. F13 As Hamrick noted, That was ample room for a procession to move along the top of it. F14 (Our map, p. 138, will show how the processions proceeded.)

These verses concern only half the procession; there were two, one led by Ezra the priest the scribe, and the other by the governor Nehemiah. Both began in the area between the Dung Gate and the Valley Gate, Ezra moving northward around the eastern wall of the city, and Nehemiah and his procession heading northward around the western wall, both processions coming together in the vicinity of the temple.

Nehemiah 12:38

NEHEMIAH HEADS THE PROCESSION AROUND THE WESTERN SECTION OF THE WALL

And the other company of them that gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, upon the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even unto the broad wall, and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the gate of the guard. So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. And they offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

Any way it may be considered, this is a very remarkable narrative. The whole celebration is outlined in such a manner that one may visualize it even today. There was indeed a great joy in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 12:44

REGULATIONS REGARDING RELIGIOUS DUTIES OF THE PEOPLE

And on that day were men appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the heave-offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. And they kept the charge of their God, and the charge of the purification, and [so did] the singers and the porters, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, as every day required: and they set apart [that which was] for the Levites; and the Levites set apart [that which was] for the sons of Aaron.

Men were appointed over the chambers for the stores. the tithes … to gather them (Neh_12:44). Bringing tithes into Jerusalem was no doubt an arduous and constant work; and it is no wonder the duty was neglected. Here we learn that men were appointed to collect them from outlying areas and to deliver them to the storehouses in the temple. This no doubt pleased the vast majority of the people.

Nehemiah, in this paragraph, used the third person; but that does not mean another author nor that mythical chronicler. “The solemnity was terminated with the offering of great sacrifices and a general festival of rejoicing. In all that sacrificing, Nehemiah, the civil governor, was naturally superceded as the man in charge by Ezra the priest; and therefore Nehemiah related the close of the proceedings objectively, using the third person, as he had done in describing the preparations (Neh_12:27), only using the first person when speaking of what was appointed by himself or his position.” F15 Biblical authors (and other ancient historians) very often used the third person in their writings; even Paul did so (2Co_12:2-4).

This last paragraph emphasizes the widespread cooperation of the people with the priests and the Levites. Israel considered their national safety as dependent upon the faithful observance of all the religious ceremonies and ordinances by the priests and Levites. By stressing that fact that this was being done, “The author,” according to Cook, “Is comparing the religious activity and strictness of Nehemiah’s time with that which had prevailed under Zerubbabel (described in Ezr_6:16-22), with the implication that the intermediate period had been a time of laxity.” F16