Nehemiah 11

Nehemiah 11:1

Bede: Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. etc. The arrangement that had been begun right after the rebuilding of the city is now complete; but up to this time, it could not be finished before the numbering of the people and the completion of the solemnities of the seventh month, so that it might be determined who should live in the holy city itself and who in the other towns. It is fitting regarding the figures of the sacraments that the leaders of the people are said to have lived in Jerusalem. For it is proper that the prelates of the holy Church should surpass the people as much in the merits of their life as they surpass them in the height of their power. Indeed, the other cities of Israel signify the devout conversation of God’s people. But the habitation of the people of Jerusalem especially represents the deeds of those who, having overcome the struggle against vices, approach the vision of supreme peace with a free mind, according to that verse of the Psalmist: “The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Psalms 87). Hence, subsequently, a tenth part of the people was chosen by lot to receive habitation in Jerusalem, while the other nine parts resided in their own towns; because it is indeed the privilege of the perfect—those who fully keep the precepts of the Decalogue in the love of God and neighbor—to approach the heavenly secrets with their minds and to imitate, if I may say so, the peace of supreme blessedness amid the turmoil of a fleeting life. Although the gate to eternal life is open to those who keep God’s general commandments, as the Lord declares to the rich man who questioned Him in the Gospel. Such people dwell, as it were, in the cities given to them by the Lord, because they vigilantly guard themselves against the snares of the ancient enemy by adhering to the divine law. But those who wish to be perfect, having sold all that they have and distributed it to the poor, and thus follow the Lord, these dwell, as it were, in the citadel of Jerusalem, close to the temple of God and the ark of the covenant, because they approach more intimately the grace of their Creator. It is well said that their habitation in the holy city was not due to human choice, but by the casting of lots, just as the possession of other cities was given by lot to the children of Israel in the time of Joshua; because indeed both small and great blessings are received not by the freedom or effort of one’s own will but by the gift of the hidden Judge and Giver. — Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

Nehemiah 11:2

Bede: The people blessed all the men, etc. And we must make the exalted life of the elect, which we cannot follow by imitation, our own by rejoicing and venerating it. It should be noted, according to the faith of sacred History, that those who are said to have dwelled in Jerusalem were none other than from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and the Levites. For it clearly follows: — Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

Nehemiah 11:3

Bede: Each one dwelt in his own possession, etc. By these words, it is plainly taught that all of Israel, that is, the ten tribes, lived in their cities, in which even the priests and Levites held their portion decreed by law. However, from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, whoever was chosen by lot dwelled in Jerusalem; along with those from the priestly and Levitical tribes. For the tribe of Benjamin had been dwelling there from ancient times, as that city had fallen to them by lot. The tribe of Judah entered there in the times of David, when he made it the metropolis of the entire Israelite kingdom. The tribe of Levi was added when the ark of the covenant was brought there, and the altar and temple of God were built. For, see the following passages of this book and you will find that inhabitants of Jerusalem are counted only from these three tribes, and their total is carefully tallied; once their catalog is completed, Scripture still goes on to add in which cities the rest of these tribes lived. For it follows: — Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

Nehemiah 11:25

Bede: Of the sons of Judah, they dwelled in Kiriath-arba, etc. For Beer-sheba was the boundary of Judah to the south, and the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom to the north next to Jerusalem to the east. Then the cities of the sons of Benjamin are recounted in a similar order. After listing these, it is added: — Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

Nehemiah 11:36

Bede: And concerning the Levites, portions of Judah and Benjamin, it indicates that the Levites received their share in the possession of the children of Judah and Benjamin according to the decree of the law. Let these few words be said about the history. Concerning all these things, if we also wish to hear an allegorical sense that fits our actions, Judah is interpreted as confessing, Benjamin as the son of the right hand, Levi as taken up. Tribes of all these partly live in Jerusalem, and partly in subordinate cities given to them by God, because the gains of the faithful are many and diverse, for which there are also many mansions in the house of the Father in the heavens, as we taught above. Some are content to keep the general commandments of God: not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness against their neighbor; to honor father and mother, and to love neighbors as themselves. Others try to take a stricter way of a perfect life, yet all praise and confess the grace of their Creator according to their calling and are children of the eternal kingdom, which is at His right hand; and they are taken up by Him into life, when the time of that judgment comes, in which two will be in the field, one will be taken, two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken, and one left (Matthew XXIV). — Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah