Inter Aramaic Document that these men cease and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree shall be 23Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes's letter had been read to Rehum ruption the commander and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and by force and might made them cease. of the work gates § 156. Measures to Insure the Protection of Jerusalem, Neh. 71-5, 111. 2 Nehemiah's Memoirs The Neh. 7 1Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, guarding of and the porters and the singers and the Levites' had been appointed, 2I placed the city my brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the castle in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and more God-fearing than many. 3And I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot;h and while watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint watches consisting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch and each opposite his own house. Need of more 4Now the city was wide and large; but there were few people in it, and the citizens households were not large.j 5aTherefore my God put it into my mind to gather together the nobles and the rulers and the people. ures to Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History Meas- 11 1And the princes of the people dwelt in Jerusalem, and the rest of the in- people cast lots, to bring one out of every ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy crease city, while nine-tenths remained in the villages. 2And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to dwell in Jerusalem. the population § 156 Not only does the use of the direct address, but the straightforward nature of the narrative and the presence of Nehemiah's characteristic titles for the leaders of the people in Sa, cf. 216, 414, indicate that 71-5a, excepting one or two slight additions, was taken from the memoirs. The assembly of the people, however, and the general theme gave the Chronicler an opportunity to introduce the census which follows in 76-69. The reasons why it is not in its original or logical position are given in note § 145. The immediate and logical sequel to 71-5 is found in 111. 2. Its facts were probably taken from Nehemiah's memoirs, but the language is that of the Chronicler. f 171 The context concerns only the provisions for the guarding of the city gates. The introduction of the singers and Levites is due to the Chronicler or a scribe familiar with his stereotyped formula. 872 Torrey, on the basis of 3 and in view of the reference in the Talmud to the officer in charge of the gate-service, has suggested that the words, gates of, have fallen out of the present text. h73 The translation of the clause is difficult and doubtful. The above probably represents the idea. The original may have read, while it is still hot. 73 The Heb. has the imperative form of the verb and the Gk, the passive. i74 Usually translated, the house had not been built, but this is contradictory to the context and especially to Hag. 14. The above translation suggested by Haupt is supported by the context and by a similar use of the same idiom in Dt. 259. 157. Dedication of the Walls of Jerusalem, Neh. 1227-43 Nehemiah's Memoirs the Neh. 12 27And at the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites Assemfrom all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with glad- bly of ness, with hymns of thanksgiving, and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and zithers. singers 28 And the members of the Levitical guilds, the singers, assembled, both from the Plain and the of the Jordan and' round about Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites conse29 and from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had cration built themselves villages round about Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites of the purified themselves; and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. city first along eastern 31Then I had the rulers of Judah take their position upon the wall, and I March appointed two great companies that gave thanks, and the first went to the of the right hand upon the wall toward the Dung Gate. 32And behind them went band Hoshaiah and half of the nobles of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, the 34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35and certain of the priests' sons with trum- southpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the ern and son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, wall Azarel, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe was before them. 37 And by the Fountain Gate, they went straight up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate on the east. of the along western 38 And the other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, March and I after them, with the half of the nobles of the people, upon the wall, second above the Tower of the Furnaces, even to the broad wall, 39and above the band Gate of Ephraim and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and the Tower the of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, even to the Sheep Gate; and they and stood in the Gate of the Guard. 40So the two companies of those who northgave thanks in the house of God took their position, and I, and the half wall of the rulers with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loudly with ern § 157 The dedication of the walls naturally followed soon after their completion, although the Chronicler's supplements to the original Nehemiah memoirs have widely separated the accounts of the two events. The section vividly illustrates the very different points of view of the Chronicler and of Nehemiah. In a definite, detailed narrative in which the nobles of Judah, 31, 32, and the rulers, 40 (cf. 216, 414, 75a), and he himself are the chief actors, Nehemiah in the first person tells his story. Fortunately in 31, 32, 37-40 the Chronicler quotes it almost in toto, as would appear from the completeness of the account. At the beginning, at the middle and at the end he supplements it by long sections in which his favorites, the Levites, the singers, and a variety of musical instruments, songs and great sacrifices are introduced that the ceremony might be made to conform to his ideal of the way in which it should have been performed. Cf. II Chr. 52-14, 74-10, Ezra 310-13, 616-22, for his accounts of similar ceremonies. The artificiality of his lists is revealed by the fact that Ezra, Judah, and Benjamin are represented as marching in the procession. In he places Ezra the scribe at the head of the first procession. k1228 Luc., sons of Levi. Cf., sons of the prophets. Levi appears from 27 and 30 to have dropped out of the Heb, text. 1228, 30 So Gk. and Luc. The Heb. has lost, and. 1231 Slightly correcting the Heb., as 28 demands. 1236 Omitting with the Gk. and Luc., Milalai, which probably was introduced as the result of a scribal error. This conclusion is confirmed by the number in 42. 1238 Slightly correcting the Heb. text in accordance with 31. P 1238 Cf. 32. Nobles has evidently dropped out of the text. 1239 This last sentence is not found in the Gk. It has been urged that it is not original because it represents the second company as extending southward beyond the temple. In the absence of an exact identification of the Gate of the Guard, a final decision is impossible. 1240 Originally instead of the Chronicler's addition there probably followed a statement as to what Nehemiah and the princes did. Ejection of To pos from cham Nehemiah's Memoirs Jezrahiah their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced; for God had made them exceeding joyful; and the women also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. § 158. Nehemiah's Later Religious Reforms, Neh. 124–1331 Nehemiah's Memoirs t Neh. 13 4Now before my return from the king, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to biah's Tobiah, had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they had sessions stored the cereal-offerings, the incense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, the the new wine, and the oil, which were given by command to the Levites, the singers, temple the porters, and the gifts for the priests. But during this time I had not been ber at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. Then after some time I asked leave of the king, and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the crime that Eliashib had committed for the sake of Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the court" of the house of God. And it displeased me greatly; therefore I cast all the household possessions of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave command that they should cleanse the chambers, and I brought there again the vessels of the house of God, with the cereal-offerings and the incense. 1243 For similar characteristic expressions of the Chronicler, cf. Ezra 313, 622. § 158 With 13 Nehemiah's vigorous literary style and courageous, assertive spirit reappear. Since the themes treated concern the temple and the ritual, the Chronicler has been led to take greater liberties with his text. As Torrey, who maintains that the entire chapter is from the Chronicler, has pointed out (Comp. and Hist. Value of Ezra-Nehemiah, pp. 44-49), it has many phrases and words characteristic of the editor of Ezra-Neh. Since Nehemiah passes for the first time into the latter's peculiar field, more points of similarity are to be anticipated. Certain passages, as for example, 3b. 13b, 22, abound in the Chronicler's expressions and peculiar ideas. Their loose connection with the context confirms the impression that they are later additions. On the other hand, it is almost incredible that the Chronicler could have so far imitated the language and spirit of Nehemiah as to have written the chapter as a whole. A comparison of the Chronicler's parallel in 124-133 reveals the widely different conception of the course of the history which he entertained. Also it is far more natural to conclude that he here reproduces the older source than that he deliberately made Nehemiah the layman do the work of reform which his school had already attributed to Ezra and the assembly. Cf. further Introd., pp. 31-34. t134 Heb., after this, but indicates what was probably the event to which reference is made. u 137 So Gk. and Luc. Heb., courts. 124 The Chronicler's general introductory formula. It would connect the act with the dedication of the temple, cf. 43. XII. 1310 For a similar neglect of the temple service, cf. the Gadatas inscription, Appendix Nehemiah's Memoirs Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil into the store-rooms. X 13 And I appointed in charge of the store-rooms: Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their business was to distribute to their kinsmen. 14Remember me, O my God, concerning this and forget not all my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services. Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History to the service. 45And they took visions the ob tion of 15 At that time I saw in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sab- Probath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading asses, as also wine, grapes, to figs, and all kinds of burdens, and that they were bringing them into Jeru- guard salem on the sabbath; and I warned them when they sold provisions. 16Tyr- servaians also dwelt therein, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and the sabsold on the sabbath to the inhabitants of Judah and in Jerusalem. 17Then bath I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, 'What evil thing is this that you are doing, and thereby profaning the sabbath? 18Did not your fathers do thus and did not our God bring all this calamity upon them and upon use and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.' 19 Accordingly when it began to be dark, the gates of Jerusalem were shut before the sabbath; and I gave command that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I placed some of my servants in charge of the gates, and commanded that no burden should be brought in on the sabbath. 20So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares spent the night without Jerusalem once or twice. 21Then I warned them and said to them, 'Why do you spend the night before the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you.' From that time forth they came no more on the sabbath. "And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and that they should come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath holy. Remember, O my God, this also to my credit and show me mercy according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness. 1312 So Luc. and Gk. 12 Slightly restoring what is obviously a defective text. b 1314 Heb., wipe not out [of thy memory]. 1318 So Gk. and Luc. Heb. lacks, upon them and. d 1319 So Gk. In the Heb., I gave command, has been inserted wrongly in the first part of the verse and is lacking in the latter part. Ener protest mixed mar riages Nehemiah's Memoirs 23 At that time also I saw the Jews who had margetic ried women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. against 24 And their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, but none of them could speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. 25 And I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God, saying, 'You shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these acts? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless foreign women led him into sin. 27Shall it also be reported of you that you do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?' Ejec tion of Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History 13 1On that daye it was read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and it was found written there that an Ammonite and a Moabite should never enter into the assembly of God, for they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water but hired Balaamg against them to curse them; but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3And when they had heard the law, they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.h 28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a guilty the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the covenant of the priesthoodi and of the Levites. priest Resume of Ne hemi 30 Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and fixed the duties for the priests and the Levites, each for his appointed task, 31and the bringing of ah's re- wood for the service at appointed times, and the first-fruits. Remember it, O my God, to my credit. forms 131 Cf. note v. 1324 This last awkward clause is omitted in the Gk. and perhaps is an explanatory gloss. 132 Cf. Dt. 233-6. b 133 I.e., all those who had contracted foreign marriages. Cf. Ex. 1238. i 1323 So Luc. The priesthood has been awkwardly repeated in the Heb. i 1330 Gk. and Luc., a man according to his work. |