Nehemiah 11:3

Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon’s servants.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
chief	רָאשֵׁ֣י ra.Shei	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct
province	הַמְּדִינָ֔ה ha.me.di.Nah	H4082	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
dwelt	יָשְׁב֖וּ ya.she.Vu	H3427	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Jerusalem	בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם bi.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
cities	וּבְעָרֵ֣י u.ve.'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah	יְהוּדָ֗ה ye.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
dwelt	יָֽשְׁב֞וּ ya.she.Vu	H3427	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
one	אִ֤ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
possession	בַּאֲחֻזָּתוֹ֙ ba.'a.chu.za.To	H272	something seized · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cities	בְּעָ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם be.'A.rei.Hem	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
priests	הַכֹּהֲנִים֙ ha.ko.ha.Nim	H3548	literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Levites	וְהַלְוִיִּ֣ם ve.hal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
Nethinims	וְהַנְּתִינִ֔ים ve.ha.ne.ti.Nim	H5411	the Nethinim · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
children	וּבְנֵ֖י u.ve.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
Solomon’s	שְׁלֹמֹֽה she.lo.Moh	H8010	Shelomah · proper noun, a man's name
servants	עַבְדֵ֥י 'av.Dei	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 9:1-34 So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried aw…
Ezra 2:1 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the…
Ezra 2:43 The Nethinims: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,
Nehemiah 7:73 So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their…
Ezra 2:55-58 The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,
Ezra 2:70 So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all…
Nehemiah 7:6 These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king…
Nehemiah 7:57-60 The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 11:1-19

Jerusalem is called here the holy city (Neh 11:1), because there the temple was, and that was the place God had chosen to put his name there; upon this account, one would think, the holy seed should all have chosen to dwell there and have striven for a habitation there; but, on the contrary, it seems they declined dwelling there, 1. Because a greater strictness of conversation was expected from the inhabitants of Jerusalem than from others, which they were not willing to come up to. Those who care not for being holy themselves are shy of dwelling in a holy city; they would not dwell in the New Jerusalem itself for that reason, but would wish to have a continuing city here upon earth. Or, 2.…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 11:3

THEIR NAMES. (Neh. 11:3-36) the chief of the province--that is, Judea. Nehemiah speaks of it, as it then was, a small appendix of the Persian empire. in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities--The returned exiles, who had come from Babylon, repaired generally, and by a natural impulse, to the lands and cities throughout the country which had been anciently assigned them. Israel--This general name, which designated the descendants of Jacob before the unhappy division of the two kingdoms under Rehoboam, was restored after the captivity, the Israelites being then united with the Jews, and all traces of their former separation being obliterated. Although the m…

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Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 11:3

Now these are the chief - A good deal of difference will be found between the enumeration here and that in Ch1 9:2, etc. There, those only who came with Zerubbabel appear to be numbered; here, those, and the persons who came with Ezra and Nehemiah, enter into the account.

John Gill on Nehemiah 11:3

Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem,.... That is, of Judea, reduced to a province by the king of Babylon, and now a province of the Persian monarchy: but in the cities of Judah dwelt everyone in his possession in their cities; in which they or their ancestors had formerly dwelt: to wit, Israel: the people in general of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and such of the other tribes that returned with them: the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants; of whom see Ezra 2:55.

The Church Fathers

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:
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Israel — The name conferred on Jacob after the great prayer-struggle at Peniel (Gen. 32:28), because “as a prince he had power with God and prevailed.” (See JACOB.) This is the common name given to Jacob’s…
Judaea, Or Judea — (from Judah), a territorial division which succeeded to the overthrow of the ancient landmarks of the tribes of Israel and Judah in their respective captivities. The word first occurs (Daniel 5:13)…
Nethinims · Return from the — Return from the

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Nehemiah 11:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 11:1-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 11:3

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 11:3

John Gill on Nehemiah 11:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 11:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 11:1-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 11:3

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 11:3

John Gill on Nehemiah 11:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 11:3-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 11:1-36

Rashi on Nehemiah 11:3