Nehemiah 12:30

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
priests	הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים ha.ko.ha.Nim	H3548	literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Levites	וְהַלְוִיִּ֑ם ve.hal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
purified	וַיִּֽטַּהֲר֔וּ vai.yi.ta.ha.Ru	H2891	to be pure (physical sound · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
purified	וַֽיְטַהֲרוּ֙ vay.ta.ha.Ru	H2891	to be pure (physical sound · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
people	הָעָ֔ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gates	הַשְּׁעָרִ֖ים ha.she.'a.Rim	H8179	an opening · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
wall	הַחוֹמָֽה ha.cho.Mah	H2346	a wall of protection · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

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

Exodus 19:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
2 Chronicles 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth th…
Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness o…
Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and off…
Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change yo…
Exodus 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
Numbers 19:2-20 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer…
2 Chronicles 29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 12:27-43

We have read of the building of the wall of Jerusalem with a great deal of fear and trembling; we have here an account of the dedicating of it with a great deal of joy and triumph. Those that sow in tears shall thus reap. I. We must enquire what was the meaning of this dedication of the wall; we will suppose it to include the dedication of the city too (continens pro contentothe thing containing for the thing contained), and therefore it was not done till the city was pretty well replenished, Neh 11:1. It was a solemn thanksgiving to God for his great mercy to them in the perfecting of this undertaking, of which they were the more sensible because of the difficulty and opposition they had me…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 12:27

at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem--This ceremony of consecrating the wall and gates of the city was an act of piety on the part of Nehemiah, not merely to thank God in a general way for having been enabled to bring the building to a happy completion, but especially because that city was the place which He had chosen. It also contained the temple which was hallowed by the manifestation of His presence, and anew set apart to His service. It was on these accounts that Jerusalem was called "the holy city," and by this public and solemn act of religious observance, after a long period of neglect and desecration, it was, as it were, restored to its rightful proprietor. The dedication cons…

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Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 12:30

The priests and the Levites purified themselves - This consisted in washings, abstinence from wine, and other matters, which, on all other occasions, were lawful. And as to the purifying of the gates and the walls, nothing was requisite but to remove all filth from the former, and all rubbish that might have been laid against the latter.

John Gill on Nehemiah 12:30

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves,.... By washing their bodies and their clothes, perhaps by sprinkling the water of purification on them, see Numbers 8:6.

The Church Fathers

And the priests and Levites purified themselves, etc. It is a wholly just order that those teachers and prelates who wish to purify the people should first be purified themselves; first, they should chastise their own body and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps, while preaching to others, they themselves should be found reprobate (I Cor. IX). The priests and Levites were purified by prayers and by the offerings of sacrifices, and also by abstaining from wives, they purified the people by preaching the same continence. They also purified the gates and the wall with trumpets and the songs of psalms, with the people accompanying them by encircling. Together they purified with themselves the people, the gates, and the wall, offering great sacrifices after completing the circuit for the state of the citizens and the city. But also now, those who preside over the people with holy leadership, and have been taken by the Lord into spiritual ministry, carry with greater seriousness the memory of our dedication, which is in the future resurrection; thus, they strive the more earnestly to purify and sanctify both themselves and those entrusted to them; lest perhaps anyone, found in a defiled state of mind, be cast outside from the common joy of the holy solemnity and be bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness.
— 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

Ezra — Help. (1.) A priest among those that returned to Jerusalem under Zerubabel (Neh. 12:1). (2.) The “scribe” who led the second body of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459, and…
Nehemiah — Comforted by Jehovah. (1.) Ezra 2:2; Neh. 7:7. (2.) Neh. 3:16. (3.) The son of Hachaliah (Neh. 1:1), and probably of the tribe of Judah. His family must have belonged to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:3). He was…
Dedication · Of the wall of — Of the wall of
Ezra · . — .
Levites, The · Services of: Conducting the sacred music — Services of: Conducting the sacred music

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 12:30

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 12:27-43

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 12:27

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 12:30

John Gill on Nehemiah 12:30

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 12:30

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 12:27-43

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 12:27

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 12:30

John Gill on Nehemiah 12:30

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 12:27-43

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 12:30

Rashi on Nehemiah 12:30