Commentary for Nehemiah 7:74

were appointed The Levites were now made appointees over their stations to be gatekeepers and singers in the Temple.

over Jerusalem to guard the gates of Jerusalem.

for a long time Heb. מֵרַבִּים, lit. from many; from many days.

until the sun becomes hot until midday, for the day was long.

and they shall stand until And as long as the doors are open, they shall stand; they shall not move until the doors are locked shut, and whoever wishes to leave may leave the city, and whoever wishes to enter may come and enter. They did all this because of the enemies.

and hold them They should hold the doors to lock them.

watches among the inhabitants of Jerusalem of the inhabitants of Jerusalem station watches, jetes in Old French, (groups of) watchmen.

a wide place Heb. רַחֲבַת יָדַיִם, a wide and large place.

to trace their lineage Heb. לְהִתְיַחֵישׂ, to search for their lineage.

those who went up at first of those Jews who went up with Ezra at first.

and I found written in it All these words were written in that letter.

These are the people of the province, etc. until (10:35): “And we cast lots for the wood sacrifice.”

and to Judea to the province of Judea.

each one to his city lit. a man to his city.

who came with Zerubbabel who came from the captivity of the exile with Zerubbabel.

Jeshua This is Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the High Priest. These figures sometimes coincide with the above figures (Ezra 2); sometimes there are some that do not coincide. Scripture was not so exact with the figures, but the total is the same in both places, as it is stated (Ezra 2:64, Neh. 7:66): “The entire congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.” The writer relied on this total and was not so exact in the figures of the individual numbers. Everything is explained above (Ezra 2).