Nehemiah 7:5

5 And my God put it into my heart to gather together the principals and the rulers and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found the register of the genealogy of those who had come up before and found written therein:

Nehemiah 7:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 7:5

And my God put into mine heart
Every good motion in him, and whatever he thought of that was conducive to the good and welfare of Jerusalem, Nehemiah always ascribed it to God; see ( 2 Corinthians 3:5 )

to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that
they might be reckoned by genealogy;
that their number might be known, and of what families they were, and in what cities they formerly dwelt; and this was not only of use for the present purpose of Nehemiah, but was of service hereafter to show the pedigree of families, and that it might be clearly known from whence the Messiah sprung:

and I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the
first;
from Babylon to Jerusalem, along with Zerubbabel, as appears from ( Nehemiah 7:7 ) , and this was of great use to him, whereby he would know not only their names and number, but to what city they belonged, and who to the city of Jerusalem, that they might be called upon to come, and rebuild their houses, and take up their residence there:

and found written therein;
the names of the persons and families after mentioned.

Nehemiah 7:5 In-Context

3 and I said unto them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot and even with the guards present, let them shut the doors and bar them. And appoint guards of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each one in his watch and each one to be in front of his house.

4 Now the city was large and great, but there were few people in it, and the houses were not rebuilt.

5 And my God put it into my heart to gather together the principals and the rulers and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found the register of the genealogy of those who had come up before and found written therein:

6 These are the sons of the province, that came up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away and returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one unto his city,

7 who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: