Nehemiah 11 Study Notes

11:22-24 It is likely that Uzzi son of Bani was a great-grandson of Mattaniah, who is listed first among the Levites (v. 17). The role of the Levites (v. 23) was regulated by the command of the king. While some regard this as a reference to the Persian king, this does not appear likely. The “command of the king” probably refers back to King David’s ordering of temple worship (1Ch 23; 25), an identification supported by the reference to David and the Levites in Neh 12:45-46. Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, mentioned only here (v. 24) in the Bible, served as the king’s agent (Hb leyad hammelek; lit “at the hand of the king”), probably in Judah.

11:25-36 An enigmatic chapter concludes with a puzzling description of the regions of Judah (vv. 25-30) and Benjamin (vv. 31-36). This list of towns and villages is unusual in what it contains as well as in what it omits. Towns that were far beyond the borders of Yehud (Hb for Judah) are mentioned, yet towns referred to in Ezra-Nehemiah are not mentioned, including Bethlehem, Mizpah, Gibeon, and Jericho. In general, the towns listed for Judah were south of Jerusalem, extending all the way into the Negev, while the towns listed for Benjamin were northwest of Jerusalem extending into the Shephelah. While many proposed solutions have been offered for this passage, the most likely is that the list is of those towns that were not destroyed by the Babylonians in the sixth century BC and whose inhabitants remained in the land (Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible). This proposal accords well with the archaeological record that shows continuity of settlement in the region of Benjamin during this period.