36. Divisions. Verse 36 should read, “Divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin” (). Apparently certain divisions of Levites, who according to former arrangements had been located in Judah, were now transferred to Benjamin. The census under Nehemiah may have revealed that a disproportionately great number of Levites were living in Judah.
1. The priests and the Levites. The list presented in 1-9 is clarified by comparison with two parallel lists, that of the priestly families whose seals were set to the covenant ( 10:2-8), and that of the heads of the priestly courses under the high priest Joiakim ( 12:12-21). The number of names differs slightly from list to list, as do also the names and the order in which they appear. That they are family names is most evident from the third list.
From a comparison of the two lists in 12 (columns 2, 3, 4) it is apparent that the names of the head of the house of Miniamin, and of both the house and head of the house of Hattush, are missing from the second list. In other respects the two lists agree both in the number and in the order in which they appear. However, a comparison of the two lists of 12 with that of 10 shows greater differences. Of the 22 names given in 12:1-7 (21 names in 12-21), 15 (14 in 12-21) marked with an asterisk (*) occur also in 10. But Pashur, Malchijah, Obadiah, Daniel, Baruch, and Meshullam of 10 are missing in 12. Some commentators have sought to explain this difference by supposing that a portion of the priests refused their signatures because they did not concur in the strict measures of Ezra and Nehemiah. This suggestion would be conceivable if only 15 heads of priestly families had signed the covenant instead of 21. Since, however, 6 other names appear instead of the 6 missing names, this cannot be the reason. The reason for the differences is probably the time lapse between the two lists. The list of 12:1-7 is from the time of Zerubbabel, that of 12:12-21 from the time of the high priest Joiakim, who probably held office during the latter part of the reign of Darius I, while that of 10 dates from the reign of Artaxerxes I.
The Priestly Name Lists of Nehemiah 10 and 12 |
Neh. 10:2-8 Time of Nehemiah | Neh. 12:1-7 Time of Zerubbabel | Neh. 12:12-21 Time of Joiakim ( 490 ) | |
( 444 ) | ( 536 ) | ââââââââââââââââââââ | |
Priests Signing the Covenant | Heads of Priestly Houses | Priestly Houses | Heads of Priestly Houses |
1. Seraiah | 1. Seraiah | 1. Seraiah | 1. Meraiah |
2. Azariah | 2. Jeremiah | 2. Jeremiah | 2. Hananiah |
3. Jeremiah | 3. Ezra | 3. Ezra | 3. Meshullam |
4. Pashur | 4. Amariah | 4. Amariah | 4. Jehohanan |
5. Amariah | 5. Malluch | 5. Melicu | 5. Jonathan |
6. Malchijah | 6. Hattush | | |
7. Hattush | 7. Shechaniah | 6. Shebaniah | 6. Joseph |
8. Shebaniah | 8. Rehum | 7. Harim | 7. Adna |
9. Malluch | 9. Meremoth | 8. Meraioth | 8. Helkai |
10. Harim | 10. Iddo | 9. Iddo | 9. Zechariah |
11. Meremoth | 11. Ginnetho | 10. Ginnethon | 10. Meshullam |
12. Obadiah | 12. Abijah | 11. Abijah | 11. Zichri |
13. Daniel | 13. Miamin | 12. Miniamin | |
14. Ginnethon | 14. Maadiah | 13. Moadiah | 12. Piltai |
15. Baruch | 15. Bilgah | 14. Bilgah | 13. Shammua |
16. Meshullam | 16. Shemaiah | 15. Shemaiah | 14. Jehonathan |
17. Abijah | 17. Joiarib | 16. Joiarib | 15. Mattenai |
18. Mijamin | 18. Jedaiah | 17. Jedaiah | 16. Uzzi |
19. Maaziah | 19. Sallu | 18. Sallai | 17. Kallai |
20. Bilgai | 20. Amok | 19. Amok | 18. Eber |
21. Shemaiah | 21. Hilkiah | 20. Hilkiah | 19. Hashabiah |
| 22. Jedaiah | 21. Jedaiah | 20. Nethaneel |
That there were 21 or 22 priestly heads in three different periods of postexilic Jewry seems to indicate that the priests were divided among 21 or 22 orders, or classes, as those of David’s time were in 24 (1 Chron. 24). Why the original number of courses was not immediately restored after the Exile is unknown. By the time of Christ the full number of 24 priestly courses was officiating, according to Josephus (Antiquities vii. 14, 7), who claims rather inaccurately that David’s division into orders continued until his day.
The difference between the names in the lists of 10 and 12 can be explained on the basis that the names of those who sealed the covenant ( 10) are not names either of orders or of houses, but of heads of houses living in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Of these, some compare with the names of the orders and houses, while the remainder are different. That some names are the same does not, however, prove that the individuals belonged to the house whose name they bore. Similarities between names in the two lists is accidental. According to 12:13, 16, there were two men named Meshullam, one the head of the house of Ezra, the other of the house of Ginnethon. That only 21 houses are mentioned in the lists of 10 and 12:12-21 is perhaps due to a copyist’s error. The suggestion made by some commentators that one priestly house became extinct, or was otherwise disqualified between the time of Cyrus and Darius I, seems highly improbable.