5 And my God put it into my heart to get together the rulers and the chiefs and the people so that they might be listed by families. And I came across a record of the names of those who came up at the first, and in it I saw these words:
So all Israel was listed by their families; and, truly, they are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken away as prisoners to Babylon because of their sin. Now the first to take up their heritage in their towns were: Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim. And in Jerusalem there were living some of the sons of Judah, and of Benjamin, and of Ephraim and Manasseh; Uthai, the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the sons of Perez, the son of Judah. And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the oldest, and his sons. And of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brothers, six hundred and ninety. And of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, Judah, the son of Hassenuah, And Ibneiah, the son of Jeroham, and Elah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; And their brothers, in the list of their generations, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of families, listed by the names of their fathers.
They made search for their record among the lists of families, but their names were nowhere to be seen; so they were looked on as unclean and no longer priests.
Keep in mind, O my God, for my good, all I have done for this people.
Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.
But by the grace of God, I am what I am: and his grace which was given to me has not been for nothing; for I did more work than all of them; though not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Not as if we were able by ourselves to do anything for which we might take the credit; but our power comes from God;
So then, my loved ones, as you have at all times done what I say, not only when I am present, but now much more when I am not with you, give yourselves to working out your salvation with fear in your hearts; For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.
And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 7
Commentary on Nehemiah 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
The success of one good design for God and our generation should encourage us to proceed and form some other; Nehemiah did so, having fortified Jerusalem with gates and walls, his next care is,
Neh 7:1-4
God saith concerning his church (Isa. 62:6), I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem! This is Nehemiah's care here; for dead walls, without living watchmen, are but a poor defence to a city.
Neh 7:5-73
We have here another good project of Nehemiah's; for wise and zealous men will be always contriving something or other for the glory of God and the edification of his church. He knew very well that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the number and valour of the inhabitants than upon the height or strength of its walls; and therefore, observing that the people were few that dwelt in it, he thought fit to take an account of the people, that he might find what families had formerly had their settlement in Jerusalem, but were now removed into the country, that he might bring them back, and what families could in any other way be influenced by their religion, or by their business, to come and rebuild the houses in Jerusalem and dwell in them. So little reason have we to wish that we may be placed alone in the earth, or in Jerusalem itself, that much of our safety and comfort depends upon our neighbours and friends; the more the stronger, the more the merrier. It is the wisdom of the governors of a nation to keep the balance even between the city and country, that the metropolis be not so extravagantly large as to drain and impoverish the country, nor yet so weak as not to be able to protect it. Now observe,