UNROLL
Early evening inside Jerusalem's new wall: a wide, stony, nearly empty stretch of ground with one rebuilt house and one lit doorway, an old man walking with a donkey, and the long plain flat-topped wall beyond, under a calm, empty evening sky.

The Book of

Nehemiah 7

A wall around an empty city, and an old list found again.

73 verses≈ 7 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2The callA cupbearer prays and is sent
  2. 3–6The wallBuilt under fire in 52 days
  3. 7The peopleThe families rememberedChapter 7
  4. 8–10The WordRead, confessed, sworn
  5. 11–12The citySettled and dedicated
  6. 13The endingPromises broken, reforms again

Securing the City

When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

Hot late morning at a shut plain gate of Jerusalem: residents with spears stand at their posts on the flat walkway and by the barred wooden leaves, and a man watches from his own roof nearby.

And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”

The List of Returning Exiles

there were few people in it

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.

my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy

Nehemiah 7:5

Lamplight in a stone storeroom near the temple: Nehemiah kneels at a tall clay jar and lifts out an old rolled scroll with a fraying cord, dust on his hands.

I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah

Families

Families by name

  1. The count

    The men of Israel

    This is the count of the men of Israel:

  2. Parosh: 2,172

    the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

  3. Shephatiah: 372

    the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

  4. Arah: 652

    the descendants of Arah, 652;

  5. Jeshua and Joab

    Pahath-moab: 2,818

    the descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,818;

  6. Elam: 1,254

    the descendants of Elam, 1,254;

  7. Zattu: 845

    the descendants of Zattu, 845;

  8. Zaccai: 760

    the descendants of Zaccai, 760;

  9. Or Bani

    Binnui: 648

    the descendants of Binnui, 648;

  10. Bebai: 628

    the descendants of Bebai, 628;

  11. Azgad: 2,322

    the descendants of Azgad, 2,322;

  12. Adonikam: 667

    the descendants of Adonikam, 667;

Morning in a camp of returned families on a stony slope below ruined Jerusalem: a gray-bearded family head stands before a seated Levite with his whole household behind him, sons, their wives and children and a donkey; the Levite holds a plain clay tablet edge-on, and other households wait their turn.

Families

Families by name, continued

  1. Bigvai: 2,067

    the descendants of Bigvai, 2,067;

  2. Adin: 655

    the descendants of Adin, 655;

  3. Through Hezekiah

    Ater: 98

    the descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;

  4. Hashum: 328

    the descendants of Hashum, 328;

  5. Bezai: 324

    the descendants of Bezai, 324;

  6. Or Jorah

    Hariph: 112

    the descendants of Hariph, 112;

  7. Or Gibbar

    Gibeon: 95

    the descendants of Gibeon, 95;

Towns

Men of the towns

  1. Bethlehem and Netophah: 188

    the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;

  2. Anathoth: 128

    the men of Anathoth, 128;

  3. Or Azmaveth

    Beth-azmaveth: 42

    the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;

  4. Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, Beeroth: 743

    the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

  5. Ramah and Geba: 621

    the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

  6. Michmash: 122

    the men of Michmash, 122;

  7. Bethel and Ai: 123

    the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;

  8. Or West Nebo

    The other Nebo: 52

    the men of the other Nebo, 52;

JerusalemBethlehemKiriath-jearimRamahMichmashBethelJerichoLodOno

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Their own towns

Ninety years on, these were still the towns people called home, and most lay within a day’s walk of the new wall. Ono is the plain where Sanballat wanted to meet (6:2). Where Nebo lay is not known.

Towns and families

Towns and families

  1. Or West Elam

    The other Elam: 1,254

    the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;

  2. Harim: 320

    the descendants of Harim, 320;

  3. Jericho: 345

    the men of Jericho, 345;

  4. Lod, Hadid and Ono: 721

    the men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;

  5. Senaah: 3,930

    and the descendants of Senaah, 3,930.

Reflect

Whose names do you keep?

Nehemiah went back to an old list before he did anything else. Who are the people who brought faith to you? Write their names and thank God for them.

Why the old list, now?

The wallfinished6:15Fewpeople7:4Put intohis heart7:5The oldregister7:6–69The Lawread8:1–3One inten movesin11:1

Whiteboard

A wall does not make a city. Before people could move in, Nehemiah needed to know who the people were, and the story runs on from here through chapters 8 to 11.

Temple servants

The temple servants

  1. The Nethinim

    Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth

    The temple servants:

    the descendants of Ziha,

    the descendants of Hasupha,

    the descendants of Tabbaoth,

  2. Or Siaha

    Keros, Sia, Padon

    the descendants of Keros,

    the descendants of Sia,

    the descendants of Padon,

  3. Lebanah, Hagabah, Shalmai

    the descendants of Lebanah,

    the descendants of Hagabah,

    the descendants of Shalmai,

  4. Hanan, Giddel, Gahar

    the descendants of Hanan,

    the descendants of Giddel,

    the descendants of Gahar,

  5. Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda

    the descendants of Reaiah,

    the descendants of Rezin,

    the descendants of Nekoda,

  6. Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah

    the descendants of Gazzam,

    the descendants of Uzza,

    the descendants of Paseah,

  7. Or Nephusim

    Besai, Meunim, Nephushesim

    the descendants of Besai,

    the descendants of Meunim,

    the descendants of Nephushesim,

  8. Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur

    the descendants of Bakbuk,

    the descendants of Hakupha,

    the descendants of Harhur,

  9. Or Bazluth

    Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha

    the descendants of Bazlith,

    the descendants of Mehida,

    the descendants of Harsha,

  10. Barkos, Sisera, Temah

    the descendants of Barkos,

    the descendants of Sisera,

    the descendants of Temah,

  11. Neziah and Hatipha

    the descendants of Neziah,

    and the descendants of Hatipha.

Solomon’s servants

The sons of Solomon’s servants

  1. Or Peruda

    Sotai, Sophereth, Perida

    The descendants of the servants of Solomon:

    the descendants of Sotai,

    the descendants of Sophereth,

    the descendants of Perida,

  2. Jaala, Darkon, Giddel

    the descendants of Jaala,

    the descendants of Darkon,

    the descendants of Giddel,

  3. Or Ami

    Four families, Shephatiah to Amon

    the descendants of Shephatiah,

    the descendants of Hattil,

    the descendants of Pochereth-hazzebaim,

    and the descendants of Amon.

  4. With temple servants

    392 in all

    The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.

The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

the descendants of Delaiah,

the descendants of Tobiah,

and the descendants of Nekoda,

642 in all.

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah,

the descendants of Hakkoz,

and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.

Pray

He knows His own

Some came all the way home and still “could not prove that their families were descended from Israel.” Pray for anyone on the edge of God’s people, unsure they belong. Thank God that He knows His own, and thank Him for those who came first and held on.

Dawn on the desert road where it turns south toward the hills of Judah: a very long column of returned families stretches back across a wide plain to the horizon, with laden donkeys, mules, a few horses and a string of camels in the middle distance, two women with frame drums walking together.

The whole assembly numbered 42,360, in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 245 male and female singers. They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

0:21

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Offerings by the Exiles

So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.

Question

Quick question

God put it into Nehemiah’s heart to gather the people, and then he made a discovery.

What did Nehemiah find when he set out to enroll the people?

You’ve experienced

Nehemiah 7

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A verse to carry with you

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.

Nehemiah 7:5

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