Nehemiah 11 – “Jerusalem and its Inhabitants”

23B - Nehemiah

1Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The people carry out a lottery, and one out of every ten are chosen to dwell in Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s inhabitants are then listed by family.

II. Photo
The Judean hills are settled: “… In the countryside of Judah, the people lived in their towns, each on his own property, Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and the sons of Solomon’s servants.” (v. 3)

III. Important Verses
v. 1: The officers of the people settled in Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and settle in the holy city of Jerusalem, and the other nine-tenths to stay in the towns.
v. 2: The people gave their blessing to all the men who willingly settled in Jerusalem.
v. 24: Petahiah son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah son of Judah, advised the king concerning all the affairs of the people.

IV. Outline

1-2. The lottery to decide who gets to live in Jerusalem
3-24. A list of those residing in Jerusalem
    3. Introduction
    4-6. The Judahites
    7-8. The Benjaminites
    9. The governors
    10-14. The priests
    15-18. The Levites
    19. The gatekeepers
    20. The rest of the people
    21-24. The temple servants and city liaisons
25-36. The other Israelites

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Photo taken from http://www.generationword.com/images/israel_pictures/judean_hills/1.jpg

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