Nehemiah 12:25
in Nehemiah 12Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters keeping the watch at the store-houses of the gates.
KJV
Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters keeping the ward at the thresholds of the gates.
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This verse in Nehemiah 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseMattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters,.... At the gates of the temple, see 1Ch 9:15, keeping the ward, at the thresholds of the gates; of the temple, where they stood and watched; or "at the collection of the gates", meaning either where the people were gathered together, or where money gathered was laid up; and so some render it, "the treasuries of the gates": unless a place called Asuppim should be meant, 1Ch 26:15.
This site's exposition
Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son
on Nehemiah 12:24-26
The chief Levites, Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, lead the praise and thanksgiving in courses set ward over against ward, the alternating order David commanded in 1 Chronicles 23. Six named porters keep the thresholds of the gates, the same guarding office the Levites shared with the singers throughout this record. Verse twenty-six anchors the whole roster to one moment by naming three men together, Joiakim the high priest, Nehemiah the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, the book's two reformers dated side by side with the man who held the office between their two callings.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
42 And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. 43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In 1Ch 9:17, 1Ch 9:24, 1Ch 9:26, four families of porters only are mentioned; six are implied here, in Neh 7:45, and in Ezr 2:42. From 1Ch 26:14-19 it appears that the temple had four chief gates, fronting the cardinal points, and two minor ones, “toward Asuppim,” and “at Parbar.”
The thresholds of the gates - Some understand this of a sort of porticoes at the gates, and are puzzled about it, because they find no mention of porticoes elsewhere: but why may we not suppose these to resemble our watch-boxes or some temporary moveable shelters for those who took care of the gates? That there must have been some such conveniences, common sense dictates.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
a watch opposite a watch for they were divided into their watches to recite the song.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַתַּנְיָ֧ה | matanyah | Mattaniah | H4983 → | 16 times |
| וּבַקְבֻּֽקְיָ֛ה | uvakbukyah | and Bakbukiah | H1229 → | 3 times |
| עֹבַדְיָ֥ה | ʾoadyah | Obadiah | H5662 → | |
| מְשֻׁלָּ֖ם | meshulam | Meshullam | H4918 → | 25 times |
| טַלְמ֣וֹן | talmon | Talmon | H2929 → | 5 times |
| עַקּ֑וּב | ʾakuv | Akkub | H6126 → | 8 times |
| שֹׁמְרִ֤ים | shomerim | keeping | H8104 → | 468 times |
| שֽׁוֹעֲרִים֙ | shoarim | [were] gatekeepers | H7778 → | 37 times |
| מִשְׁמָ֔ר | mishmar | guard | H4929 → | 22 times |
| בַּאֲסֻפֵּ֖י | baasupei | at [the] storerooms of | H624 → | |
| הַשְּׁעָרִֽים׃ | hashearim | the gates | H8179 → | 374 times |
מַתַּנְיָ֧הMattaniah
matanyahH4983 →16 times
וּבַקְבֻּֽקְיָ֛הand Bakbukiah
uvakbukyahH1229 →3 times
עֹבַדְיָ֥הObadiah
ʾoadyahH5662 →
מְשֻׁלָּ֖םMeshullam
meshulamH4918 →25 times
טַלְמ֣וֹןTalmon
talmonH2929 →5 times
עַקּ֑וּבAkkub
ʾakuvH6126 →8 times
שֹׁמְרִ֤יםkeeping
shomerimH8104 →468 times
שֽׁוֹעֲרִים֙[were] gatekeepers
shoarimH7778 →37 times
מִשְׁמָ֔רguard
mishmarH4929 →22 times
בַּאֲסֻפֵּ֖יat [the] storerooms of
baasupeiH624 →
הַשְּׁעָרִֽים׃the gates
hashearimH8179 →374 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Chronicles 23:32So the Levites were to carry out the responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place, and, under their brothers the descendants of Aaron, the service of the house of the LORD.
it leads to
- Numbers 1:53
But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the…
- Numbers 3:38
Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service…
- Numbers 3:6–9
“Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.
- 1 Chronicles 9:27
They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they were responsible for guarding it and opening it every morning.
- Numbers 1:53
Through
1 Chronicles 26:15The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-edom, and the lot for the storehouses to his sons.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 25:24
He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of God with Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he…
- 2 Chronicles 25:24
Through
Isaiah 21:8Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:1–2
I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what He will say to me, and how I should answer when corrected.
- Jeremiah 4:7
A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
- Psalms 63:6
When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
- Habakkuk 2:1–2
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.