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Nehemiah 7:5

in Nehemiah 7

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of them that came up at the first, and I found written therein:

KJV

And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein,

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This verse in Nehemiah 7

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
It is argued by some that the entire catalogue which follows Neh. 7:7-73 is not the register of them “which came up ‘at the first’,” but of the Jewish people in Nehemiah’s time. Neh 7:7 and Ezr 2:2 are, however, very positive in their support of the usual view; and some of the arguments against it are thought to be met by considering the Nehemiah of Neh 7:7 and Ezr 2:2 a person different from Nehemiah the governor; and “Tirshatha” an official title likely to have belonged to others besides Nehemiah (see the Ezr 2:63 note.)

This site's exposition

my God put it into my heart

on Nehemiah 7:5-7

Nehemiah uses a document already on file, "the genealogical register of those who had first returned" (7:5). The list names Zerubbabel, Jeshua and ten other leaders and largely repeats Ezra 2 with different numbers. The commentators hold two explanations, copyists' drift in the numerals and separate stages of one register.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

The city, however, was very wide and large, etc. These things suit that time typically. When the word of God, sown far and wide by the apostles, the whole world received the new seed of faith, and the Church buildings not yet constructed, but only …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

Moreover, God put it into my heart, etc. Therefore, having convened not only the nobles and magistrates but also all the common people, he carefully took care to review their number so that he could discern the complete total of all, who should inhabit the …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Whatever good motion is in our minds, either prudent or pious, we must acknowledge it to come from God. It was he that put it into our hearts; for every good gift and every good work are from above. He gives knowledge; he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

God put it into mine heart - Whatever good motion is in our minds, we must acknowledge it to come from God. What is done by human prudence is to be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence.
And my God put into mine heart,....
3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He appointed the porters, singers, and Levites, in their places to their work. This is meant of their work in general, which was to attend the temple service; it had been neglected in some degree, but now was revived. God's worship is the defence of a place, and his ministers, when they mind their duty, are watchmen on the walls.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

It is transcribed in the following verses, and differs in some few particulars from that given in Ezr 2:1-61. But the discrepancy is sufficiently accounted for from the different circumstances in which the two registers were taken; that of Ezra having been made up at Babylon, while that of Nehemiah was drawn out in Judea, after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

God put into mine heart - With this good man every good thing was of God. If he purposed any good, it was because God put it into his heart; if he did any good, it was because the good hand of his God was upon him; if he expected any good, it was because he earnestly prayed God to remember him for good. Thus, in all his ways he acknowledged God, and God directed all his steps.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּתֵּ֤ןand he put

    vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times

  • אֱלֹהַי֙God my

    ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • לִבִּ֔יheart my

    libiH3820 →595 times

  • וָאֶקְבְּצָ֞הand I assembled !

    vaekbetzahH6908 →127 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַחֹרִ֧יםthe nobles

    hachorimH2715 →13 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַסְּגָנִ֛יםthe officials

    haseganimH5461 →17 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • לְהִתְיַחֵ֑שׂto have themselves enrolled

    lehityachesH3187 →

  • וָֽאֶמְצָ֗אand I found

    vaemtza'H4672 →455 times

  • סֵ֤פֶר[the] document of

    seferH5612 →186 times

  • הַיַּ֙חַשׂ֙the genealogy

    haiyachasH3188 →

  • הָעוֹלִ֣יםthe [ones who] came up

    haolimH5927 →890 times

  • בָּרִאשׁוֹנָ֔הat the first

    barishonahH7223 →182 times

  • וָאֶמְצָ֖אand I found

    vaemtza'H4672 →455 times

  • כָּת֥וּב[was] written

    katuvH3789 →224 times

  • בּֽוֹ׃ פin it

    bo

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Chronicles 9:1So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.4 worksNehemiah 7:64These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.4 works2 Corinthians 3:5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.3 worksEzra 2:62These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.2 worksNehemiah 5:19Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.2 works1 Corinthians 15:10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Colossians 1:29To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.2 worksJames 1:16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.2 worksEzra 7:27Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,2 works2 Corinthians 8:16But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you.2 worksNehemiah 6:14O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me.2 worksPhilippians 2:12–13Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 Corinthians 15:10

    But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of…

    it leads to

    • Philippians 4:13

      I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Philippians 2:13

      For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Corinthians 3:5

      Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

    • Ephesians 3:7–8

      I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

    • Ephesians 2:7–8

      in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 3:5

    Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 12:9

      But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…

    • 1 Corinthians 15:10

      But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of…

    • John 15:5

      I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 7 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 7 →