7:1 VA YEHI
KA ASHER NIVNETAH HA CHOMAH VA A'AMID HA DELATOT VA YIPAKDU HA SHO'ARIM VE HA
MESHORERIM VE HA LEVIYIM
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר נִבְנְתָה הַחוֹמָה וָאַעֲמִיד הַדְּלָתוֹת וַיִּפָּקְדוּ הַשּׁוֹעֲרִים וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִים וְהַלְוִיִּם
BN (BibleNet translation): Now it came
to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters
and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
A'AMID:
Once again the egotistical "I", rather than the corporate "We".
YIPAKDU: I
can understand how porters are appointed - an application, a job interview, a
background check, two references; or whatever was the equivalent in those days.
But the singers, we are told, are Beney Korach, specifically
from that "tribe" - or is that a "guild", and actually anyone with concert pitch
and a satisfactory voice-box could be considered? And as to the Leviyim -
another supposed tribal inheritance, so is this a matter of deciding which Leviyim will
have which position, or are we still, so to speak, pre-Mosheh, and the law
making it a tribal inheritance has not been written yet? Remember that David's
sons served (2 Samuel 8:18, though it may be contradicted by 1 Chronicles 18:17), and they were from the tribe of Yehudah, not Levi - see my note on this at the end of chapter 12.
7:2 VA
ATSAVEH ET CHANANI ACHI VE ET CHANAN-YAH SAR HA BIYRAH AL YERU-SHALA'IM KI HU KE
ISH EMET VE YAR'E ET HA ELOHIM ME RABIM
וָאֲצַוֶּה אֶת חֲנָנִי אָחִי וְאֶת חֲנַנְיָה שַׂר הַבִּירָה עַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם כִּי הוּא כְּאִישׁ אֱמֶת וְיָרֵא אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים מֵרַבִּים
BN: That I put
my kinsman Chanani, and Chanan-Yah the governor of the citadel, in charge over Yeru-Shala'im;
for he was a faithful man, and feared Elohim more than many.
CHANANI: Nepotism, alongside the ego? Probably not, in fact - "kinsman" really, and all Yehudim were kinsmen, regardless of genealogy. I am assuming that this is the same Chanani who was named in Nehemiah 1:2 among the group that came to Nechem-Yah in Susa in search of help for the desolated community back in Yeru-Shala'im. Given the success of that mission, and all that has happened since, his reputation would have stood very high, and therefore a logical choice for the joint-position.
CHANAN-YAH: See the link.
It is
unclear whether the description of "the faithful man" who "feared Elohim more
than many" applies to Chanani or to Chanan-Yah, but note yet again that Nechem-Yah follows the Elohim rather more than he does YHVH.
BIYRAH: In 1:1, in Susa, there was no question that this meant "the palace", but there is no palace in Yeru-Shala'im for this to be. The word is used in the Tanach for various grand buildings, including what we would today call "castles", but the only part of Yeru-Shala'im standing at this time that could be described as a BIYRAH would have to be the Citadel, also known as David's Tower.
7:3 VA OMAR
LAHEM LO YIPAT'CHU SHA'AREY YERU-SHALA'IM AD CHOM HA SHEMESH VE AD HEM OMDIM
YAGIPHU HA DELATOT VE ECHOZU VE HA'AMEYD MISHMEROT YOSHVEY YERU-SHALA'IM ISH BE
MISHMARO VE ISH NEGED BEITO
ויאמר (וָאֹמַר) לָהֶם לֹא יִפָּתְחוּ שַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַד חֹם הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְעַד הֵם עֹמְדִים יָגִיפוּ הַדְּלָתוֹת וֶאֱחֹזוּ וְהַעֲמֵיד מִשְׁמְרוֹת יֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם אִישׁ בְּמִשְׁמָרוֹ וְאִישׁ נֶגֶד בֵּיתוֹ
BN: And I said
to them, "Do not open the gates of Yeru'Shala'im until the sun is fully risen. And only let them shut the doors - and make sure they bar them - when there are men on guard. And let
watches be appointed from among the inhabitants of Yeru-Shala'im, each man his
watch, and each man to guard his own house."
7:4 VE HA
IR RACHAVAT YADAYIM U GEDOLAH VE HA AM ME'AT BETOCHAH VE EYN BATIM BENU'IM
וְהָעִיר רַחֲבַת יָדַיִם וּגְדֹלָה וְהָעָם מְעַט בְּתוֹכָהּ וְאֵין בָּתִּים בְּנוּיִם
BN: Now the
city was wide and large; but the number of people was few there, and the houses were
not built.
VE EYN
BATIM BENU'IM: From the various descriptions before this, we have a sense of houses built into the walls (see chapter 3), for the Kohen Gadol and some named nobles, and then a second tier, on the other side of the path interior to the wall, for other of the priests, judges and defense commanders; but that the focus had been on repairing the wall, not on repairing the houses, so they may have been habitable in theory, though not necessarily much beyond that, and the full height of
the protective wall, which the houses built into the wall would have created,
remained to be done. Besides that we have no information about housing for anybody else, though presumably Zeru-Bavel, and the three generations that followed, must have done some restoration and rebuilding, or where did those of the forty thousand returnees who chose Yeru-Shala'im make their homes? It seems implausible, though by no means impossible, that they had been living in tents for the past ninety years - several contemporary refugee camps of similar longevity come to mind, such as those of the Palestinians in Jordan since 1948 (10 camps, 2,034,641 registered refugees, as at June 2020). So perhaps he means houses for those who arrived with him.
7:5 VA
YITEN ELOHAI EL LIBI VE EKBETSAH ET HA CHORIM VE ET HA SEGANIM VE ET HA AM
LEHITYACHES VA EMTS'A SEPHER HA YACHAS HA OLIM BA RI'SHONAH VA EMTSA KATUV BO
וַיִּתֵּן אֱלֹהַי אֶל לִבִּי וָאֶקְבְּצָה אֶת הַחֹרִים וְאֶת הַסְּגָנִים וְאֶת הָעָם לְהִתְיַחֵשׂ וָאֶמְצָא סֵפֶר הַיַּחַשׂ הָעוֹלִים בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה וָאֶמְצָא כָּתוּב בּוֹ
BN: And my gods put it into my mind 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 those who made the first Aliyah, and I found written in it:
LIBI: based
on previous comments, I have translated it here as "mind", not "heart".
The
obsession with genealogy that we find in the many Toldot sections of the Tanach (Genesis 4:17, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10...), clearly has its origins here, once again suggesting the extent to which the Ezraic "Redaction" was as much about the needs of his time as it was "authentic" history and "existing" law.
pey break
7:6 ELEH
BENEY HA MEDIYNAH HA OLIM MISHVI HA GOLAH ASHER HEGLAH NEVUCHADNETSAR MELECH
BAVEL VA YASHUVU LIYRU-SHALA'IM VE LIYHUDAH ISH LE IYRO
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי הַמְּדִינָה הָעֹלִים מִשְּׁבִי הַגּוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר הֶגְלָה נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל וַיָּשׁוּבוּ לִירוּשָׁלִַם וְלִיהוּדָה אִישׁ לְעִירוֹ
BN: These are the children of the province, the ones who went up out of captivity from among those who had been carried away, whom Nevuchadnetsar the king of Bavel had carried away to Bavel, and who returned to Yeru-Shala'im and Yehudah, each one to his own town.
As we will see, this is the same list that Ezra transcribed in chapter 2 of his book? However... even in this opening verse there are minor differences, Ezra having a conjunction to begin his version, Nechem-Yah leaving it out, Ezra beginning the next verse ASHER BA'U IM, where Nechem-Yah has HA BA'IM IM. Differences at this level don't really matter, but they nevertheless open questions for scholars: were there in fact two lists? How do we know which one to believe? If we can't believe something as basic as a list, how can we believe the more important historical information? And so on. And all this, even before the inventory of names and numbers turns out to be, at times, very different.
MEDINAH:
Today we speak of Medinat Yisra-El - the State of Israel. But a Medina in the
Arab world is the marketplace at the centre of every walled town; and of
course, most famously, the town that was originally named Yatrib, in what is
now Saudi Arabia, which became renamed al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, to give it its
full official name: the City of the Enlightened. Or sometimes Medinat al-Nabi,
the City of the Prophet. Or just Medina – The City... But that is anyway a different Medina... Here it is translated
as "province" and, as the rest of the verse clarifies, it refers to anyone who
was taken into captivity from the whole of Yehudah, and not just from
Yeru-Shala'im, so province is probably correct, and provides the bridge between
the narrow "marketplace" and the broad "state".
7:7 HA
BA'IM IM ZERU-BAVEL YESHU'A NECHEM-YAH AZAR-YAH RA'AM-YAH NACHAMANI MARDACHAI
BILSHAN MISPERET BIGVAI NECHUM BA'ANAH MISPAR ANSHEY AM YISRA-EL
הַבָּאִים עִם זְרֻבָּבֶל יֵשׁוּעַ נְחֶמְיָה עֲזַרְיָה רַעַמְיָה נַחֲמָנִי מָרְדֳּכַי בִּלְשָׁן מִסְפֶּרֶת בִּגְוַי נְחוּם בַּעֲנָה מִסְפַּר אַנְשֵׁי עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: Those who came
with Zeru-Bavel were Yeshu'a, Nechem-Yah, Azar-Yah, Ra'am-Yah, Nachamani, Mardechai,
Bilshan, Misperet, Bigvai, Nechum, Ba'anah. The number of the men of the people
of Yisra-El:
samech break; used here, and throughout the chapter, to enable a text that is presented as continuous prose, without punctuation, to be read as a list.
7:8 BENEY
PHAR'OSH ALPAYIM ME'AH VE SHIV'IM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי פַרְעֹשׁ אַלְפַּיִם מֵאָה וְשִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.
BN: The Beney Pharosh,
two thousand, one hundred and seventy-two.
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7:9 BENEY
SHEPHAT-YAH SHELOSH ME'OT SHIV'IM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי שְׁפַטְיָה שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת שִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy and two.
BN: The Beney Shephat-Yah, three hundred and seventy-two.
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7:10 BENEY
ARACH SHESH ME'OT CHAMISHIM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי אָרַח שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת חֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two.
BN: The Beney Arach,
six hundred and fifty-two.
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7:11 BENEY
PACHAT MO-AV LIVNEY YESHU'A VE YO-AV ALPAYIM U SHEMONEH ME'OT SHEMONAH ASAR
בְּנֵי פַחַת מוֹאָב לִבְנֵי יֵשׁוּעַ וְיוֹאָב אַלְפַּיִם וּשְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר
KJ: The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred and eighteen.
BN: The Beney Pachat Mo-Av, being the Beney Yeshu'a and Yo-Av, two thousand, eight hundred and eighteen.
This is
useful in helping us understand the complexities of the Beney. Here two
brothers are counted as a single clan, and the name of the clan is sourced
geographically: so we have, so to speak, "the Cohen brothers, Mosheh and Shelomoh,
from Golders Green", rendered as "Beney Golders-Green livney Mosheh ve Shelomoh".
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7:12 BENEY
EYLAM ELEPH MA'TAYIM CHAMISHIM VE ARBA'AH
בְּנֵי עֵילָם אֶלֶף מָאתַיִם חֲמִשִּׁים וְאַרְבָּעָה
KJ: The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.
BN: The Beney Eylam, one thousand, two hundred and fifty-four.
In all
likelihood this is a geographical designation as well, Eylam being one of the
ancient names for Persia or Iran - but see also verse 34.
The same as Ezra 2:7.
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7:13 BENEY
ZATU SHEMONEH ME'OT ARBA'IM VA CHAMISHAH
בְּנֵי זַתּוּא שְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת אַרְבָּעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה
KJ: The children of Zattu, eight hundred forty and five.
BN: The Beney Zatu, eight hundred and forty-five.
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7:14 BENEY
ZAKAI SHEV'A ME'OT U SHISHIM
בְּנֵי זַכָּי שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וְשִׁשִּׁים
KJ: The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and threescore.
BN: The Beney Zakai, seven hundred and sixty
samech
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7:15 BENEY
VINU'I SHESH ME'OT ARBA'IM U SHEMONAH
בְּנֵי בִנּוּי שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The children of Binnui, six hundred forty and eight.
BN: The Beney Binu'i, six hundred and forty-eight.
samech
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7:16 BENEY VEVAI SHESH ME'OT ESRIM U SHEMONAH
בְּנֵי בֵבָי שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
BN: The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and eight.
Ezra 2:11 has five fewer.
samech break
7:17 BENEY
AZGAD ALPAYIM SHELOSH ME'OT ESRIM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי עַזְגָּד אַלְפַּיִם שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty and two.
BN: The Beney Azgad, two thousand, three hundred and twenty-two.
BN: The Beney Azgad, two thousand, three hundred and twenty-two.
AZGAD: or
is that AZ-GAD?
These are
all significant numbers, but still
nothing compared with the numbers claimed for the exodus from Egypt.
7:18 BENEY
ADONI-KAM SHESH ME'OT SHISHIM VE SHIV'AH
בְּנֵי אֲדֹנִיקָם שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שִׁשִּׁים וְשִׁבְעָה
KJ: The children of Adonikam, six hundred threescore and seven.
BN: The Beney Adoni-Kam, six hundred and sixty-seven.
cf Ezra 2:13 where the numbers are different by just a single one.
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7:19 BENEY
VIGVAI ALPAYIM SHISHIM VE SHIV'AH
בְּנֵי בִגְוָי אַלְפַּיִם שִׁשִּׁים וְשִׁבְעָה
KJ: The children of Bigvai, two thousand threescore and seven.
BN: The Beney Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven.
cf Ezra 2:14 where the numbers are different by eleven.
samech
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7:20 BENEY
ADIN SHESH ME'OT CHAMISHIM VA CHAMISHAH
בְּנֵי עָדִין שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת חֲמִשִּׁים וַחֲמִשָּׁה
KJ: The children of Adin, six hundred fifty and five.
BN: Beney Adin, six hundred and fifty-five.
cf Ezra 2:15 where the numbers are different.
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7:21 BENEY
ATER LE CHIZKI-YAH TISH'IM U SHEMONAH
בְּנֵי אָטֵר לְחִזְקִיָּה תִּשְׁעִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The children of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety and eight.
BN: The Beney Ater, of Chizki-Yah, ninety-eight.
I take
this, again, to be a town or village, whether the place of captivity, or perhaps but less likely the town in Yehudah from which they were taken into captivity, and
Chizki-Yah (Hezekiah) named because he was a well-known person at the time. See my note to this at Ezra 2:16, whose text is identical.
samech
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7:22 BENEY
CHASHUM SHELOSH ME'OT ESRIM U SHEMONAH
בְּנֵי חָשֻׁם שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The children of Hashum, three hundred twenty and eight.
BN: The Beney Chashum, three hundred and twenty-eight.
samech
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7:23 BENEY
VETSAI SHELOSH ME'OT ESRIM VE ARBA'AH
בְּנֵי בֵצָי שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה
KJ: The children of Bezai, three hundred twenty and four.
BN: The Beney
Betsai, three hundred and twenty-four.
cf Ezra 2:17 where the numbers are different by a single one.
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7:24 BENEY
CHARIPH ME'AH SHENEYM ASAR
בְּנֵי חָרִיף מֵאָה שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר
KJ: The children of Hariph, an hundred and twelve.
BN: The Beney Chariph, a hundred and twelve.
The Spice
Boys, by any chance?
samech
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7:25 BENEY
GIV-ON TISH'IM VA CHAMISHAH
בְּנֵי גִבְעוֹן תִּשְׁעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה
KJ: The children of Gibeon, ninety and five.
BN: The Beney Giv-On, ninety-five.
Giv-On,
usually rendered in English as Gibeon, is a well-known place, so once again we
can see BENEY being used to describe a geographical group rather than a clan or
tribe. Likewise in the next verse, though ANSHEY ("people") is used there. This
is confirmed with Yerecho in verse 35.
cf Ezra 2:20 where the name is different - Gibar there - but the numbers are the same.
Having lived many years as a British ex-patriate in those Anglo-Saxon "places of exile" Canada and the USA, I am conscious of how many times I visited, say, London, but it was in Ontario, or Oxford, but it was in Mississippi, or Cambridge, but it was in Massachussetts. So, like Chizki-Yah above, and the naming of modern Tel Aviv for the Babylonian "place of exile", it is entirely possible that towns and villages named in this list are not the originals in Kena'an at all, but the nostalgic naming of "places" (nameless slave and refugee camps, originally) in Babylon. See also verse 6 in this regard.
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7:26 ANSHEY
VEIT LECHEM U NETOPHAH ME'AH SHEMONIM U SHEMONAH
אַנְשֵׁי בֵית לֶחֶם וּנְטֹפָה מֵאָה שְׁמֹנִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, an hundred fourscore and eight.
BN: The people of
Beit Lechem and Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight.
I have
translated ANSHEY as "people", where most versions prefer "men", because this
is a census of the Aliya Aleph, the first group of refugees to return from
exile, and so it is unlikely to have counted only the men.
cf Ezra 2:21 and 2:22, where he separates the two groups, and the total of their numbers is different. Ezra also has the BENEY BEIT-LECHEM, but uses ANSHEY for Netophah. The total for the two towns is different by a single one.
NETOPHAH: Further exploration of this at Nehemiah 12:28, where the context makes the explanation more relevant.
samech
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7:27 ANSHEY
ANATOT ME'AH ESRIM U SHEMONAH
אַנְשֵׁי עֲנָתוֹת מֵאָה עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.
BN: The people of Anatot, a hundred and twenty-eight.
ANATOT: Or
Beit Anatot, the prophet Yirme-Yah's (Jeremiah's) home town, known in the
Christian Bible as Bethany.
The same as cf Ezra 2:23.
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7:28 ANSHEY
BEIT AZ-MAVET ARBA'IM U SHENAYIM
אַנְשֵׁי בֵית עַזְמָוֶת אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The men of Bethazmaveth, forty and two.
BN: The people of Beit Az-Mavet, forty-two.
Ezra 2:24 has BENEY, but the same number.
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7:29 ANSHEY
KIRYAT YE'ARIM KEPHIYRAH U VE'EROT SHEV'A ME'OT ARBA'IM U SHELOSHAH
אַנְשֵׁי קִרְיַת יְעָרִים כְּפִירָה וּבְאֵרוֹת שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה
KJ: The men of Kirjathjearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty and three.
BN: The men of Kiryat Ye'arim, Chephirah, and Be'erot, seven hundred and forty-three.
I didn't
ask at verse 26, but should have done: why are more than one village sometimes counted as
though they were a single one?
KIRYAT
YE'ARIM: a once very significant shrine - see the link for numerous references and an alternate name. Kiryat simply means "village",
and becomes KERAYOT in the plural; this is the Yehudit word which, combined with
Yehudah = Jew, yields Yehudah Ish Ha Kerayot, "a Jew from the villages",
misunderstood in Christianity as a name rather than a sobriquet: Judas Iscariot.
Ezra 2:25 names it Kiryat-Arim. Beney rather than Anshey has now become the norm, and it is useful to us today as confirmation that BENEY does not only or always mean "biological sons". I presume Nechem-Yah made the alteration because he wanted to distinguish the genealogies (the whole point of his tracking down this list in the first place) from the Guilds and the habitats.
samech
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7:30 ANSHEY
HA RAMAH VA GAV'A SHESH ME'OT ESRIM VE ECHAD
אַנְשֵׁי הָרָמָה וָגָבַע שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת עֶשְׂרִים וְאֶחָד
KJ: The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty and one.
BN: The people of ha Ramah and Gav’a, six hundred and twenty-one.
The same as Ezra 2:26.
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7:31 ANSHEY
MICHMAS ME'AH VE ESRIM U SHENAYIM
אַנְשֵׁי מִכְמָס מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The men of Michmas, an hundred and twenty and two.
BN: The people of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two.
And if these are the original towns and villages, rather than the naming of the places of exile, we can now draw a map of Yehudah as it must have been at the time of the
conquest and exile, and then realise just how desperately small it was; if I
tell you that the modern state of Yisra-El is roughly the same size as Wales,
or Massachussetts, and that Yehudah occupied at the very most a quarter of what
had been Yisra-El under King David, you will understand that this is not even
the whole postage stamp, not even the space occupied by the Queen's head, but
just the sum of money on the bottom right.
The text is the same as Ezra 2:27.
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7:32 ANSHEY
VEIT-EL VE HA AI ME'AH ESRIM U SHELOSHAH
אַנְשֵׁי בֵית אֵל וְהָעָי מֵאָה עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה
KJ: The men of Bethel and Ai, an hundred twenty and three.
BN: The people of Beit-El and Ai, a hundred and twenty-three.
cf Ezra 2:28 where the numbers are different by a hundred.
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7:33 ANSHEY
NEVO ACHER CHAMISHIM U SHENAYIM
אַנְשֵׁי נְבוֹ אַחֵר חֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The men of the other Nebo, fifty and two.
BN: The people of the other Nevo, fifty-two.
Note the slangy way this is expressed: a memo, not a historical record!
cf Ezra 2:29. Nechem-Yah has added the word "acher" - "other", though this requires two, and the other "other" never gets mentioned.
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7:34 BENEY
EYLAM ACHER ELEPH MA'TAYIM CHAMISHIM VE ARBA'AH
בְּנֵי עֵילָם אַחֵר אֶלֶף מָאתַיִם חֲמִשִּׁים וְאַרְבָּעָה
KJ: The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.
BN: The other Beney Eylam, one thousand, two hundred and fifty-four.
On this occasion there is an other "other" - see verse 12.
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7:35 BENEY
CHARIM SHELOSH ME'OT VE ESRIM
בְּנֵי חָרִם שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וְעֶשְׂרִים
KJ: The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
BN: The Beney Charim, three hundred and twenty.
The same as Ezra 2:32, including Beney rather than Anshey, which helps us a little with the otherwise obscure source of this name.
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7:36 BENEY
YERECHO SHELOSH ME'OT ARBA'IM VA CHAMISHAH
בְּנֵי יְרֵחוֹ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אַרְבָּעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה
KJ: The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five.
BN: The Beney Yerecho, three hundred and forty-five.
cf Ezra 2:34 - for some reason he has swapped the order of this and the next verse from Ezra's version.
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7:37 BENEY
LOD CHADID VE ONO SHEV'A ME'OT VE ESRIM VE ECHAD
בְּנֵי לֹד חָדִיד וְאֹנוֹ שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וְעֶשְׂרִים וְאֶחָד
KJ: The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and one.
BN: The Beney Lod, Chadid and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one.
cf Ezra 2:33 where the numbers are different by four.
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7:38 BENEY
SENA'AH SHELOSHET ALAPHIM TESH'A ME'OT U SHELOSHIM
בְּנֵי סְנָאָה שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת וּשְׁלֹשִׁים
KJ: The children of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.
BN: The Beney Sena'ah, three thousand, nine hundred and thirty.
cf Ezra 2:35 where the numbers are different by three hundred.
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7:39 HA
KOHANIM BENEY YED'A-YAH LE VEIT YESHU'A TESH'A ME'OT SHIV'IM U SHELOSHAH
הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי יְדַעְיָה לְבֵית יֵשׁוּעַ תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת שִׁבְעִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה
KJ: The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three.
BN: The Kohanim:
the Beney Yed'a-Yah, of the house of Yeshu'a, nine hundred and seventy-three.
There are
Leviyim in verse 43 who are also denoted as the House of Yeshu'a, and his name
has come up before. Several men by the same name, or some Guild or Union with that name? And if so, is that name the way that Yehoshu'a was written as the
time - I can't avoid noting that Yeshu'a is a variation of the name that will
become Jesus.
The same text as Ezra 2:36.
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7:40 BENEY
IMER ELEPH CHAMISHIM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי אִמֵּר אֶלֶף חֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Immer, a thousand fifty and two.
BN: The Beney Imer,
one thousand and fifty-two.
The same as Ezra 2:37 and 2:59; based on these, and verse 61 below, we can take it that Imer was the name of the place in Babylon where these people spent the exile.
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7:41 BENEY
PHASH'CHUR ELEPH MA'TAYIM ARBA'IM VE SHIV'AH
בְּנֵי פַשְׁחוּר אֶלֶף מָאתַיִם אַרְבָּעִים וְשִׁבְעָה
KJ: The children of Pashur, a thousand two hundred forty and seven.
BN: The Beney Phash'chur, one thousand, two hundred and forty-seven.
The same as Ezra 2:38.
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7:42 BENEY
CHARIM ELEPH SHIV'AH ASAR
בְּנֵי חָרִם אֶלֶף שִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר
KJ: The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.
BN: The Beney
Charim, one thousand and seventeen.
The same as Ezra 2:39.
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7:43 HA
LEVIYIM BENEY YESHU'A LE KADMI-EL LIVNEY LEHODEVAH SHIV'IM VE ARBA'AH
הַלְוִיִּם בְּנֵי יֵשׁוּעַ לְקַדְמִיאֵל לִבְנֵי לְהוֹדְוָה שִׁבְעִים וְאַרְבָּעָה
KJ: The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four.
BN: The Leviyim:
the Beney Yeshu'a, of Kadmi-El, of the Beney (Le)Hodevah, seventy-four.
This one
I'm afraid I'm struggling with; I can't even decide if these are LIVNEY LE
HODEVAH or LIVNEY LEHODEVAH - or LIVNEY HODAV-YAH, as Ezra writes them in Ezra 2:40. Part of the problem is: are these Guilds of some sort within
the Leviyim, or are they family groups? Meshorerim and Beney Asaph in the next
verse are definitely known to be Guilds from elsewhere in the Tanach, and all
standard translations accept this. Several of the verses that follow are likewise Guilds associated with the Temple - see for example the Netiynim of verse 46.
And again
pick up my previous comment about Yeshu'a.
The numbers are the same as Ezra 2:40; Hodav-Yah may mean "thanks be to the goddess".
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7:44 HA
MESHORERIM BENEY ASAPH ME'AH ARBA'IM U SHEMONAH
הַמְשֹׁרְרִים בְּנֵי אָסָף מֵאָה אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁמֹנָה
KJ: The singers: the children of Asaph, an hundred forty and eight.
BN: The singers: the Beney Asaph, a hundred and forty-eight.
MESHORERIM:
This is the standard translation.
cf Ezra 2:41 where the numbers are different by twenty.
7:45 HA
SHO'ARIM BENEY SHALUM BENEY ATER BENEY TALMON BENEY AKUV BENEY CHATIYT'A BENEY SHOVAI
ME'AH SHALOSHIM U SHEMONAH
הַשֹּׁעֲרִים בְּנֵי שַׁלֻּם בְּנֵי אָטֵר בְּנֵי טַלְמֹן בְּנֵי עַקּוּב בְּנֵי חֲטִיטָא בְּנֵי שֹׁבָי מֵאָה שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁמֹנָהס
KJ: The porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, an hundred thirty and eight.
BN: The Gatekeepers: the Beney Shalum, the Beney Ater, the Beney Talmon, the Beney Akuv, the
Beney Chatit’a, the Beney Shovai, a hundred and thirty-eight.
I keep
saying "the" Beney, but the Yehudit doesn’t have a definite article.
cf Ezra 2:42 where the numbers are different by just one, and Ezra adds BENEY at the start, confirming that the word on this occasion definitely means "Guild".
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7:46 HA
NETIYNIM BENEY TSICH'A VENEY CHASUPH'A BENEY TABA'OT
הַנְּתִינִים בְּנֵי צִחָא בְנֵי חֲשֻׂפָא בְּנֵי טַבָּעוֹת
KJ: The Nethinims: the children of Ziha, the children of Hashupha, the children of Tabbaoth,
BN: The Netiynim: the Beney Tsich'a, the Veney Chasuph'a, the Beney Taba'ot...
NETIYNIM: see my note to Ezra 2:43.
BENEY TSICH'A: The Masoretes have added a Yud in Ezra's version, making it TSIYCH'A; given that the whole point of the pointing is to help make the reading simpler, these kinds of sloppiness and discrepancy really are most unhelpful.
BENEY TSICH'A: The Masoretes have added a Yud in Ezra's version, making it TSIYCH'A; given that the whole point of the pointing is to help make the reading simpler, these kinds of sloppiness and discrepancy really are most unhelpful.
VENEY CHASUPH'A: Yet again we have this strange feature, a list of three BENEY in which the second name has the dagesh dropped, so that it becomes VENEY. This is its first occurrence, I believe, in Nechem-Yah, but Ezra has it constantly (perhaps Nechem-Yah has it because he is anonymously plagiarising Ezra's list). But the next verse doesn't follow suit - I have no explanation to offer, I'm afraid.
7:47 BENEY KEYROS BENEY SIY'A BENEY PHADON
בְּנֵי קֵירֹס בְּנֵי סִיעָא בְּנֵי פָדוֹן
KJ: The children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon,
BN: The Beney Keyros, the Beney Siy'a, the Beney Phadon...
SIY'A:
Several of these names are Aramaic; CHAGAVA in the next verse is another. Ezra 2:44 renders it as Siy'aha (סִיעֲהָא)
7:48 BENEY
LEVANAH VENEY CHAGAVA BENEY SHALMI
בְּנֵי לְבָנָה בְנֵי חֲגָבָא בְּנֵי שַׁלְמָי
KJ: The children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Shalmai,
BN: The Beney Levanah, the Beney Chagava, the Beney Shalmi...
CHAGAVAH: Ezra 2:45 renders this with a final Hey (חֲגָבָה), Yehudit fashion, rather than the Aramaic Aleph.
SHALMI: Ezra 2:45 has Akuv rather than Shalmi, but then has a Shamlai in 2:46, which the Masoretes mark as an error, but correct it to Simlai, not Shalmi.
Once more that oddity of the Masoretic pointing, which makes the second BENEY into VENEY for no obvious grammatical reason; but then doesn't in the following verse; but then does again in verse 50.
7:49 BENEY
CHANAN BENEY GIDEL BENEY GACHAR
בְּנֵי חָנָן בְּנֵי גִדֵּל בְּנֵי גָחַר
KJ: The children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar,
BN: The Beney Chanan, the Beney Gidel, the Beney Gachar...
Ezra 2:46 repeats CHAGAV, though it is spelled differently from CHAGAVAH in the previous verse; and then has CHANAN as well, his third here being Simlai (or Shalmai or Shalmi...).
GIDEL in Nechem-Yah appears in Ezra 2:47, as does GACHAR.
7:50 BENEY RE'A-YAH VENEY RETSIN BENEY NEKODA
בְּנֵי רְאָיָה בְנֵי רְצִין בְּנֵי נְקוֹדָא
KJ: The children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda,
BN: The Beney Re'a-Yah,
the Beney Retsin, the Beney Nekoda...
RE'A-YAH appears in Ezra 2:47, Retsin and Nekoda in Ezra 2:48
And all of these are Netiynim, meaning "professional staff attached to the Temple" - cleaners, candlemakers, basket-weavers, scribes, tailors, gold and silversmiths. My attempts to deduce them are all in their equivalent verses of Ezra 2.
RE'A-YAH appears in Ezra 2:47, Retsin and Nekoda in Ezra 2:48
And all of these are Netiynim, meaning "professional staff attached to the Temple" - cleaners, candlemakers, basket-weavers, scribes, tailors, gold and silversmiths. My attempts to deduce them are all in their equivalent verses of Ezra 2.
7:51 BENEY
GAZAM BENEY UZ'A BENEY PHASE'ACH
בְּנֵי גַזָּם בְּנֵי עֻזָּא, בְּנֵי פָסֵחַ
BN: The Beney Gazam,
the Beney Uz'a, the Beney Phase'ach...
GAZAM appears in Ezra 2:48, Uz'a and Phase'ach in Ezra 2:49.
GAZAM appears in Ezra 2:48, Uz'a and Phase'ach in Ezra 2:49.
7:52 BENEY
VESAI BENEY ME'UNIM BENEY NEPHOSHSIM (NEPHIYSHSIM)
(בְּנֵי בֵסַי בְּנֵי מְעוּנִים בְּנֵי נפושסים (נְפִישְׁסִים
KJ: The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim,
BN: The Beney Besai, the Beney Me'unim, the Beney Nephiyshsim...
The Veney Vesai appear in Ezra 2:49, the Me'unim and Nephoshsim in Ezra 2:50, but the former as Me'iynim, the latter as per my note below. Ezra 2:50 also has a Beney Asnah who is missing from the Nechem-Yah list.
BENEY NEPHIYSHSIM: I would suggest that both the original and the Masoretic parenthesis are wrong, because neither Yehudit not Aramit ever places a Sheen (ש) and a Samech (ס) side-by-side (the nearest we ever get is Yisaschar, which is written as a double-Seen, and is reckoned by most scholars, btoh religious and secular, to be in error), so the solution must be to remove one or the other. But which? Ezra has them as Nephiysim and Nephusim, reckoning that the Sheen would anyway be a Seen, though it could just as well be a Samech if it's a foreign word.
7:53 BENEY
VAKBUK BENEY CHAKUPH'A BENEY CHARCHUR
בְּנֵי בַקְבּוּק בְּנֵי חֲקוּפָא בְּנֵי חַרְחוּר
KJ: The children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,
BN: The Beney Bakbuk,
the Beney Chakupha, the Beney Charchur...
The same as Ezra 2:51, and again see my notes there for the explanation of the names.
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7:54 BENEY
VATSLIT BENEY MECHIYD'A BENEY CHARSH'A
בְּנֵי בַצְלִית בְּנֵי מְחִידָא בְּנֵי חַרְשָׁא
KJ: The children of Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,
BN: The Beney Vatslit, the Beney Mechiyd'a, the Beney Charsh'a...
BN: The Beney Vatslit, the Beney Mechiyd'a, the Beney Charsh'a...
Ezra 2:52 has Vatslut rather than Vatsliyt (the Vav-Yud variation the other way around on this occasion; cf Penu-El/Peni-El, Shimron/Shomron et al)
7:55 BENEY VARKOS BENEY SIYS-RA BENEY TAMACH
7:55 BENEY VARKOS BENEY SIYS-RA BENEY TAMACH
{בְּנֵי {ר} בַרְקוֹס {ס} בְּנֵי סִיסְרָ {ס} בְּנֵי-תָמַח {ס
KJ: The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Tamah,
BN: The Beney Barkos, the Beney Sis-Ra, the Beney Tamach...
Remind me
please what a Reysh break is, and explain why they suddenly appear here.
The text is the same as Ezra 2:53.
7:56 BENEY NETSIYACH BENEY CHATIYPH'A
The text is the same as Ezra 2:53.
7:56 BENEY NETSIYACH BENEY CHATIYPH'A
{בְּנֵי {ר} נְצִיחַ {ס} בְּנֵי חֲטִיפָא {ס
KJ: The children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.
BN: The Beney Netsiyach, the Beney Chatiyph'a...
בְּנֵי עַבְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה {ס} בְּנֵי {ר} סוֹטַי {ס} בְּנֵי סֹפֶרֶת {ס} בְּנֵי פְרִידָא {ס
KJ: The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,
BN: The descendants of Shelomoh's servants: the Beney Sotai, the Beney Sopheret, the Beney Perid'a...
BN: The descendants of Shelomoh's servants: the Beney Sotai, the Beney Sopheret, the Beney Perid'a...
SHELOMOH:
Check back on this, but like Mosheh, it may be that both names should reflect
that final Hey... AND THEN... are these titles of positions (Under Secretary of
State for... et cetera...) and named for Shelomoh because he established them?
BENEY SOPHERET definitely suggests a "female clerical officer". Or was there a
man named Shelomoh among the returnees, and these were his children and
grandchildren? Or even, perfectly plausibly, both.
Ezra 2:55 has HA SOPHERET, which makes her a Guild of professional secretaries. He also has PHERUD'A rather than Periyd'a, the Yehudit favoured over the Aramaic.
Ezra 2:55 has HA SOPHERET, which makes her a Guild of professional secretaries. He also has PHERUD'A rather than Periyd'a, the Yehudit favoured over the Aramaic.
7:58 BENEY
YA'LA VENEY DARKON BENEY GIDEL
{בְּנֵי {ר} יַעְלָא {ס} בְנֵי דַרְקוֹן {ס} בְּנֵי גִדֵּל {ס
KJ: The children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,
BN: The Beney Ya'la,
the Veney Darkon, the Beney Gidel...
YA'LA: Again Nechem-Yah uses the Aramaic spelling, Ezra in 2:56 the Yehudit (יַעְלָה). And note that Beney-Veney mix again.
7:59 BENEY
SHEPHAT-YAH VENEY CHATIL BENEY POCHERET HA TSEVAYIM BENEY AMON
בְּנֵי {ר} שְׁפַטְיָה {ס} בְנֵי-חַטִּיל, {ס} בְּנֵי פֹּכֶרֶת הַצְּבָיִים {ס} בְּנֵי {ר} אָמוֹן
KJ: The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon.
BN: The Beney Shephat-Yah, the Beney Chatil, the Beney Pocheret Ha Tsevayim, the children of Amon.
The same as Ezra 2:57.
7:60 KOL HA
NETIYNIM U VENEY AVDEY SHELOMOH SHELOSH ME'OT TISH'IM U SHENAYIM
כָּל הַנְּתִינִים וּבְנֵי עַבְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת תִּשְׁעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two.
BN: All the Temple professional staff, and the descendants of Shelomoh's servants, totalled three hundred and ninety-two.
7:61 VE
ELEH HA OLIM MI TEL MELACH TEL CHARSH'A KERUV ADON VE IMER VE LO YACHLU LEHAGID
BEIT AVOTAM VE ZAR'AM IM MI YISRA-EL HEM
וְאֵלֶּה הָעוֹלִים מִתֵּל מֶלַח תֵּל חַרְשָׁא כְּרוּב אַדּוֹן וְאִמֵּר וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לְהַגִּיד בֵּית אֲבֹתָם וְזַרְעָם אִם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל הֵם
KJ: And these were they which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
BN: And these are the ones who made Aliyah from Tel Melach, Tel Charsh'a, Keruv Adon and Imer; but they could not tell their fathers' houses, nor their seed, whether they were of Yisra-El.
KERUV ADON:
I have treated this as a single place, because its meaning tends that way: a
Keruv is a Cherub, Adon means Lord; the two together suggest a royal city, a
temple, a palace, a shrine, something of the sort; on their own, neither word
is obvious for the name of anywhere. Ezra has it as KERUV ADAN (כְּרוּב אַדָּן) in 2:59.
IM MI
YISRA-EL HEM: That quickly deracinated! And a major problem, in a world of racial purity: no parental ketubah = not Jewish. See verse 64.
7:62 BENEY
DELA-YAH VENEY TOVI-YAH BENEY NEKODA SHESH ME'OT VE ARBA'IM U SHENAYIM
בְּנֵי דְלָיָה בְנֵיטוֹבִיָּה בְּנֵי נְקוֹדָא שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת וְאַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
KJ: The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred forty and two.
BN: The Beney Dela-Yah, the Beney Tovi-Yah, the Beney Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two.
The same as Ezra 2:60 save for the numbers, which are different by ten (and on this occasion Nechem-Yah has the lower number, which ruins my speculation that his might have been an updated list).
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7:63 U MIN
HA KOHANIM BENEY CHAVA-YAH BENEY HA KOTS BENEY VAR-ZILAI ASHER LAKACH MIBNOT
BAR ZILAI HA GIL'ADI ISHAH VA YIKAR'E AL SHIMAM
וּמִן הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי חֳבַיָּה בְּנֵי הַקּוֹץ בְּנֵי בַרְזִלַּי אֲשֶׁר לָקַח מִבְּנוֹת בַּרְזִלַּי הַגִּלְעָדִי אִשָּׁה וַיִּקָּרֵא עַל שְׁמָם
KJ: And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name.
BN: And of the Kohanim: the Beney Chava-Yah, the Beney Ha Kots, the Beney Bar Zilai, who took a wife from the daughters of Bar-Zilai the Gil'adi, and was called after their name.
U MIN HA
KOHANIM: But we already had the Kohanim in verse 39 ff. Ezra 2:61 renders it as "U MIBNEY HA KOHANIM"; otherwise the two are identical.
CHAVA-YAH
BENEY HA
KOTS: He came up before, if I am not mistaken, and as a sobriquet not a name
ASHER
LAKACH MI BENOT BAR-ZILAI: A matrilocal marriage, and yet still a Beney
Yisra-El. BAR ZILAI is the Aramaic equivalent of the Yehudit BEN ZILAI.
7:64 ELEH
BIKSHU CHETAVAM HA MIT'YACHSIM VE LO NIMTS'A VA YEGO'ALU MIN HA KEHUNAH
אֵלֶּה בִּקְשׁוּ כְתָבָם הַמִּתְיַחְשִׂים וְלֹא נִמְצָא וַיְגֹאֲלוּ מִן הַכְּהֻנָּה
KJ: These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
BN: These sought their names in the register, that is to say the proof of their genealogy, but it was not found; therefore were they deemed polluted, and expelled from the priesthood.
I have
slightly extended the translation here in order to give the full meaning of the
sentence. "Expelled" may be overstating the process, though it was clearly
the outcome. See also my note to verse 61.
This verse is identical to Ezra 2:62 save only the grammatically incorrect NIMTS'A, which is correctly NIMTSA'U in Ezra. For a man who is so angry (see chapter 13) that his fellow Yehudim can't or won't speak Yehudit, he sure doesn't do a great job of role-modeling.
7:65 VA
YOMER HA TIRSHAT'A LAHEM ASHER LO YO'CHLU MI KODESH HA KADASHIM AD AMOD HA KOHEN
LE URIM VE TUMIM
וַיֹּאמֶר הַתִּרְשָׁתָא לָהֶם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יֹאכְלוּ מִקֹּדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים עַד עֲמֹד הַכֹּהֵן לְאוּרִים וְתֻמִּים
BN: And the
Tirshat'a said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till
there stood up a priest with Urim and Tumim.
TIRSHAT'A: See my notes to this, and other key data contained in this verse, at Ezra 2:63. Based on those notes, and on the fact that the 3rd person narrator will name Nechem-Yah as the Tirshat'a in the very next chapter, we can probably read this as Nechem-Yah being unusually humble, and saying "the Tirshat'a" when really he means "I"!
This verse is identical to Ezra 2:63
7:66 KOL HA
KAHAL KE ECHAD ARB'A RIB'O ALPAYIM SHELOSH ME'OT VE SHISHIM
כָּל הַקָּהָל כְּאֶחָד אַרְבַּע רִבּוֹא אַלְפַּיִם שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וְשִׁשִּׁים
KJ: The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,
BN: The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty...
RIB'O:
This verse is identical to Ezra 2:64, including the final number!
7:67 MILVAD
AVDEYHEM VE AMHOTEYHEM ELEH SHIV'AT ALAPHIM SHELOSH ME'OT SHELOSHIM VE SHIV'AH
VE LAHEM MESHORERIM U MESHOREROT MA'TAYIM VE ARBA'IM VA CHAMISHAH
מִלְּבַד עַבְדֵיהֶם וְאַמְהֹתֵיהֶם אֵלֶּה שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת שְׁלֹשִׁים וְשִׁבְעָה וְלָהֶם מְשֹׁרְרִים וּמְשֹׁרְרוֹת מָאתַיִם וְאַרְבָּעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה
KJ: Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women.
BN: ... not including their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five male and female singers.
That's a
very big choir! And bigger than the one in Ezra 2:65. Nechem-Yah adds forty-five, though I suspect he skipped a line of the list Ezra was using, and put the number of mules (Ezra 2:66) as the number of singers, and then left out the mules altogether.
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At this point we have confusion among the versions, with 72 verses in some of the Yehudit versions (Sar Shalom, Sefaria), but 73 in others (Chabad.org), and the same among the translations. The King James has 73. The problem lies with the horses and mules, which are verse 68 when there are 73, but missing otherwise.
The "missing" verse, when restored (or not left out) reads:
סֽוּסֵיהֶ֕ם שְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים וְשִׁשָּׁ֑ה פִּרְדֵיהֶ֕ם מָאתַ֖יִם אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וַֽחֲמִשָּֽׁה
which KJ translates as:
which is identical to Ezra 2:66.
7:68
GEMALIM ARBA ME'OT SHELOSHIM VA CHAMISHAH CHAMORIM SHESHET ALAPHIM SHEV'A ME'OT
VE ESRIM
גְּמַלִּים אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שְׁלֹשִׁים וַחֲמִשָּׁה {ס} חֲמֹרִים שֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וְעֶשְׂרִים
KJ (7:69): Their camels, four hundred thirty and five: six thousand seven hundred and twenty asses.
BN: Their camels, four hundred and thirty-five; {S} their asses, six thousand, seven hundred and twenty.
What is the
difference between a mule, an ass and a donkey? Mythologically, as well as
biologically. The word CHAMORIM appears to be used for all three in Yehudit. Click here for one half of the answer, here for the remainder.
Ezra 2:66 has 736 SUSEYHEM (horses) as well as those 245 mules, but these too Nechem-Yah appears to have skipped. Ezra has the camels in 2:67, the same number; ditto the asses.
7:69 U MIKTSAT RA'SHEY HA AVOT NATNU LA MELA'CHAH HA TIRSHAT'A NATAN LA OTSAR ZAHAV
DARKEMONIM ELEPH MIZRAKOT CHAMISHIM KATNOT KOHANIM SHELOSHIM VA CHAMESH ME'OT
וּמִקְצָת רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת נָתְנוּ לַמְּלָאכָה הַתִּרְשָׁתָא נָתַן לָאוֹצָר זָהָב דַּרְכְּמֹנִים אֶלֶף מִזְרָקוֹת חֲמִשִּׁים כָּתְנוֹת כֹּהֲנִים שְׁלֹשִׁים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת
KJ (7:70): And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments.
BN: And some
from among the clan-chiefs gave to the work. The Tirshat'a gave the treasury
a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priests'
tunics.
The numbers
coming after the items tells us that he is simply copying from a list; in narrative
the numbers would come first. The translation restores it to the narrative
method.
7:70 U ME RA'SHEY HA AVOT NATNU LE OTSAR HA MELA'CHAH ZAHAV DARKEMONIM SHETEY RIBOT VE
CHESEPH MANIM ALPAYIM U MA'TAYIM
וּמֵרָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת נָתְנוּ לְאוֹצַר הַמְּלָאכָה זָהָב דַּרְכְּמוֹנִים שְׁתֵּי רִבּוֹת וְכֶסֶף מָנִים אַלְפַּיִם וּמָאתָיִם
KJ (7:71): And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.
BN: And some of the clan-chiefs put into the store-chest for the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand, two hundred pounds of silver.
7:71 VA
ASHER NATNU SE'ERIT HA AM ZAHAV DARKEMONIM SHETEY RIB'O VE CHESEPH MANIM ALPAYIM
VE CHATNOT KOHANIM SHISHIM VE SHIV'AH
וַאֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם זָהָב דַּרְכְּמֹנִים שְׁתֵּי רִבּוֹא וְכֶסֶף מָנִים אַלְפָּיִם וְכָתְנֹת כֹּהֲנִים שִׁשִּׁים וְשִׁבְעָה
KJ (7:72): And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments.
BN: And the rest of the people contributed twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and threescore and seven priests' tunics.
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7:72 VA
YESHVU HA KOHANIM VE HA LEVIYIM VE HA SHO'ARIM VE HA MESHORERIM U MIN HA AM VE
HA NETIYNIM VE CHOL YISRA-EL BE AREYHEM VA YIG'A HA CHODESH HA SHEVIYI U VENEY
YISRA-EL BE AREYHEM
וַיֵּשְׁבוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם וְהַשּׁוֹעֲרִים וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִים וּמִן הָעָם וְהַנְּתִינִים וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעָרֵיהֶם וַיִּגַּע הַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעָרֵיהֶם
KJ (7:73): So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.
BN: So the Kohanim, and the Leviyim, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Netinim, and all Yisra-El, dwelt in their cities. And the seventh month arrived, and the children of Yisra-El were in their towns.
HA CHODESH HA SHEVIYI: Ezra does not mention this, but the coming
of the seventh month is significant on several levels. First, because the Yehudim of Ezra and Nechem-Yah's time are now following both
the Mosaic and the Babylonian calendars, which has realligned the New Year on
the first of Tishrey, followed by Yom Kippur on the 10th and Sukot
(Tabernacles) on the night of the full moon, the day of YAH (or TU as they now
preferred), the 15th. As with the languages, those who had stayed in Yehudah had kept their calendar, those who returned had adopted the calendar of their lords and masters. Second, because this will be the first New Year celebrated under the new calendar, and with everything that is necessary for the rites and cermonies in place. Everything, including, we have to assume, the Urim and Tumim that were not yet ready in verse 65, because go-ahead was prohibited without them. Everything, including, and this the real historic moment, the third significance... but I shall cliff-hanger that, and you can read it for yourself in the very next chapter.
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