before his own) house, so as to be at hand to defend the city.
Verse 4
The measures taken by Nehemiah for increasing the number of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. - Neh 7:4 The city was spacious and great, and the people few therein, and houses were not built. ידים רחבת, broads on both sides, that is, regarded from the centre towards either the right or left hand. The last clause does not say that there were no houses at all, for the city had been re-inhabited for ninety years; but only that houses had not been built in proportion to the size of the city, that there was still much unoccupied space on which houses might be built.
Verses 5-73
And God put into my heart, i.e., God inspired me with the resolution; comp. Neh 2:12. What resolution, is declared by the sentences following, which detail its execution. The resolution to gather together the nobles and rulers of the people for the purpose of making a list of their kinsmen, and thus to obtain a basis for the operations contemplated for increasing the inhabitants of Jerusalem. והסּגנים החרים are combined, as in Neh 2:16. On התיחשׂ, comp. 1Ch 5:17.
While this resolve was under consideration, Nehemiah found the register, i.e., the genealogical registry, of those who came up at first (from Babylon). בּראשׁונה, at the beginning, i.e., with Zerubbabel and Joshua under Cyrus (Ezra 2), and not subsequently with Ezra (Ezra 7). “And I found written therein.” These words introduce the list now given. This list, vv. 6-73a, is identical with that in Ezra 2, and has been already discussed in our remarks on that chapter.
Chap. 8
Verses 1-2
Public Reading of the Law. the Feast of Tabernacles. A Public Fast Held, and a Covenant Made to Keep the Law - Neh 8:1
These three chapters form a connected whole, and describe acts of worship and solemnities conducted by Ezra and other priests and Levites, Nehemiah as the secular governor being only twice mentioned in them (Neh 8:9; Neh 10:2). The contents of
