Bible Strands
Nehemiah 11:20
The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inheritance.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the post-exilic population distribution for the returned community, placing the priests and Levites alongside the general Israelite population in Judah’s villages at the moment the settlement lists are compiled.
The words — וּ/שְׁאָר (u./she.'Ar) translates literally as "and the rest of," while אִישׁ ('ish) means "each one," establishing that the text describes the remaining Israelites, priests, and Levites dwelling in Judah’s villages with each person on his own inheritance.
The thread — This settlement pattern aligns with Nehemiah 11:3, which notes that while provincial leaders settled in Jerusalem, the broader population maintained their ancestral holdings in the surrounding villages.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that the restored community did not abandon its ancestral land allocations to concentrate solely in Jerusalem, but rather distributed its members across Judah’s villages according to their inherited portions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 11:3 These are the heads of the provinces who settled in Jerusalem. (In the villages of Judah, however, each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants—