Bible Strands
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—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the post-exilic community during the organized resettlement of Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity.
The words — רָאשֵׁי הַמְּדִינָה (ra'Shei ha'mediNah) translates literally as leaders of the province, and יָשְׁבוּ (ya'sheVu) means they dwelt or settled.
The thread — This administrative division of returning exiles and temple personnel recurs in the census records of Ezra 2:1 and 1 Chronicles 9:1.
Why it lands — It requires acknowledging that the restored community maintained a dual residential structure, with voluntary leaders inhabiting the capital while other groups retained their inherited towns in Judah.
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
Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon’s servants.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 9:1 So 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.
- Ezra 2:1 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
- Ezra 2:43 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,
- Nehemiah 7:73 So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.
- Ezra 2:55 The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Hassophereth, the descendants of Peruda,
- Ezra 2:70 So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.
- Nehemiah 7:6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
- Nehemiah 7:57 The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Sophereth, the descendants of Perida,
- 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.