Bible Strands
Nehemiah 12:28
The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the assembly of temple singers during the dedication of Jerusalem’s rebuilt wall. They are drawn from the surrounding countryside to join the city’s corporate celebration.
The words — The text uses וַ/יֵּאָ֣סְפ֔וּ (va/yiye'asefu), meaning "and they gathered," to describe the singers' movement. It pairs this with הַ/כִּכָּר (ha/kikkār), "the district," and סְבִיב֣וֹת (sevivôt), "around Jerusalem," to specify their geographic origin.
The thread — This recruitment of Levitical musicians parallels the organized worship personnel cataloged in 1 Chronicles 9:16 and 1 Chronicles 2:54. The surrounding villages of the Netophathites reappear in Nehemiah 12:29, which explicitly notes they built settlements around Jerusalem.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to track the logistical scope of the dedication, confirming that worship personnel were sourced from a defined rural network. It establishes that the city's religious restoration depended on coordinated regional mobilization rather than urban residents alone.
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 sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi;
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 9:16 Obadiah son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
- 1 Chronicles 2:54 The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites,
- Nehemiah 6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.