1 Chronicles 9:2

Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 9:2. The first — After the return from Babylon. That dwelt in their possessions — That took possession of their own lands and cities, which had been formerly allotted them, but of late years had been taken from them for their sins, and possessed by other people. Israelites — The common people of Judah and Israel, called here by the general name of Israelites, which was given them before that unhappy division of the kingdoms; and now is restored to them, when the Israelites are united with the Jews in one and the same commonwealth, that so all the names and signs of their former division might be blotted out. And though the generality of the ten tribes were yet in captivity, yet divers of them, upon Cyrus’s general proclamation, associated themselves, and returned with those of Judah and Benjamin. Levites — These took possession of the cities belonging to them, as they had need and opportunity. Nethinims — A certain order of men, either Gibeonites, or others joined with them, who were נתינים, nethinim, given to the priests and Levites for performing the servile offices of the tabernacle or temple: accordingly the LXX. in this place render the word by δεδομενοι, persons given. Thus Joshua gave the Gibeonites to be hewers of wood, &c., Joshua 9:21; Joshua 9:27. That they might attend upon their work without distraction, they had certain places and possessions given to them, which they are now said to repossess.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-44 Genealogies. - This chapter expresses that one end of recording all these genealogies was, to direct the Jews, when they returned out of captivity, with whom to unite, and where to reside. Here is an account of the good state into which the affairs of religion were put, on the return from Babylon. Every one knew his charge. Work is likely to be done well when every one knows the duty of his place, and makes a business of it. God is the God of order. Thus was the temple a figure of the heavenly one, where they rest not day nor night from praising God, Re 4:8. Blessed be His name, believers there shall, not in turn, but all together, without interruption, praise him night and day: may the Lord make each of us fit for the inheritance of the saints in light.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The first inhabitants - i. e. the first inhabitants of the holy land after the return from the captivity. They are enumerated under four heads:

(1) Israelites, i. e. the mass of the laity, whether belonging to the ten tribes or the two;

(2) priests;

(3) Levites; and

(4) the lowest order of the ministry, the Nethinims.

These last, whose name is derived from a root "to give," were a sort of sacred slaves - persons "given" to the Levites to perform the more laborious duties of the sanctuary. Some had been "given" as early as the time of Moses Numbers 31:47; and the number afterward increased Joshua 9:23; Ezra 8:20. At the time of the return from the captivity, owing to the small number of Levites who came back Ezra 2:40-42, the services of the Nethinims became very important. They are mentioned under the name of Nethinims only in Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions—This chapter relates wholly to the first returned exiles. Almost all the names recur in Nehemiah (Ne 11:1-36), although there are differences which will be explained there. The same division of the people into four classes was continued after, as before the captivity; namely, the priests, Levites, natives, who now were called by the common name of Israelites, and the Nethinims (Jos 9:27; Ezr 2:43; 8:20). When the historian speaks of "the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions," he implies that there were others who afterwards returned and settled in possessions not occupied by the first. Accordingly, we read of a great number returning successively under Ezra, Nehemiah, and at a later period. And some of those who returned to the ancient inheritance of their fathers, had lived before the time of the captivity (Ezr 3:12; Hag 2:4, 10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The first inhabitants; the first after the return from Babylon.

That dwelt in their possessions in their cities, i.e. that took possession of their own lands and cities, which had been formerly allotted to them; but of late years had been taken from them for their sins, and possessed by other people.

The Israelites, i.e. the common people of Judah and Israel, called here by the general name of Israelites, which was given to them before that unhappy division of the two kingdoms, and now is restored to them when the Israelites are united with the Jews in one and the same commonwealth, that so all the names and signs of their former division might be blotted out. And although the generality of the ten tribes were yet in captivity, yet divers of them were now returned; either such as had long before the captivity fled to Jerusalem to worship God, and joined themselves with Judah, as those 2 Chronicles 11:16, and others; or such as, upon Cyrus’s general proclamation, associated themselves, and returned with those of Judah and Benjamin.

The priests, Levites; these took possession of the cities or places belonging to them, as they had need and opportunity. The

Nethinims; a certain order of men, either Gibeonites, or others joined with them, devoted to the service of God, and of his house, and of the priests and Levites; who, that they might attend upon their work without distraction, had certain places and possessions given to them; which they are now said to repossess.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities,.... Who first returned from Babylon upon the proclamation of Cyrus, and enjoyed their former possessions, and dwelt in the cities they had before, or in such as were allotted them, or they chose:

were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims; the whole body that returned were divided into four classes, as they had been before the captivity; the Israelites were the common people in general, the body politic; the priests, the ecclesiastics, who officiated in sacred things; the Levites, who ministered to them; and the Nethinims were such persons as were "given", as the word signifies, to do servile work for the sanctuary, as, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water; such were the Gibeonites, Joshua 9:27, and such as were appointed by David for such work, see Ezra 8:20.

Geneva Study Bible

Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the {b} Nethinims.

(b) Meaning, the Gibeonites, who served in the temple, read Jos 9:23.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. The text of this verse seems to be faulty, but the meaning is probably the same as in Ezra 2:70 (cp. ibid. Ezra 2:1). Now those who first returned from Babylon to dwell in Judaea, again, dwelt (not in Jerusalem, but) in their own cities; this did they all whether they were laymen, priests, Levites; or Nethinim.

the first inhabitants] The word “first” here corresponds with the phrase “the chiefs of the province” in Nehemiah 11:3 (R.V.), and may be interpreted by it, for “first” gives no satisfactory sense if understood in reference to time. The list which follows (1 Chronicles 9:4 ff.) is a list of chief men.

were] They belonged to the following four classes:

the Israelites] R.V. Israel, i.e. laymen as distinguished from men of Levitical descent. According to 1 Chronicles 9:3 Israel included at least Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (cp. Psalm 80:2, where Judah—the speaker—associates Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh with herself in her appeal to the God of Israel). This is a totally different usage from that of earlier times, when Israel meant the Northern kingdom, and Judah the Southern.

Levites] R.V. the Levites.

Nethinims] R.V. Nethinim. These were a class of Temple servants reckoned as inferior to the Levites. Perhaps they were of foreign extraction and included the Gibeonites (cp. Joshua 9:23). They are mentioned nowhere else in the Old Testament except in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, See Ryle’s note on Ezra 2:43.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions, in their cities. Authorities are very divided as to whether this expression describes inhabitants of the land before the Captivity or subsequent to it. Almost all the older authorities, and Keil amongst those of more modern date, take the former position; Movers, Bertheau, and others take the latter, as also Canon Rawlinson ('Speaker's Commentary,' 3:157, 211). It must be admitted that there is some obscurity, and which accounts for the contrariety of opinion. But obscurity and contrariety notwithstanding, a comparison of vers. 2 and 3 with Nehemiah 11:1-4: produces two impressions almost irresistible, viz. that the difficulty is occasioned by some comparatively slight corruption or mutilation in our ver. 2; and that, whatever the reference is in Nehemiah 11:1-4 (and there is no ambiguity there), that it is in the present passage. The fourfold classification intends the Israel people (Isaiah 24:2; Hosea 4:9), the priests, the Levites, the Nethinims, i.e. those given as helpers of the priests, bond-men of the temple (Numbers 8:18, 19; Numbers 31:47; Ezra 2:40-48; Ezra 8:17, 20). Not before the time of the return does the name Nethinim seem to have crystallized upon this class of helpers, the explanation of which may possibly be that their numbers and their services then became so much more necessary. To this classification is added in Nehemiah 11:3, "And the children of Solomon's servants" (Ezra 2:55). 1 Chronicles 9:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

1 Chronicles 9:1-3 form the transition from the genealogies to the enumeration of the former inhabitants of Jerusalem in vv. 4-34.

1 Chronicles 9:1-2

"And all the Israelites were registered; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel, and Judah was led away to Babylon for her transgressions." The lxx and Vulg. have erroneously connected ויהוּדה with the preceding words, and render, "in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah," and then have translated the following words וגו הגלוּ arbitrarily. Not less incorrect is Bertheau's opinion, that Israel here denotes only the tribes of the northern kingdom, because Israel is contrasted with Judah, and kings of Israel are spoken of, for both reasons are quite worthless. "The book of the kings of Israel" is cited in 2 Chronicles 20:34 (cf. 2 Chronicles 33:18), and is declared by Bertheau himself to be identical with the historical work cited as the "book of the kings of Israel and Judah" (2 Chronicles 27:7; 2 Chronicles 35:27; 2 Chronicles 36:8), or as the "book of the kings of Judah and Israel" (2 Chronicles 16:11; 2 Chronicles 25:26, and elsewhere). How then can it be inferred from the shortened title, "book of the kings of Israel," that kings of the northern kingdom are spoken of? Then, as to the contrast between Israel and Judah, it might, when looked at by itself, be adduced in favour of taking the name in its narrower sense; but when we consider the grouping together in 1 Chronicles 9:10 of "Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim," we see clearly that Israel in 1 Chronicles 9:2 incontrovertibly denotes the whole Israel of the twelve tribes. In 1 Chronicles 9:1, Israel is used in the same sense as in 1 Chronicles 9:2; and the contrast between Israel and Judah, therefore, is analogous to the contrast "Judah and Jerusalem," i.e., Israel is a designation of the whole covenant people, Judah that of one section of it. The position of our verse also at the end of the genealogies of all the tribes of Israel, and not merely of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom, requires that the name Israel should be understood to denote the whole covenant people. That 1 Chronicles 9:1 forms the transition from the genealogies to the enumeration of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and so is properly the conclusion of the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 2-8, is so manifest that Bertheau cannot adduce a single tenable ground for his assertion to the contrary, that "the verse forms clearly quite a new beginning." For the assertion, "We recognise in it a short introduction to the historical statements regarding the tribe of Judah or the Israelites after the exile," cannot be adduced in support of his view, since it not only contradicts his former assertion that Israel here denotes the northern kingdom, but is also irreconcilable with the words of the verse.

(Note: Bertheau's further remark, "1 Chronicles 9:1 cannot have been written by our historian, because he did not consider it sufficient to refer his readers to the work he quotes from, but thought himself bound to communicate genealogical registers of the tribes of the northern kingdom (1 Chronicles 5-7), which he must have extracted from older registers prepared in the time of the kings (cf. 1 Chronicles 6:1), perhaps even out of the work here named," is quite incomprehensible by me. Notwithstanding repeated consideration of it clause by clause, I have not succeeded in comprehending the logic of this argument.)

The statement, "Judah was led captive to Babylon for her transgressions," corresponds to the statement 1 Chronicles 5:25., 1 Chronicles 6:15. But when, after this statement, our writer continues, "And the former inhabitants which (lived) in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim; and in Jerusalem there dwelt of the sons of Judah," etc., the "former inhabitants" can only be those who dwelt in their possessions before Judah was led captive into Babylon. This could hardly be misunderstood by any commentator, if the right interpretation of our passage were not obscured by the similarity of the register of the inhabitants of Jerusalem which follows to that contained in Nehemiah 11, - a similarity which has led some to believe that both registers treat of the post-exilic inhabitants of Jerusalem. Bertheau, e.g., comes to the following decision as to the relation of our register, vv. 2-34, to that in Nehemiah 11:3-24: "As the result of the comparison, we have found that both registers correspond exactly in their plan, and agree as to all the main points in their contents." The first point in this result has some foundation; for if we turn our attention only to the enumeration of chiefs dwelling in Jerusalem, then the registers in 1 Chronicles 9:4-17 of our chapter and in Nehemiah 11:3-19 are identical in plan. But if we consider the whole of the registers, as found in 1 Chronicles 9:2-34 and Nehemiah 11:3-24, we see that they do differ in plan; for in ours, the enumeration of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is introduced by the remark, 1 Chronicles 9:2, "The former inhabitants in their possessions in their cities, were Israel, the priests," etc., according to which the following words, 1 Chronicles 9:3, "And in Jerusalem there dwelt of the sons of Judah," etc., can only be understood of the pre-exilic inhabitants. When Bertheau refers, in opposition to this, to Nehemiah 5:15, where the time between Zerubbabel and Ezra is called the time of the former governors (הראשׁנים הפּחות), with whom Nehemiah contrasts himself, the later governor, to prove that according to that the former inhabitants in our passage may very well denote the inhabitants of the land in the first century of the restored community, he forgets that the governors were changed within short periods, so that Nehemiah might readily call his predecessors in the office "former governors;" while the inhabitants of the cities of Judah, on the contrary, had not changed during the period from Zerubbabel to Ezra, so as to allow of earlier and later inhabitants being distinguished. From the fact that the inhabitants "of their cities" are not contrasted as the earlier, with the inhabitants of Jerusalem as the later, but that both are placed together in such a way as to exclude such a contrast, it is manifest that the conclusion drawn by Movers and Bertheau from Nehemiah 11:1, that the "former inhabitants in their possessions in their cities" are those who dwelt in Jerusalem before it was peopled by the inhabitants of the surrounding district, is not tenable. In Nehemiah 11, on the contrary, the register is introduced by the remark, 1 Chronicles 9:3, "These are the heads of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem; and they dwelt in the cities of Judah, each in his possession in their cities, Israel, the priests," etc. This introduction, therefore, announces a register of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the other cities of Judah, at that time, i.e., at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. To this corresponds the manner in which the register has been made out, as in vv. 3-24 the inhabitants of Jerusalem are enumerated, and in 1 Chronicles 9:25-36 the inhabitants of the other cities. The register in our chapter, on the contrary, deals only with the inhabitants of Jerusalem (vv. 3-19a), while in vv. 19b-34 there follow remarks as to the duties devolving upon the Levites. No mention is made in the register of the inhabitants of other cities, or of Israelites, priests, and Levites, who dwelt in their cities outside of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:2), because all that was necessary had been already communicated in the preceding genealogies (1 Chronicles 2-8).