Nehemiah 12:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the names, and little more than the names, of many priests and Levites who were important among the returned Jews. It is not clear why Nehemiah included this record here, but it may have been to keep the memory of these good men alive, so later generations would know whom they owed, under God, for the revival and restoration of true religion among them. In that way, this helps fulfill the promise, “The righteous will be remembered forever” (Psalm 112:6). The memory of the just should be honored and preserved, and we still owe it to faithful ministers to remember those who spoke God’s word to us (Hebrews 13:7).

This may also have been meant to encourage their children and descendants, who followed them in the priestly office and inherited their rank and privileges, to copy their courage and faithfulness. It is good to know what our godly ancestors and predecessors were like, so we can learn what we should be. We first see the names of the priests and Levites who came up from Babylon with the first group, when Jeshua was high priest. Jeremiah and Ezra are named with them (Nehemiah 12:1), but they are not thought to be Jeremiah the prophet or Ezra the scribe. The fame of one was long before this time, and the other lived later, though both were priests.

One of the Levites is said to have been “over the thanksgiving” (Nehemiah 12:8). That means he was trusted to make sure the praise psalms were sung in the temple at the proper time and in the proper way. The Levites kept their turns in their service, relieving one another, as brothers, fellow workers, and fellow soldiers should.

Next comes the line of high priests during the Persian rule, from Jeshua, also called Jesus, who was high priest at the time of the restoration, to Jaddua, also called Jaddus, who was high priest when Alexander the Great came to Jerusalem after conquering Tyre. Alexander showed great respect to this Jaddua. According to the account, Jaddua met him in his priestly clothing and showed him the prophecy of Daniel, which foretold Alexander’s conquests.

Then we have the next generation of priests, chief men who served in the days of Joiakim, the sons of the first group. We should thank God for his care for the church, seen in this, that as one generation of ministers passes away, another comes in its place. All those named here as important in their own time are named again later, though some names are slightly different, except for two. Even so, they had sons who were also notable in their day. That is a rare thing, twenty good fathers leaving behind twenty good sons, all of whom filled their fathers’ places.

Then comes another generation of Levites, or rather a later one, since the priests just mentioned flourished in the days of Joiakim the high priest, while these Levites were active in the days of Eliashib (Nehemiah 12:22). Perhaps by then the priestly families were starting to decline, and the third generation was falling short of the first two. Yet God’s work will never fail for lack of workers. A new generation of Levites was raised up, listed as chief fathers (Nehemiah 12:22), and they served the church in a very useful way. Their service was no less pleasing to God or to his people because they were only Levites, a lower rank of ministers.

Since Eliashib the high priest was related to Tobiah (Nehemiah 13:4), the other priests had grown careless. But the Levites became the more zealous, as shown by the fact that those who explained the law (Nehemiah 8:7) and those who led in prayer (Nehemiah 9:4, Nehemiah 9:5) were all Levites, not priests. In that work, personal fitness mattered more than rank. Some of these Levites were singers (Nehemiah 12:24), appointed to praise and give thanks. Others were gatekeepers (Nehemiah 12:25), guarding the doors and thresholds of the gates. Both groups served according to David’s command.