Nehemiah — Chapter 12

Esdras unus an duo

And Esdras. — Cajetan thinks this Esdras is different from the Esdras of Book 1, which he himself wrote; he argues because here he is simply called \"Esdras,\" whereas in Book 1 he is called \"priest and scribe.\" But Sanchez and others hold they are one and the same. For here also in verse 35 he is called \"Esdras the scribe\" and is said to have led one of the choirs of singers. Hence Esdras was still living in the 20th year of Artaxerxes at 147 years of age, as I said above. The Scholastic History adds in Judith chapter 10: \"With his hands dedicated (to God), Esdras died and was buried in Jerusalem.\"

Josue autem genuit Joacim

And Josue begot Joacim, and Joacim begot Eliasib, and Eliasib begot Joiada. — the genealogy of the succession of high priests.

Et Joiada genuit Jonathan

And Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jeddoa. — Jeddoa is Jaddo, who dressed in pontifical vestments met Alexander the Great and appeased him when he was angry with the Jews (because they had favored Darius Codomannus king of Persia, to whom they were subject, rather than Alexander who was invading), and whom Alexander in turn suppliant venerated, as Josephus testifies (Ant. XI.8). One might object: Nehemias could not have seen Jaddo as pontiff, for he would then have had to live two hundred years — that many years passed from Cyrus to Alexander, and that long the Persian monarchy stood until Alexander in conquering Darius transferred it to the Greeks. For Nehemias lived and acted under Artaxerxes Longimanus, who preceded Alexander by more than one hundred years; hence Nehemias could not have seen Jaddo as pontiff under Alexander. Scaliger, convinced by this argument, contended that the Artaxerxes who sent Nehemias to Judaea was not Longimanus but Mnemon, who ruled in Persia shortly before Alexander. I reply: all that is objected in this argument is true; hence this verse 11, as well as verse 22, was not written by Nehemias but was inserted into this book after his death by the Jewish Synagogue then governed by the Holy Spirit, or by some hagiographic writer, to show the continuous succession of Pontiffs throughout the whole time of the Persian kingdom up to Alexander — from whose deeds the books of the Maccabees begin, so as to weave the continuous history of Israel, that is of the commonwealth and Church of God, through the Maccabee Pontiffs and Princes up to Christ. The first Josue (Jesus) named here was pontiff under Cyrus; the last Jeddoa (Jaddo) was Pontiff under Darius Codomannus and Alexander; the intermediate ones were Pontiffs successively under Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and other Persian kings, as I showed in the catalogue and series of these Pontiffs which I prefixed to Esdras. A second response: Nehemias may have seen Jaddo as a boy, but not as Pontiff. This is clear from chapter 13:28, where one of the sons of Joiada the Pontiff is said to have given his daughter as wife to Sanaballat the Horonite: \"whom,\" says Nehemias, \"I drove away from me.\" For this son of Joiada was Jonathan the father of Jaddo, or certainly his brother; hence if Jonathan (or his brother) then had a daughter of marriageable age, he could certainly also have had a son Jaddo.

In diebus autem Joacim

And in the days of Joacim were priests and heads of families. — that is: In the family of Saraia, which in the time of Josue the pontiff was celebrated and first among the priestly families (as was said in verse 1), now in the time of Joacim son of Josue the Pontiff the head and prince was Maraia; in the family of Jeremias the head was Hanania; in the family of Esdras the head was Mosollam; and so for the others that follow.

Levitae in diebus Eliasib

The Levites in the days of Eliasib, and Joiada, and Johanan, and Jeddoa were recorded heads of families, and the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. — namely Darius Codomannus, the last Persian king, whom Alexander defeated in the seventh year of his reign and thus transferred the monarchy from the Persians to the Greeks. This verse seems inserted into Nehemias by someone later, as I said at verse 11; for Nehemias did not see Darius Codomannus nor Jaddo as Pontiff under him — he would have needed to live two hundred years. Unless you say that Darius here is understood not as Codomannus but as Nothus, the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes Longimanus and his successor in the kingdom; for Nehemias could have seen him; and if Jaddo was born at the beginning of Darius Nothus' reign, he would at the time of Alexander the Great have been about 94 years old.

In libro verborum dierum

In the book of the words of the days. — that is, in the annals, diaries, and chronicles of the Jewish Pontiffs. That the Jews carefully kept such annals is clear from the book of Paralipomenon and from Josephus, and this by the succession of years of the Pontiffs, since the kings had already ceased. Hence it is clear that these annals extended only up to those times.

In dedicatione autem muri

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. — Hence it is clear that this was a solemn dedication of Jerusalem's wall; and therefore it was carried out shortly after the 52 days in which the wall was completed, as Salianus, Sanchez, and others think — though some hold that this dedication was not of the wall alone but of the whole city, after houses, forums, districts, and streets had been built and completed within it over two years (as Josephus testifies), and therefore place this dedication of the whole city in the 22nd year of Artaxerxes. Some therefore count Daniel's 70 weeks from this 22nd year of dedication up to Christ. Moreover the rite of this dedication is described in verse 30 and following. From this arose the pious custom of dedicating new cities and houses, which more devout persons still diligently observe today. The Gentiles did the same, as I said above. Emperor Justinian (Sacra loca XV) and the Corpus Juris (De rerum divisione) note: \"Sacred things also, such as the walls and gates of a city, are in a sense of divine right, and therefore belong to no one's estate.\" That walls were sacred among the Romans, Servius on Aeneid V teaches with many examples.

Mundaverunt sacerdotes et Levitae

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall. — Namely by sprinkling them with holy water; and also by prayer and sacrifice for their safety. Again by these same rites they purified the walls and the people from all impurity and irregularity which under that law was easily and in many ways contracted.

Ascendere autem feci principes

And I made the princes of Judah go up upon the wall. — For the walls had a narrow width; hence they held only a few; therefore only the princes — not everyone — were ordered to mount them, as it was their duty to defend them against enemies. Moreover on both sides at the flanks of the princes processed the two choirs of priests and Levites, marching at equal pace with them and singing God's praises. One choir was led by Esdras, as is clear from verse 35; the other by Nehemias with his companions, who were partly priests and partly laymen, especially from among the princes, as is clear from verses 37 and 39.

Et immolaverunt in illa

And they offered on that day great sacrifices. — which God showed to be acceptable to Him, when He converted the waters with which the victims had been sprinkled into fire, which consumed the victims; for which reason the Hebrews, to recall this miracle daily, instituted the feast of fire given by God, as is clear from 1 Maccabees 1:18.

Recensuerunt quoque in die

And they appointed on that day men over the storehouses of the treasure for the libations, and for the first-fruits, and for the tithes. — that is: Men were assigned over the treasury chambers, so that through them the princes of the city might bring in with the comeliness of thanksgiving the priests and Levites (and in these tithes, libations, and first-fruits give their portions to the priests and Levites, as the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Syriac have it); and so that they might render thanks to the priests and Levites on behalf of all who had excellently performed their office in the dedication and procession, singing and sacrificing religiously. \"BECAUSE JUDA REJOICED IN THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES THAT STOOD THERE\" — because they had so splendidly performed their duty at the dedication of the walls, as I said.

Sanctificabant Levitas et Levitae

They sanctified the Levites, and the Levites sanctified the sons of Aaron. — \"To sanctify\" here means to offer a sacred thing, namely tithes, to sacred persons, namely Levites. For from a sacred thing the person to whom it is owed by law and who receives it is as it were sanctified, says Cajetan, Vatablus, and others. So an unbelieving husband is said to be sanctified (by external denomination) by a believing wife, and vice versa (1 Corinthians 7:14). Moreover, \"sanctify\" says Sanchez, is to show by some religious and holy act that something is holy. As we are said to sanctify the Sabbath, or the temple, or even God — not because they receive some holiness from us, but because when we venerate and worship them, we provide proofs of their sanctity. It is also no small proof of someone's holiness if we support him at public expense, especially when the reason for the service rendered is declared — as here the people generously and gratefully declare it. Thus the people sanctified the Levites by giving them tithes, showing them to be greater, as it were God's ministers to be maintained at public tithes; and the Levites in turn, by giving the tenth of their tithes to the priests, showed them to be greater and holier than themselves. Hence the Apostle (Hebrews 7:4) proves from the fact that Abraham gave tithes to Melchisedech that Melchisedech was greater than Abraham. For tithes are given by laymen to priests as God's ministers, who serve and sacrifice to God on their behalf.