Nehemiah — Chapter 7

Praecepi Hanani fratri meo

I gave charge to Hanani my brother (kinsman), and to Hanania the commander of the palace — namely of the royal palace, as the Hebrews have it, on Mount Sion. These two men, as pre-eminently truthful, sincere, upright, and God-fearing above the rest, Nehemias appointed as custodians of the city of Jerusalem.

Cumque adhuc assisterent clausae

And while they still stood by, the gates were shut — that is: The gates were closed only with these two guardians, Hanani and Hanania, present and assisting in the evening, lest any treachery arise from enemy ambushes. Again in the morning they were not opened \"until the heat of the sun,\" that is, not until broad daylight when everyone is awake.

Et populus parvus in

And the people were few in the midst thereof — those few who had returned from Babylon; and of these few, some, seeing the desolation of the city and the threats of enemies, had withdrawn to other cities and districts of Judaea; others had returned to Babylon or Persia, among whom was the governor Zorobabel.

Deus autem dedit in

And my God put it into my heart — that is: God suggested to me the plan and means for supplementing the scarcity of Jerusalem's inhabitants — namely by reviewing the catalogue of those who had first returned from Babylon with Esdras, and in accordance with it, inviting and summoning them to inhabit Jerusalem; which was in fact done by lot, as we shall hear in chapter 11.

Isti filii provinciae qui

These are the children of the province, who came up from the captivity of those that had been carried away — those who returned from the Babylonian exile, from Babylon to Jerusalem with Zorobabel under Cyrus. This is the catalogue or census of the people which Esdras reviewed in his chapter 2, but with somewhat varying words and numbers, especially in the middle (beginning and end are the same in both). The reason is that this census was undertaken and recorded several times: first in Babylon when the Jews departed; second in Jerusalem when they first arrived; third when after the rebuilding of the temple it was dedicated with solemn gathering. These censuses varied among themselves because as some died others were born, as some departed others arrived. Hence Esdras described his catalogue from one census, Nehemias from another; and therefore they differ. See Franciscus Lucas, Notation 19.

Dixitque Athersatha eis ut

And Athersatha said to them — that is Nehemias, as is clear from chapter 8:9. The annotation (\"Up to here is referred what was written in the commentary\") does not exist in the Hebrew, Greek, or some Latin texts. Hence the Greek Corrector and others consider it should be omitted — even rejected — as Lyranus and the Carthusian hold. Indeed the different character of the writing sufficiently argues these inserted words are neither part of the text nor of the faith, says Sanchez. However, the Roman corrected Bible contains this annotation; it therefore seems added by a translator, as many similar additions appear in the book of Esther, or by some paraphrast or commentator. Thus Franciscus Lucas, Notation 79.

Nonnulli autem de principibus

And some of the heads of families gave into the treasury for the work. — This is the catalogue of donations offered for the construction; it is the same as that reviewed by Esdras in chapter 2, but as I said, different in the numbers; perhaps because Esdras included the donations of more people — even all those from the kingdom of Cyrus, whether Jews or Persians, who at Cyrus' encouragement contributed something of their wealth for the construction or later sent it to Jerusalem — while Nehemias reviews only the donations of Jews returning from exile, and only the principal ones, and therefore fewer than Esdras. Thus Franciscus Lucas in the cited place.