Nehemiah 11:16

And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Outward business.—This is a remarkable specification of the functions of the Lévites, parallel with the “valour” of the priests just before. The preceding chapter explains the “outward business.”

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 11:16. The outward business of the house of God — For those things belonging to the temple and its service, which were to be done without it, or abroad in the country, as the gathering in of the voluntary contributions, or other necessary provisions, out of the several parts of the land.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:1-36 The distribution of the people. - In all ages, men have preferred their own ease and advantage to the public good. Even the professors of religion too commonly seek their own, and not the things of Christ. Few have had such attachment to holy things and holy places, as to renounce pleasure for their sake. Yet surely, our souls should delight to dwell where holy persons and opportunities of spiritual improvement most abound. If we have not this love to the city of our God, and to every thing that assists our communion with the Saviour, how shall we be willing to depart hence; to be absent from the body, that we may be present with the Lord? To the carnal-minded, the perfect holiness of the New Jerusalem would be still harder to bear than the holiness of God's church on earth. Let us seek first the favour of God, and his glory; let us study to be patient, contented, and useful in our several stations, and wait, with cheerful hope, for admission into the holy city of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The outward business of the house of God - Such as the collection of the newly-imposed tax Nehemiah 10:32, the providing of the regular sacrifices, the renewal of vestments, and the like.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. the oversight of the outward business of the house of God—that is, those things which were done outside, or in the country, such as the collecting of the provisions (1Ch 26:29).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. For those things belonging to the temple and its service, which were to be done without it, or abroad in the country, as for the gathering in of the voluntary contributions, or other necessary provisions, out of the several parts of the land. See 1 Chronicles 26:29.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites,.... Along with Shemaiah; these had

the oversight of the outward business of the house of God: who had the care of the repairs of the temple, and of getting in the wood for the altar, as Jarchi, and collecting the third part of the shekel, to purchase things with for the use of the temple.

Geneva Study Bible

And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. Shabbethai … Jozabad] See these names in Nehemiah 8:7. They do not occur in the parallel list of 1 Chronicles 9:15-16, where however three other names, Heresh, Galal, and Berechiah are inserted.

chief] R.V. chiefs.

had the oversight] R.V. who had the oversight.

the outward business of the house of God] For the use of the adjective ‘outward’ here, cf. 1 Chronicles 26:29, ‘of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.’

Whatever ‘the outward business of the house of God’ was, it is clearly meant to be contrasted with ‘the business, or work, of the house of God’ (cf. Nehemiah 11:22 and 1 Chronicles 23:4) consisting in the worship and its ritual. It must not be limited in application to the maintenance of the fabric of the Temple and its courts. The significance of the expression appears from a comparison of the two passages quoted above. The Levites had duties as ‘officers and judges,’ see 1 Chronicles 23:4; 1 Chronicles 26:29; 2 Chronicles 19:8; 2 Chronicles 19:11; and this section formed one-sixth of their whole number (1 Chronicles 23:4).

Nehemiah 11:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of Levites, Shemaiah, a descendant of Bunni, with the members of his house; Shabbethai and Jozabad, "of the heads of the Levites over the outward business of the house of God," i.e., two heads of the Levites who had the care of the outward business of the temple, probably charged with the preservation of the building and furniture, and the office of seeing that all things necessary for the temple worship were duly delivered. The names Shabbethai and Jozabad have already occurred, Nehemiah 8:7, as those of two Levites, and are here also personal names of heads of Levites, as the addition הלויּם מראשׁי informs us. As the office of these two is stated, so also is that of those next following in Nehemiah 11:17; whence it appears that Shemaiah, of whom no such particular is given, was head of the Levites charged with attending on the priests at the sacrificial worship (the האלהים בּית מלאכת, Nehemiah 11:22). The three named in Nehemiah 11:17, Mattaniah an Asaphite, Bakbukiah, and Abda a Jeduthunite, are the chiefs of the three Levitical orders of singers. Mattaniah is called התּחלּה ראשׁ, head of the beginning, which gives no meaning; and should probably, as in the lxx and Vulgate, be read התּהלּה ראשׁ: head of the songs of praise, - he praised for who praised, i.e., sounded the Hodu for prayer; comp. 1 Chronicles 16:5, where Asaph is called the chief of the band of singers. He is followed by Bakbukiah as second, that is, leader of the second band (מאחיו משׁנה like משׁנהוּ, 1 Chronicles 16:5); and Abda the Jeduthunite, as leader of the third. All the Levites in the holy city, i.e., all who dwelt in Jerusalem, amounted to two hundred and eighty-four individuals or fathers of families. The number refers only to the three classes named Nehemiah 11:15-17. For the gatekeepers are separately numbered in Nehemiah 11:19 as one hundred and seventy-two, of the families of Akkub and Talmon.