Nehemiah 11:17

And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 11:17. To begin the thanksgiving in prayer — In the public and solemn prayers and praises, which were constantly joined with the morning and evening sacrifice, at which the singers were present, and praised God with a psalm or hymn, which this man began.

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 principal to begin the thanksgiving - i. e., "the precentor," or "leader of the choir."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer—that is, the leader of the choir which chanted the public praise at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. That service was always accompanied by some appropriate psalm, the sacred music being selected and guided by the person named.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In prayer, i.e. in the public and solemn prayers and praises which were constantly joined with the morning and evening sacrifice, at which the singers were present, and praised God with a psalm or hymn, which this man began.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph,.... Zabdi is called Zichri in 1 Chronicles 9:15

was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: he was the precentor, or led the song at the time of the daily sacrifice, in which prayer was also made, as in many of the songs, hymns, and psalms of David:

and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren; he was the next singer, or deputy to Mattaniah; perhaps the same that is called Bakbakkar, 1 Chronicles 9:15

and Abda the son of Shammua; called Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, 1 Chronicles 9:16

the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun: one of the three principal singers.

Geneva Study Bible

And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to {e} begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

(e) That is, he began the psalm and was the chanter.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. Micha] R.V. Mica.

was the principal] R.V. who was the chief. The expression ‘the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer’ is not very intelligible. The Hebrew for ‘the chief to begin’ is literally ‘the head of the beginning (t’khillah) who used to give thanks to the prayer’ i.e. after it. The LXX. and Vulg. Vss. follow a text, which differs in one letter, ‘the head of the praise’ (t’hillah), and gives a good sense, viz. ‘the head or leader of praise, one who gave thanks in the time of prayer,’ (LXX. ἄρχων τοῦ αἴνου καὶ Ἰούδας τῆς προσευχῆς; Vulg. ‘princeps ad laudandum et ad confitendum in oratione.’) But the obscurity of the Hebrew phrase probably arises from its having been a technical title of the leader of the Temple choir, a choregus.

Bakbukiah the second among his brethren] i.e. second to Mattaniah. Bakbukiah probably corresponds to Bakbakkar in 1 Chronicles 9:15, or to Berechiah in 1 Chronicles 9:16.

Abda] This name appears with the same genealogy as Obadiah in 1 Chronicles 9:16.

From the mention of ‘Asaph’ and ‘Jeduthun’ we evidently have in these verses (as in 1 Chronicles 9:14-15) the class of Levites, who, e.g. in Ezra 2:41, stand before ‘the porters,’ i.e. ‘the singers.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - Mattaniah ... was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer. i.e. the "leader of the choir," or "precentor." Bakbukiah was second to him among his brethren; i.e. was his chief assistant. Abda (or "Obadiah," 1 Chronicles 9:16) held the third place. Nehemiah 11:17

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.