Nehemiah 11:5

And Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) The son of Shiloni.—Better, the Shilonite, or descendants of Shelah, youngest son of Judah.

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

See the margin reference notes. Both accounts appear to be extracts from a public official register which Nehemiah caused to be made of his census. The census itself seems to have been confined to the dwellers at Jerusalem. The subjoined table exhibits the differences between the accounts of the entire population of Jerusalem as given in Nehemiah and in Chronicles:

1 Chron ehemiah Tribes of Judah Of Pharez 468 Of Zerah 690 Tribe of Benjamin 956 928 Tribe of Levi Priests 1760 1192 Levites 284 Porters 212 172

According to Nehemiah's numbers, supplemented from Chronicles, the entire adult male population of the city was 3,734, which would give a total population of 14,936. According to Chronicles, supplemented from Nehemiah, the adult males were 4,370, and consequently the entire population, would have been 17,480. As the Nethinims and the Israelites of Ephraim and Manasseh 1 Chronicles 9:3 are not included in either list, we may conclude that the actual number of the inhabitants, after the efforts recorded in Nehemiah 11:1-2, was not much short of 20,000.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah—The discrepancy that is apparent between this [Ne 11:4-36] and the list formerly given in 1Ch 9:1-9, arose not only from the Jewish and Oriental practice of changing or modifying the names of persons from a change of circumstances, but from the alterations that must have been produced in the course of time. The catalogue in Chronicles contains those who came with the first detachment of returned exiles, while the list in this passage probably included also those who returned with Ezra and Nehemiah; or it was most probably made out afterwards, when several had died, or some, who had been inserted as going on the journey, remained, and others came in their stead.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Maaseiah,.... Who seems to be the same with Asaiah, 1 Chronicles 9:5 and whose genealogy is carried up through Baruch, Colhozeh, Hazaiah, Adaiah, Joiarib, Zechariah, to Shiloni; perhaps the same with Shelah, another son of Judah, see 1 Chronicles 9:5.

Geneva Study Bible

And Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. Maaseiah] In 1 Chronicles 9:5, ‘And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.’

the son of Shiloni] R.V. the son of the Shilonite. The word for ‘son of (ben) has probably been inserted by copyists who mistook the patronymic ‘Shilonite’ for a proper name. The word ‘Shilonite’ has nothing to do with the town Shiloh; but is the patronymic form denoting a descendant of Shelah, son of Judah (Numbers 26:20). The Chronicles list mentions also the name of Jeuel, son of Zerah, Judah’s third son; but in this passage the Zerahites have disappeared. Their line may have become extinct, or been merged in one of the brother’s houses; or is it omitted here, because ‘the children of Zerah, the son of Judah’ are represented in Nehemiah 11:24 by Pethahiah?

Col-hozeh] This name has occurred in chap. Nehemiah 3:15.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Maaseiah is called "Asaish" in 1 Chronicles, and designated simply as "the Shilonite, or descendant of Shelah, the youngest son of Judah. Zechariah, the son of Shiloni. Rather, "the Shilonite." The word ben, "son," has been intruded into the text by a copyist, who thought that "Shiloni" was a personal name. Nehemiah 11:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of the children of Judah two heads: Athaiah of the children of Perez (comp. 1 Chronicles 2:4), and Maaseiah of the children of Shela. It has been already remarked on 1 Chronicles 9:5, that השּׁלני is wrongly pointed, and should be read השּׁלני. כּל־חזה is a proper name, as in Nehemiah 3:15. Athaiah and Maaseiah are not further known. There were in all four hundred and sixty-eight able-bodied men of the sons of Perez, i.e., four hundred and sixty-eight fathers of families of the race of Perez, among whom are probably included the fathers of families belonging to Shela, the younger brother of Perez.