Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_100_t.lzh/3_106.TXT

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to assist the Levites; of these is an account from hence
to the end of ver. 58, together with those who de-
scended from Solomon's servants, who seem to be the
remains of the Canaanires in the land, whom Solomon
made bond-servants of, 1 Kings ix. 20, 21. 2 Chron.
ii. 17. who, and their posterity, became proselytes;
or those sprung from men that were domestic servants
of Solomon's, and valued themselves on that account;
the number of the Nethinim and these together were
three hundred ninety and two.                  .
Ver. 59. And these were they that went up .from Tel-
melah, Tel-harsa, &c.] Places in the land of Babylon,
see Isa. xxxvii. l2. Ezek. iii. 15. Cherub, Addan, and
Im:ner; but they coulcl not shew their father's house,
and their seed, whether they were of Israel; these were
such that professed the Jewish religion, and went for
Jews in Babylon, but could not trace their pedigree,
and tell what family they were of, who their ancestors,
and where they had lived in Judea; they had lost their
genealogical tables, if they ever had any, and could
not make it out, whether their parents were Israelites
or proselyted Gentiles; or they were such who had
been exposed, and taken out of the streets, and their
parents unknown.
Ver. 60. The children of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Ne-
koda, 652.] These, though their immediate parents
were known, yet by their being mentioned here, it
seems as if they could not carry their genealogy further,
and make it clearly appear what was the house of their
fathers, or what their family.
Ver. 61. And of the children of thepriests, &c.] Who
could not make out their pedigree, for those that could
are mentioned before: the children of Habaiah, the
children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; how the
latter came by this name follows: which took a wife
of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was
called after their name; this man married a woman
that descended from the famous Barzillai the Gileadite,
in the times of David; and the priesthood being in
disuse, and mean and despicable, in Babylon, he chose
to take the name of his wife's family, and pass for a
descendant from that, and perhaps destroyed, or at
least neglected, to take care of the genealogy of his own
family.
Vet. 6e. These sought their register among those that
were reckoned by genealogy, &c.] To find their names
written and registered there; for the Jews kept pub-
lic registers of their priests, their descent, marriages,
and offspring, that it might be known who were fit,
and who not, to officiate as such: but they were not
found; their names were not there, nor any account
taken of them: therefore were they, as polluted, put
from the priesthood; were not suffered to attend at the
altar, and offer sacrifice, and enjoy the privileges be-
longing to that office.
Ver. 63. And the Tirshatha said unto them, &c.]
By whom Jarchi understands Nehemiah, and observes,
that their rabbins say he was so called, because the
wise men allowed him to drink the wine of the Gen-
tiles, he being cup-bearer to the king; but Aben
Ezra, with greater probability, takes it to be a name of
honour andgrandeur in the Chaldee language, as a
prince or governor; and no doubt Zerubbabel is meant,
the prince of the Jews, the same with Sheshbazzar,
ch. i. 8. according to Gussetins{w}, this office was the
same with that of the king's commissary in a province,
delegated to carry his orders, make them known, and
see them put in execution; and that this name Tir-
shatha is the same with Tithraustes in Aelian {x}; but
that seems to be not the title of an office, but the per-
sonal name of a man that was a chiliarch: that they
should not eat of the most holy things; as of the shewo
bread, and those parts of the sin-offerings, and of the
peace-offerings and meat-offerings, which belonged to
the priests, which the governor forbid these to eat of,
who were rejected from the priesthood: till there stood
up a priest with Urim and Thummim ; as yet there was
not any priest that had them; they were not to be
found at the return from Babylon; the governor might
hope they would be found, and a priest appear clothed
with them, when it might be inquired of the Lord by
them, whether such priests, before described, might
eat of the holy things or no; but since the Jews {y} ac-
knowledge that these were one of the five things want-
ing in the second temple; it is all one, as the Tal-
mudists {z} express it, as if it had been said, until the
dead rise, or the Messiah comes; and who is come,
the true High-priest, and with whom are the true
Urim and Thummim, lights and perfections to the
highest degree, being full of grace and truth; of the
Urim and Thummim, see the note on Exod. xxviii. 30.
Ver. 64. Thewhole congregation togetherwas 42,360.]
But the sums before given make no more, with Ze-
rubbabel, and the 10 principal men, than 29,829, so
that there are more than 1,o,000 wanting; wherefore, in
answer to the question, where are the 12,0007 the
Jews say in their chronology '% these are they of the
other tribes, who set up the altar on its bases, and
gave money to the masons, &c. oh. iii. 1, 3, 7. this
was a much larger number than were carried captive;
see 2 Kings xxiv. 14, 15. Jer. lii. 28, 29, 30. but not
to be compared with the number that came out of
Egypt, Exod. xii. 37. An Arabic writer{b} makes them
50,000, but wrongly.
Ver. 65. Besides their servants and their maids, of
whom there were 7,337, &c.] This shews that the
greater part of those that returned were of the poorer
sort, since there were so few servants that belonged
unto them; these came not into the above account:
and there were among them 200 singing men and sing-
ing women; among the servants, who were kept by
persons of figure for their pleasure and recreation,
see Eccl. ii. 8. for that these were such as were em-
ployed in sacred service is not so clear, especially the
latter, though some conclude it from 1 Chron. xxv.
5, 6. but rather they were such as were employed at
marriages, festivals, and funerals; though Jarchi thinks
they were employed by the returning captives, to
make them cheerful as they travelled along, see lsa,
Iv. 12.


{w} Ebr. Comment. p. 809.
{x} Var. Hist. l. 1. c. 21. Vid. Corn. Nep. Vit. Conon. l. 9. c. 3.
{y} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 2l. 2.
{z} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 48. 2. & Gloss. in Kiddushin, fol. 60. 2.
{a} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 29. p. 86.
{b} Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 5. p. 82.