Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_100_t.lzh/3_156.TXT

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the princes of Benjamin must be included here: and
appointed two great companies of them that gave
thanks; he divided the people who were met together
to praise God on this occasion into two companies:
whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall; that
is, on the southern part of it: towards the dung-gate;
of which see ch. ii. l& some Jewish writers, as Jarchi
and Ben Melech, give a different sense of \^twdwt ytv\^,
which we render two companies, and take them to be
two eucharistical loaves or' leavened bread, with which
a rite or ceremony was performed at the enlargement
of a court or city; at the utmost boundary of which
those were carried, and one was eaten and the other
burnt {r}; which rite is thus described by Maimonides {s},
"how do they add to a city ? the sanhedrim make two
 eucharistical sacrifices, and they take the leavened
"bread in them, and the sanhedrim go after the two
"eucharistical sacrifices, which follow one another,
"and they stand with harps, and psalteries, and cym-
"bals, at every corner and at everv' stone in Jeru-
"salem, and say, I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted
"up, &c. (Psal. xxx.} until they come to the end of
"the place they consecrate, there they stand and eat
"the thanksgiving-loaf, one of the two, and the other
"is burnt."
Ver. 32. And after them went ttoshaiah, and half of
the princes of Judah.] 'the other half of them, with
Hoshaiah at the head of them.
Ver. 33. And Azariah, Ezra, and 114eshullam.] Not
Ezra the priest and the scribe, for he has another
place assigned him in this procession, ver. 36. but this
seems to be one of the princes.
Vet. 34. Judah and Benjamin, &c.] Not the tribes,
but the names of the two princes, as Jarchi: and She-
maiah and Jeremiah; who were two others.
Ver. 35. And certain of the priests' sons with trum-
pets, &c.] To blow with on this occasion; for these
the priests sounded: namely, Zechariah the son of
Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah,
the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph;
not the Levite, but a priest of this name.
Ver. 36. And his brethren, &c.] The brethren of
Zechariah, the priest's son, and such are those that
follow: Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai,
Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical
instruments of David the man of God; which were in-
vented by him, and ordered by him to be used in re-
ligious service, under the divine direction : and Ezra
the scribe before them; for he being a priest also, and
a man of great eminence, was placed at the head of
them in this procession.
Ver. 37. And at thefountain-gate, which was over against
them, &c.] Of which see ch. ii. 14. and which was
to the south of the dung-gate: they went up; that is,
one of the two companies, that which took to the right
on the wall, ver. 31. with which these words are to be
connected: by the stairs of the city of David; which
went up to the city of Zion, built on an eminence:
at the going up of the wall, above the house of David;
where the wall was higher, and there was an ascent
to it: even unto the water-gate eastward; of which see
ch. iii. 26. and viii. 16. turning from the south to the
east, and so drew nigh the temple.
Vet. 38. And the other company of them that gave
thanks went over-against them, &c.] On the left hand,
on the northern part of the wall: and I after them;
Nehemiah, he brought up the rear of his company, as
Ezra led the van of his: and the half of the people
upon the wall; the chief of them, for all could not
walk upon it:from beyond the tower of theJhrnaces;
where they baked their bread, or their bricks, see
ch. iii. lt. even unto the broad wall; where the wall
was broader than common, for some reason or another,
see ch. iii. 8.
Ver. 30. And from above the gate of Ephraim, &c.]
The gate which led to the tribe of Ephraim, where
that tribe formerly dwelt, see ch. viii. 16. and above
the old gate; of which mention is made, ch. iii. 6. and
above the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananed, and
the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep-gate; of all
which see ch. iii. 1, 2. and they stood still in theprison-
gate; which was not a gate of the city, but of the
court of the prison, ch. iii. 25. which was near both
the king's palace and the temple, see Jer. xx. 1, 2. and
xxxii. 2.
Vet. 40. So stood the two companies of them that
gave thanks in the house of God, &c.] Having made
their procession on the wall in different ways, they
met in the temple, that is, in the great court of it, for
no other would hold them: arid I, and the ha.lf of the
rulers with me; Nehemiah, and the other half with
Hoshaiah, vet.
Ver. 41. And the priests, &c.] They stood there
also, whose names follow: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Minia-
rain, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah,
with trumpets; to sound on this occasion.
Ver. 42. And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Elea-
zar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and
Elam, and Ezer, &c.] These seem to be all priests
that blew the trumpets: and the singers sang loud, with
Jezrahiah their overseer; these were the Levites, that
sung the songs of praise vocally, and raised their voices
very high, Jezrahiah being precentor, who led the
tune, as well as played on instruments.
Ver. 43. Also that day they offered great sacrifices,
and rejoiced, &c.] Or many sacrifices, as Ben Melech
interprets it; and these perhaps of the larger sort of
cattle, oxen; and which, at least many of them, being
peace-offerings, the people feasted on them, so that it
was a festival-day:for God had made them rejoice with
great joy; on account of the wall being set up all
around, and so were in greater safety from their ene-
mies: the wives also and the children rejoiced; while
the priests blew the trumpets, and the singers sung
and played on their instruments, the women and chil-
dren gave loud shouts for joy: so that the joy of Jeru-
salem was heard even afar off ; as at the laying of the
foundation of the temple, Ezra iii. l&
Vet. 44. And at that time were some appointed over
the chamber for the treasuries, &c.] On the self-same


{r} Miss. Shebuot, c. 2. sect. 2. & Maimon, & Bartenora in ib.
{s} Hilchot, Beth-habechirah, c. 6. sect. 12. Vid. Selden. de Synedr.
l. 3. c. 13. sect. 6.