Go to Related Reading
About this book

Nehemiah

About this book
Chapter 10

1 On the sealed documents were the following names: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests. 9 The Levites were as follows: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel. 10 Their colleagues were as follows: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu. 14 The leaders of the people were as follows: Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, and Baanah. 28 “Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand— 29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders and enter into a curse and an oath to adhere to the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, along with his ordinances and his statutes. 30 “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons.⁠ 31 We will not buy on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year,⁠ and we will cancel every loan.⁠ 32 We accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands to give one-third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple of our God, 33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God. 34 “We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the law.⁠ 35 We also accept responsibility for bringing the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the Lord. 36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. 38 A priest of Aaron’s line will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.⁠ 39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 6:12 and Nehemiah 10:34

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Leviticus says the altar fire must never go out and the priests must keep it burning with daily wood. Nehemiah recalls this rule and shows the people taking on the task, changing a priestly duty into a shared responsibility for the entire community.

Passages

Leviticus 6:12

Hebrew Bible
10 Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar, and he must place them beside the altar. 11 Then he must take off his clothes and put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place, 12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it. 13 A continual fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be extinguished. 14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it before the Lord in front of the altar,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Nehemiah 10:34

Hebrew Bible
32 We accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands to give one-third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple of our God, 33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God. 34 “We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the law. 35 We also accept responsibility for bringing the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the Lord. 36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God.
400–301 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Nehemiah

References

"... The sociopolitical divisions of ancient Israel are described by ēdâ, 'congregation'; môēd, 'national assembly'; maṭṭeh, 'tribe'; elep, 'clan'; nā, 'chieftain'; terms which cease being used after the 9th century. Even more compelling is the term ăbōdâ which in the Tetrateuch (Genesis-Numbers only means 'physical work' and is the occupation not of the priests but of the Levites, whereas in the post-exilic literature (e.g. Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles) it means 'cultic service', the occupation of the priests. However, these two meanings are mutually exclusive: Levites perform cultic service on pain of death. Thus, the fact the ăbōdâ is ascribed only to Levites in Numbers whereas in the Second Temple period priests alone are permitted to do ăbōdâ ineluctably leads to the conclusion that Levitic ăbōdâ is a preexilic phenomenon ... ḥallâ, 'loaf', which appears only in the Priestly texts and in 2 Samuel 6:19, is changed to the frequently attested kikkār when the latter passage is cited in 2 Chronicles 16:3, and leḥem tām, 'regular bread', leḥem pān, 'display bread' in the Priestly texts (e.g., Exodus 25:30; 35:13) and in the early narratives (1 Samuel 21:5; 1 Kings 7:48 [= 2 Chronicles 4:19]) is always referred to in post-exilic books by the term maăreket (e.g., Nehemiah 10:34; 2 Chronicles 2:3) ..."
David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 6455–6456.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Leviticus 6:12 and Nehemiah 10:34

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library