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Nehemiah 7 Bible study: The city guarded, the list found
Nehemiah 7 turns from the wall to the people: Jerusalem is put in the charge of Hanani and Hananiah, "for he was a faithful man and feared God above many" (7:2), but the city is "wide and large" with few people (7:4), and what "My God put into my heart" (7:5) leads Nehemiah to the list of those who came up at the first, Ezra 2's list, found again.
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“I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Nehemiah 7:5, Nehemiah says he found the list written in a book.”
Is that in Nehemiah 7, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The wall built, the gates guarded
In chapter 6 the wall had no breach left, "though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates" (6:1). Chapter 7 opens with that done: "Now when the wall was built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed" (7:1). In Hebrew both verses use the same verb for setting up and the same word for the doors. Then Nehemiah puts the city in others' charge: "I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many" (7:2) (tap fortress and faithful). His first order is about the gates: "Don’t let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot" (7:3), with "everyone in his watch, with everyone near his house" (7:3) (tap watch). In the WEB of Nehemiah, 7:1 is the last verse to say "wall" until the wall is dedicated in chapter 12 (12:27).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Nehemiah 7
That was a taste
The rest of Nehemiah 7 is waiting in Favor
- A large city, few people
- "My God put into my heart"
- Searched for, not found
- Everyone near his house
- Into the seventh month
- A faithful man, in Jesus' words
- 28 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Nehemiah 7 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
יָחַשׂyachassay ya-KHAS
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "enroll oneself or be enrolled by genealogy". Strong's: "to enroll by pedigree". Nehemiah gathered the people "that they might be listed by genealogy" (7:5), and then "found the book of the genealogy" (7:5). Genealogy there is the noun from the same root, also yachas (Strong's H3188, "a pedigree or family list"), and 7:5 is the only place it comes in the Hebrew Bible. The verb comes again near the end of the list: some priests "searched for their genealogical records, but couldn’t find them" (7:64). In Hebrew the words biqshu ketavam hammityachsim are the same as in Ezra 2:62, which the WEB gives there as "These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy" (Ezra 2:62). In the Hebrew of Nehemiah the verb comes only in these two verses.
For your group
Nehemiah 7 Bible study questions
- 1Nehemiah put Hananiah in charge of Jerusalem "for he was a faithful man and feared God above many" (7:2). Who do you trust like that? What would it take for someone to say it of you?
- 2The wall was built, but "the people were few therein, and the houses were not built" (7:4). Where in your life or your church is something built but still waiting for people? What might God be putting into your heart about it (7:5)?
- 3Some "could not show their fathers’ houses, nor their offspring, whether they were of Israel" (7:61), and the list still names them (7:62). When have you felt you couldn't prove you belonged? What helps you know you do?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Nehemiah 7 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home