Nehemiah 12:1

1. these are the priests—according to Nehemiah 12:7, "the chief of the priests," the heads of the twenty-four courses into which the priesthood was divided (Nehemiah 12:7- :). Only four of the courses returned from the captivity (Nehemiah 7:39-42; Ezra 2:36-39). But these were divided by Zerubbabel, or Jeshua, into the original number of twenty-four. Twenty-two only are enumerated here, and no more than twenty in Nehemiah 12:7- :. The discrepancy is due to the extremely probable circumstance that two of the twenty-four courses had become extinct in Babylon; for none belonging to them are reported as having returned (Nehemiah 12:2-5). Hattush and Maadiah may be omitted in the account of those persons' families (Nehemiah 12:12), for these had no sons.

Shealtiel—or Salathiel.

Ezra—This was most likely a different person from the pious and patriotic leader. If he were the same person, he would now have reached a very patriarchal age—and this longevity would doubtless be due to his eminent piety and temperance, which are greatly conducive to the prolongation of life, but, above all, to the special blessing of God, who had preserved and strengthened him for the accomplishment of the important work he was called upon to undertake in that critical period of the Church's history.