Verses 12-21
The Priests Who Were Heads Of Fathers’ Houses In The Days Of Joiakim, Son Of Jeshua (Nehemiah 12:12-21 ).
We now have listed priest who were head of father’s houses at some point during the High Priesthood of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua. This is the next generation from those above, something that is indicated by introducing them in terms of their ancestry. It is probable, but not necessary, that the naming is of father and eldest son. However, strictly speaking, only descent is indicated. The slight differences between the names of the ‘fathers’ given here, and those given in Nehemiah 12:1-7 merely indicate that Hebrew names were flexible. They are not necessarily due to copying errors, but rather indicate that the two lists have different primary sources, those sources having been obtained from the records office. Had one been copied from the other we would have expected the names to be the same, nor would we have anticipated the introduction of Hattush in Nehemiah 12:1-7. But it is noteworthy that once again the last six names are introduced by ‘and’ (for which see explanation above on Nehemiah 12:1-7), which confirms a distinction between the first named and the last six.
The fact of an inclusio, - ‘and in the days of Joiakim were’ (Nehemiah 12:12) - ‘these were in the days of Joiakim --’ (Nehemiah 12:26) may suggest that Nehemiah 12:12-26 are to be seen as a whole unit, although it is not impossible that some material was inserted (e.g. Nehemiah 12:22-25), with ‘these were in the days of Joiakim’ in Nehemiah 12:26 referring strictly to Nehemiah 12:12-21.
‘And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ houses:
‘Of Seraiah, Meraiah;’ 12:12c ‘Of Jeremiah, Hananiah;’ 12:13a ‘Of Ezra, Meshullam;’ 12:13b ‘Of Amariah, Jehohanan;’ 12:14a ‘Of Malluchi, Jonathan;’ 12:14b ‘Of Shebaniah, Joseph;’ 12:15a ‘Of Harim, Adna;’ 12:15b ‘Of Meraioth, Helkai;’ 12:16a ‘Of Iddo, Zechariah;’ 12:16b ‘Of Ginnethon, Meshullam;’ 12:17a ‘Of Abijah, Zichri;’ 12:17b ‘Of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;’ 12:18a ‘Of Bilgah, Shammua;’ 12:18b ‘Of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;’ 12:19a ‘And of Joiarib, Mattenai;’ 12:19b ‘Of Jedaiah, Uzzi;’ 12:20a ‘Of Sallai, Kallai;’ 12:20b ‘Of Amok, Eber;’ 12:21a ‘Of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;’ 12:21b ‘Of Jedaiah, Nethanel.’
The unusual ‘of Miniamin, of Mohdiah, Piltai’ in Nehemiah 12:17 b (we would expect a name after Miniamin) may either indicate that the name of the ‘son’ of Miniamin has dropped out, or that the names of the sons of both Miniamin and Moadiah was Paltai, or that Miniamin died without an heir and Moadiah being related to him, produced an heir for him through the law of levirate marriage, who was named Paltai. On the information given the number of courses at this stage was twenty, a reduction on the previous twenty two. But if men died without male seed that could have occurred. Once more then the writer makes clear that the Jerusalem priesthood is of genuine descent. It is an interesting possibility that Zechariah the son of Iddo in Nehemiah 12:16 a is a reference to the prophet Zechariah.
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