Nehemiah 11:23 - Exposition

For it was the king's commandment concerning them . Artaxerxes, it appears, had assigned a certain stipend from the royal revenue for the support of such Levites as were singers, and this stipend had to be paid to them day by day. It is suggested as the grounds for this special favour—

1. That the Levites engaged in the choral service were regarded as those especially who prayed "for the life of the king and of his sons" ( Ezra 6:10 ); and,

2. That the singing Levites who returned from Babylon, being so few in number (128), had to be constantly on duty in the temple, and so needed a regular daily stipend. The nexus of this verse with the preceding one imp!ice that the payment in question was an important part of the internal business of the house committed to Uzzi.