Jeduthun] See note on xvi. 41.
Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah] Not mentioned in Nehemiah He probably represented the Kohathite division of the singers; compare vi. 33–38 (18–23 Hebrew), where the name Elkanah occurs several times in the genealogy of the Kohathites.
the villages of the Netophathites] Compare Nehemiah xii. 28, 29 (Revised Version), whence it appears that these villages were close to Jerusalem. The exact site is uncertain.
17–27 (compare Nehemiah xi. 19; 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1–19).
Organisation and Duties of the Porters (Doorkeepers).
17–27. The same subject is treated in xxvi. 1–19, and this fact has been urged as an argument for the view that chapter ix. is an addition to the Chronicler’s work (see Introduction p. [xxiii]). But it is also reasonable to suppose that the Chronicler would here give a register of inhabitants of Jerusalem (which could not be included in the list of the separate tribes), and such a register would probably give a survey of the Levitical classes.
The verses present on analysis several confusing features, see notes on verses 17, 22, 25, 33.
¹⁷And the porters; Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;
17. And the porters] Render, doorkeepers as in xvi. 38 and xxvi. 1. In Solomon’s Temple there were “keepers of the threshold,” three in number (2 Kings xxv. 18), priests in rank (2 Kings xii. 9).
A distinction between the doorkeepers and the Levites (verse 14) seems to be implied, but in verses 19, 26 the doorkeepers, or at any rate their leaders, are called Levites (compare Nehemiah xi. 15, 19 with 1 Chronicles xxvi.). The supposed distinction may have died out before the Chronicler’s period, or perhaps earlier and later stages are reflected in the chapter (see also the note on verse 26).
Shallum...Ahiman] These two names are absent from Nehemiah xi. 19 together with the clause Shallum was the chief. This omission of all reference to Shallum must be accidental.