In the seventh chapter of Nehemiah, we come to another list of names, similar to the list of the builders of the wall in chapter 3. But this list is even more sparse in information than the earlier one. It is really only a census from the archives. Nehemiah did not write it. We know this because it is almost identical to the list recorded by Ezra in the second chapter of the book by his name. Why is this list here, particularly since it has already appeared in Ezra? Or, to ask the question in a different way, are we to take chapter 7 as a wrap-up and consolidation of the task of rebuilding, which we have in the first six chapters of Nehemiah, or as an introduction to the achievements of the book’s second half?
The answer is, probably both. In Ezra the list is included to answer the question “Who is a true Jew?” It is what we would expect a scribe and religious leader like Ezra to be asking. In Nehemiah the list serves another purpose. Now that the wall has been built, Nehemiah is going to turn his attention to repopulating and revitalizing the city. His census is a follow-up on his first effort as well as preparation for what is to come.
How do we study this chapter?
Nehemiah’s first step after having completed the rebuilding of the wall was to make a few key appointments. The first verses of chapter 7 tell us about three general categories of appointments (gatekeepers, singers, and Levites) and two specific ones: his brother Hanani as the civil leader of Jerusalem (Nehemiah was governor of the province) and Hananiah as the military commander in charge of Jerusalem’s new defenses. The text says, “Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.”
What is happening here? The answer is something well known in the business world. When an executive is assigned a difficult job, perhaps to reorganize a declining company or to develop a new organization, the wise leader will often have a large number of people report to him directly. He wants to keep in the closest possible contact with what is happening.
If the company or project begins to function efficiently, the executive may then withdraw from much of the hands-on management and work increasingly through other people, who in turn will manage others.
So far as Jerusalem was concerned, Nehemiah was now prepared to work through two chief operating officers: Hanani, the civic leader (Nehemiah’s equivalent of a mayor), and Hananiah, the military leader (Nehemiah’s equivalent of what for us would be the chief of police).
Some writers have accused Nehemiah of nepotism in these appointments since Hanani is identified as his “brother,” while others, trying to protect Nehemiah’s reputation, have argued that Hanani was his brother only in the sense of being a fellow Jew. But they were all Jews. That is what the list in chapter 7 is about. So if Hanani is called Nehemiah’s brother, it must be because he really was Nehemiah’s flesh-and-blood brother. That might even have been the reason Hanani was the one chosen to make the journey to Susa to see Nehemiah at the beginning of the story; he would have been certain of gaining access to him. Was this nepotism, then? No. It was simply a case of Nehemiah’s picking the best and most loyal man for the job. Hanani had already demonstrated concern for the city’s welfare by making the long trip to Babylon to rouse Nehemiah. Now he could be counted on to be loyal to him. Loyalty was an important matter at the time when the intrigue described in Nehemiah 6.17–19 was still going on. Nehemiah needed to guard against treachery.
Theodore Roosevelt, a remarkable American president, said to leaders, “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
There is one more factor in Nehemiah’s appointment of key leaders we need to look at before we go on. It is his provision of adequate guidelines for them. Nehemiah understood the need for strong men in key posts. He was willing to let them do their jobs without meddling; we are going to see more of this in the second half of the book. But this does not mean he neglected to give them direction. We would call it job descriptions, written objectives, and performance standards. In Nehemiah’s terms, it is what we find in verse 3: “I said to them, ‘The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.’ ” These are specific directives, and we can assume there were others like them.
Maranatha!
(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)
Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org