Nehemiah 10:1

Nehemiah 10:1-29. The List of -those that sealed": Nehemiah 10:30-39 Special Obligations of the Covenant

1. those that sealed Literally -at the sealings," the plur. of the word used in Nehemiah 9:38. As in Jeremiah 32:14, the singular and plural are used apparently of the same documents.

Some commentators are inclined to follow the LXX. ἐπὶ τῶν σφραγιζόντων, as if the words could be rendered -among those that sealed or subscribed:" so apparently the Vulg. -signatores." But the Hebrew word does not mean the man who affixes his seal, but the thing or document to which it is affixed. Others explain the plur. as indicating the numerous -lists" prepared for signature, as if the different obligations would require different lists. This explanation cannot be pressed. It is sufficient to bear in mind that -the sealings" were very probably -parchments" or -tablets," and that several would be required for the signature of so large a number.

Nehemiah, the Tirshatha Cf. Nehemiah 7:65; Nehemiah 8:9. Nehemiah's name comes first as that of the governor.

Hachaliah R.V. Hacaliah.

Zidkijah R.V. Zedekiah. Who this Zedekiah is who receives this honourable place next to the governor we are not told. As his name precedes the priests, we must suppose that he is either an official under the Persian rule ranking next to Nehemiah, or one of royal line (e.g. of the house of Zerubbabel).

The conjecture that he is the same as Zadok -the scribe" in Nehemiah 13:13, and that, having drawn up the document of the Covenant, he therefore signed next after Nehemiah, rests partly on the assumption that -Zadok" and -Zedekiah" are interchangeable names, and partly on the fact that in Ezra 4:8-9; Ezra 4:17 a scribe's signature follows that of the chief officer. But the identification is not very probable.