Nehemiah 11:17

Micha R.V. Mica.

was the principal R.V. who was the chief. The expression -the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer" is not very intelligible. The Hebrew for -the chief to begin" is literally -the head of the beginning (t'khillah) who used to give thanks to the prayer" i.e. after it. The LXX. and Vulg. Vss. follow a text, which differs in one letter, -the head of the praise" (t'hillah), and gives a good sense, viz. -the head or leader of praise, one who gave thanks in the time of prayer," (LXX. ἄρχων τοῦ αἴνου καὶ Ἰούδας τῆς προσευχῆς; Vulg. -princeps ad laudandum et ad confitendum in oratione.") But the obscurity of the Hebrew phrase probably arises from its having been a technical title of the leader of the Temple choir, a choregus.

Bakbukiah the second among his brethren i.e. second to Mattaniah. Bakbukiah probably corresponds to Bakbakkar in 1 Chronicles 9:15, or to Berechiah in 1 Chronicles 9:16.

Abda This name appears with the same genealogy as Obadiah in 1 Chronicles 9:16.

From the mention of -Asaph" and -Jeduthun" we evidently have in these verses (as in 1 Chronicles 9:14-15) the class of Levites, who, e.g. in Ezra 2:41, stand before -the porters," i.e. -the singers."