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Journey of a Passage

Nehemiah 11:1–24 and 1 Chronicles 9:2–34

Jerusalem's residents in two lists

Nehemiah 11 and 1 Chronicles 9 list Jerusalem's inhabitants after the exile with many shared names and different numbers: e.g. priests 1,192 (Nehemiah: 822 + 242 + 128) vs 1,760 (Chronicles); Benjaminites 928 vs 956.

Read Nehemiah 11:1–24 and 1 Chronicles 9:2–34 in every edition

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original Ezra–NehemiahMemoir c. 430 BC; book compiled c. 400–300 BC (debated)
  2. 1 Chronicles 9:2–34 (parallel, Masoretic Text)Chronicles
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Ezra–Nehemiah
Greek
  1. Greek 2 Esdras 11–23 (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BC or laterTranslated from a Hebrew text of Ezra–Nehemiah
Latin
    English
    1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    Every witness, in order

    1. Memoir c. 430 BC; book compiled c. 400–300 BC (debated)

      Original Ezra–Nehemiah

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. No Qumran fragment of Nehemiah has been identified.

    2. Chronicles

      1 Chronicles 9:2–34 (parallel, Masoretic Text)

      ✓ Contains this passage

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex, quoted here in English.

      Of the sons of Benjamin… nine hundred and fifty and six… their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore

      KJV 1 Chronicles 9:9, 13.

    3. Translated c. 2nd century BC or later

      Greek 2 Esdras 11–23 (library text: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of Ezra–Nehemiah

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Contains the list. Greek 2 Esdras via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical Greek edition.

    4. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Ezra–Nehemiah

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text.

      Benjamin (Gabbai, Sallai) 928; priests 822 + 242 + 128 = 1,192; Levites 284; gatekeepers 172

      Figures from the library's Hebrew and KJV, which agree.

    5. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      nine hundred twenty and eight… eight hundred twenty and two… two hundred forty and two… an hundred twenty and eight

    What changed, and why

    The lists share a framework and names (Athaiah/Uthai, Sallu, Adaiah, Amashsai/Maasai) but differ in detail and totals. They may derive from a common archive at different dates, or Chronicles may have adapted Nehemiah (or the reverse). They are not copies of one census.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedNehemiah 11 and 1 Chronicles 9 share names and differ in numbers.
    • DisputedBoth lists come from the same original census.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Families Resettling Jerusalem →The leaders live in Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots to bring one in ten to live there, and the people bless those who volunteer. The chapter lists the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, Levites, gatekeepers and temple servants in the city, and the villages of Judah from Kiriath-arba to the valley of Hinnom, and of Benjamin from Geba to Ono.