What Does Nehemiah 12:8 Mean in the King James?
Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Judah and “thanksgiving” echo the same Hebrew root, so praise appears here both as a name and as shared work.
THE MEANING
Here thanksgiving is carried by Mattaniah and his brothers, giving praise a shared voice. Judah’s name echoes the Hebrew root of thanksgiving, joining a person’s name to the act. For you now, gratitude is more than an inward mood: it has a voice and companions.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the idea that thanksgiving is only a private feeling; here it is carried as shared work.
THE ROOT
תּוֹדָה
todah
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
Acknowledge, confess, give thanks, praise.
Yehudah (Judah) and todah (thanksgiving) share the y-d-h root: the name and the act carry the same seed. English makes one a person and the other an activity, but this verse lets them echo together before placing thanksgiving in the hands of Mattaniah and his brothers.
ALSO GROWS
Yehudah: Judah; the name is linked to giving thanks and praise.
יְהוּדָה
Judah’s name appears beside the word for thanksgiving, revealing the shared root that English obscures.
hodu: Give thanks or praise.
הוֹדוּ
This plural form of the root appears in Psalm 100:4, where thanksgiving becomes a voiced way of entering God’s courts.
מַתַּנְיָה
Mattanyah
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
Give, set, place.
Mattaniah means “gift of Yah,” formed from mattan (“gift”) with Yah. Beside his role in thanksgiving, the name brings the note of receiving into the same line as praise.
ALSO GROWS
natan: Give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb supplies the root beneath Mattaniah’s name, placing the language of giving beside the work of thanksgiving.
mattan: Gift.
מַתָּן
This noun is reflected in Mattaniah’s name, whose meaning is “gift of Yah.”
THE PATTERN
Thanksgiving is a voiced act of praise that takes shape in community and in approach to God.
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.THE THREAD
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.The Hebrew word todah appears in both verses: here it is translated “thanksgiving,” and in Psalm 100:4 it names the way into God’s courts. Nehemiah places that thanksgiving in the care of Mattaniah and his brothers; the psalm reveals it as a voiced approach.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us