What Does Nehemiah 7:59 Mean in the King James?
The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon.
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
The repeated “children of” carries a building image: each named family is part of how a people is built.
THE MEANING
Belonging takes shape here through named households gathered into one people. The repeated “children of” presents that community as something built across generations, while each name remains distinct within it. The reader’s place among others does not erase the detail of who they are.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Belonging means becoming anonymous. This roll call holds shared identity and distinct names together.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
benei
GROWS FROM
בנה
banah
to build, construct
“children” in this verse is benei. The repeated benei carries lineage alongside the root’s building image. Each named household becomes part of how a people is built across generations.
ALSO GROWS
ben: son
בֵּן
This singular form links the family language in the verse to the root’s image of building a household.
binyan: building, structure
בִּנְיָן
This branch makes the building image explicit: the named families form part of the structure of a people.
שְׁפַטְיָה
Shephatyah
GROWS FROM
שפט
shaphat
to judge, govern
“Shephatiah” in this verse is Shephatyah. The name means “YHWH has judged” or “YHWH judges,” carrying the root of judgment within this family roll call. The root also appears in words for a judge and for judgment or justice, so the name holds a sense of ordering within it.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: judge
שֹׁפֵט
This branch names one who judges or governs, making the root within Shephatiah audible.
mishpat: judgment, justice
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch shows the root extending from the act of judging to the judgment or justice that follows.
THE PATTERN
Belonging is carried by names that remain visible within the whole.
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.THE THREAD
And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.Both verses gather names through בְּנֵי (benei, “sons, children”), linked to בָּנָה (banah, “to build”). The family phrase carries a building image in each passage: named lives gathered into a people.
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