What Does Nehemiah 11:20 Mean?
And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his portion.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.THE KEY
The people called “the residue” are each located in a particular inheritance within the shared life of Judah.
THE MEANING
Belonging to a people can be both shared and particular: people live across many cities, and each has an inheritance. Your place within a shared life does not erase the distinct portion that is yours.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that belonging requires disappearing into a crowd dissolves here: each person has a distinct inheritance within the shared life of the people.
THE ROOT
נַחֲלָתוֹ
naḥalato
GROWS FROM
נחל
nāḥal
to inherit or receive as a possession
The noun and verb carry the same three consonants: one is the allotment received, the other the act of inheriting it. Here, each person’s portion is also the place they occupy, joining inheritance with belonging.
ALSO GROWS
nāḥal: to inherit; take possession
נָחַל
The verb names the receiving that stands behind each person’s inherited place.
hinḥil: to cause someone to inherit; allot or bequeath
הִנְחִיל
This form shows inheritance as a portion granted to someone, not merely a place they happen to occupy.
שְׁאָר
she'ar
GROWS FROM
שאר
shā'ar
to remain or be left
The word translated “residue” names those who remain, and the verse pairs their remaining with cities and inheritances. The remnant is a continuing people with places and portions.
ALSO GROWS
she'erit: remnant; remaining ones
שְׁאֵרִית
This related noun shows how the root of remaining also names a people who continue.
nish'ar: remained; was left
נִשְׁאַר
The verb gives the plain action behind “residue”: continuing to be present.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
ידה
yādāh
to praise, give thanks, or acknowledge
Judah’s name is linked to praise and thanks through the root יָדָה (yādāh, to praise or give thanks). The people are placed in cities bearing that name, so praise is carried in the name of the land around their inheritances.
ALSO GROWS
yādāh: to praise; give thanks
יָדָה
This verb gives the praise-sense carried in Judah’s name.
tôdāh: thanksgiving; praise
תּוֹדָה
This related noun makes the praise and gratitude in Judah’s name audible.
THE PATTERN
A shared people holds together through distinct portions and placements.
"Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.The cords fall to me in sweet places; indeed, my inheritance is beautiful.But now God has set the limbs, each one of them, in the body, as he willed.THE THREAD
The cords fall to me in sweet places; indeed, my inheritance is beautiful.Psalm 16:6 calls a goodly heritage נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, inheritance), from the same root נחל (nāḥal, to inherit or receive as a possession) as the inheritance in this verse. Nehemiah locates each person in a portion; the psalm makes that portion vivid as boundary lines fallen in pleasant places.
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