What Does Nehemiah 11:21 Mean?
But the given ones settled in Ophel, and Ziha and Gispa were upon the given ones.
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
But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel: and Ziha and Gispa were over the Nethinims.THE KEY
The Nethinim are the “given ones”: their name holds the sense of a people placed into service.
THE MEANING
The Nethinim dwell in a particular place, and Ziha and Gispa carry named responsibility among them. Their title carries the sense of people given a place in service, so the verse holds belonging and work together.
THE ROOT
הַנְּתִינִים
han-netinim
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
Nethinim means “given ones,” from the root נתן, “give, set, place.” The root links their identity to being placed in service, giving their dwelling and oversight a deeper sense of belonging within the community.
ALSO GROWS
natan: to give, set, or place
נָתַן
This verb is the seed beneath the Nethinim title: they are the people given a place and task.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
It shares the נתן root, holding what is given and those who are given within one word family.
THE PATTERN
A community’s shared work takes form when people are placed in roles and responsibility is named.
Also of the given ones, whom David and the princes had set for the serving of the Levites, two hundred and twenty; all of them were marked by name.Now, brothers, look out among you seven men of good witness, full of the Set-Apart Breath and wisdom, whom we may set over this need.And he himself gave some as sent ones; and some as prophets; and some as messengers of the good news; and some as shepherds and teachers;THE THREAD
Also of the given ones, whom David and the princes had set for the serving of the Levites, two hundred and twenty; all of them were marked by name.The same word, Nethinim, appears here with its service made explicit: they are appointed for the Levites’ work. Their name’s sense of “given ones” makes this verse’s brief roster read as both a place and a vocation.
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