Articles on

Nehemiah 12

Neh. 12:30 KJV (With Strong’s)

+
30
And the priests
kohen (Hebrew #3548)
literally, one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)
KJV usage: chief ruler, X own, priest, prince, principal officer.
Pronounce: ko-hane'
Origin: active participle of 3547
and the Levites
Leviyiy (Hebrew #3881)
patronymically from 3878; a Levite or descendant of Levi
KJV usage: Leviite.
Pronounce: lay-vee-ee'
Origin: or Leviy {lay-vee'}
purified
taher (Hebrew #2891)
properly, to be bright; i.e. (by implication) to be pure (physical sound, clear, unadulterated; Levitically, uncontaminated; morally, innocent or holy)
KJV usage: be (make, make self, pronounce) clean, cleanse (self), purge, purify(-ier, self).
Pronounce: taw-hare'
Origin: a primitive root
themselves, and purified
taher (Hebrew #2891)
properly, to be bright; i.e. (by implication) to be pure (physical sound, clear, unadulterated; Levitically, uncontaminated; morally, innocent or holy)
KJV usage: be (make, make self, pronounce) clean, cleanse (self), purge, purify(-ier, self).
Pronounce: taw-hare'
Origin: a primitive root
i the people
`am (Hebrew #5971)
a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
KJV usage: folk, men, nation, people.
Pronounce: am
Origin: from 6004
, and the gates
sha`ar (Hebrew #8179)
an opening, i.e. door or gate
KJV usage: city, door, gate, port (X -er).
Pronounce: shah'-ar
Origin: from 8176 in its original sense
, and the wall
chowmah (Hebrew #2346)
a wall of protection
KJV usage: wall, walled.
Pronounce: kho-maw'
Origin: feminine active participle of an unused root apparently meaning to join
.

More on:

+

Cross References

+

Ministry on This Verse

+
themselves.
Gen. 35:2• 2Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: (Gen. 35:2)
;
Ex. 19:10,15• 10And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
15And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
(Ex. 19:10,15)
;
Num. 19:2‑20• 2This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:
3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
4And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
10And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
12He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
14This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
15And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
18And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
19And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
(Num. 19:2‑20)
;
2 Chron. 29:5,34• 5And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
34But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
(2 Chron. 29:5,34)
;
Ezra 6:21• 21And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, (Ezra 6:21)
;
Job 1:5• 5And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. (Job 1:5)
;
Heb. 5:1,3• 1For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
3And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
(Heb. 5:1,3)
 The order of purification is instructive — the priests and Levites first purified themselves, then the people, and then the wall (Neh. 12:30). Purifying of things will not make us pure (Mark 7:1-23). Furthermore, purification should be distinguished from the adherence to a ritual or dogma. That we should walk in the truth goes without saying (2 John 4), however, the heart and conscience must also be engaged — else there will not be purity. (1 Tim. 1:5). (The Dedication of the Wall - Neh. 12:27-47 by N. Simon)
 Here again is the order (and it is most instructive) to which reference has been made {They worked from within to without; thus, beginning from themselves, they worked outward to the circumference of their responsibility.}; and we may also learn that unless we have "purified" ourselves, it is vain for us to attempt to "purify" others. This truth is everywhere affirmed in Scripture. For example, it would be impossible for any whose own feet were not washed (John 13) to wash the feet of their fellow believers; and the Lord Himself taught, that before we can take the mote out of our brother's eye, the beam must be taken out of our own eye. (Exposition on Nehemiah: Nehemiah 12:1-13:3 by E. Dennett)

J. N. Darby Translation

+
30
And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates and the wall.