Nehemiah 11:25

A ROSTER OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES NEAR JERUSALEM

"And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kireath-arba and the towns thereof, and in Dihon and the towns thereof, and in Jekabzeel and the villages thereof, and in Jeshua, Moladah, and Beth-pelet, and in Hazar-shual and in Beer-sheba and the towns thereof, and in Ziklag and in Meconah and in the towns thereof, and in En-rimmon, and in Zorah, and in Jarmuth, Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and the fields thereof, Azekah and the towns thereof. So they encamped from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom. The children of Benjamin also dwelt from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Beth-el and the towns thereof, at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazer, Ramah, Gittaim, Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. And of the Levites, certain courses in Judah were joined to Bethlehem."

There is hardly a place-name in this list that is not loaded with many associations concerning events and persons mentioned in the long history of Israel; and it is impossible to note all of such connections here. Kiriath-arba, for example is Hebron; but during the long absence of Israel, it had again become known by its ancient name. As Hebron, it was one of the cities of Refuge; Ziklag is the city that the king of Gath gave to David; Anathoth was the home of Jeremiah; Nob is where Saul murdered the priests; Adullam was noted for a nearby cave where David was a fugitive from Saul; Lachish, the second largest city of Judea was taken by Sennacherib; the valley of Ono was the place to which Sanballat and Tobiah sought to lure Nehemiah to his death; Beer-sheba, the southernmost place in ancient Israel was frequently mentioned; Ramah featured prominently in the history of Ahab; "Lod, now Ludd, is the Lydda of Acts of Apostles; it was on the eastern edge of the Shephelah, about nine miles southeast of Joppa."[13] Bethel, another famous town, was where Jeroboam I installed one of his golden calves. "It is strange that Gibeon, Mizpah and Jericho are not mentioned, although they are listed in Nehemiah 3."[14] Perhaps this should alert us to the truth that this record is abbreviated.

This brings us near to the dedication of the wall, related in the next chapter; but Nehemiah was by no means finished with providing security and safety for Jerusalem. There yet remained the treacherous infiltration of the holy city itself by the godless Tobiah, aided and abetted by the High Priest himself; and that would be the subject of the final chapter.