Nehemiah 11:15-16 - Exposition

Also of the Levites: Shemaiah . Compare 1 Chronicles 9:14 . Shemaiah was a descendant of Merari. Together with Shabbethai and Jozabad ( 1 Chronicles 9:16 ), he had the superintendence of the outward business of the house of God ; or, in other words, of its worldly affairs and money matters. As in the Christian Church a special order was appointed "to serve tables" ( Acts 6:2-5 ), so in the Jewish the secular business of the temple was intrusted to a few carefully-selected persons of the inferior order of the ministry, who were known to have a special capacity for such matters (see 1 Chronicles 26:29 ).