Nehemiah 12:27 - Exposition

And at the dedication … they sought the Levites . The nexus of this passage seems to be with Nehemiah 11:36 ; and we may suppose that originally it followed immediately on Nehemiah 11:1-36 .—the lists ( Nehemiah 12:1-26 ) being a later insertion. The author, having (in Nehemiah 11:36 ) told us of the wide dispersion of the Levites, now notes that they were summoned from all the places where they dwelt, and brought (one and all) to Jerusalem for the solemnity of the dedication. To keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgiving and with singing , etc. Solomon's dedication of the temple was the pattern followed. As he had made the service altogether one of praise and thanksgiving ( 2 Chronicles 5:13 ), and had employed in it cymbals, trumpets, psalteries, and harps ( ibid . Nehemiah 11:12 ), so Nehemiah on the present occasion.