1 Chronicles 9

There is a noticeable resemblance between the list of the inhabitants of Jerusalem here given, (1 Chronicles 9:2-17,) and that which is recorded in Nehemiah 11:0. Both lists agree in their general plan, and in a considerable number of their names, but otherwise they differ much. These correspondences and differences have led to three different opinions as to their relation to each other. 1.) Both lists are to be referred to the same time, and were derived from a common source, namely, an older document, which contained a fuller list of names, and was every way more complete than either of these. The writers of these lists, accordingly, selected from the fuller document before them only such names and facts as suited each his particular purpose. 2.) Keil holds that the present list refers to the population of Jerusalem before the exile, and that of Nehemiah to a period subsequent to the return from exile. 3.) A third opinion is, that this list is, according to 1 Chronicles 9:2, a register of “the first inhabitants” who settled in Jerusalem after the exile, while that of Nehemiah belongs to the later times of Nehemiah himself, and speaks of those who dwelt in neighbouring cities as well as those who dwelt in Jerusalem. This opinion seems, on the whole, to be the best sustained.