This chapter is made up of two portions:
(a) lists of the leading priests and Levites at different periods Nehemiah 12:1-26:
(b) the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem Nehemiah 12:27-47.
This latter passage is certainly from the pen of Nehemiah, and was written probably about 433 B.C. The lists included in (a) are four:
(1) the chief priestly and Levitical families which returned to Jerusalem Nehemiah 12:1-9;
(2) the succession of the high priests from Jeshua to Jaddua Nehemiah 12:10-11;
(3) the actual heads of the priestly families in the time of the high priest Joiakim Nehemiah 12:12-21;
(4) the chief Levitical families at the same period Nehemiah 12:24-26.
Of these lists, List 1, List 3, and List 4, may have been drawn up in the time of Nehemiah, but List 2, in its present form, must be much later. See the introduction of the Book of Nehemiah.