The Dwellingplaces Of The Children Of Judah Outside Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:25-30).
Meanwhile, as Nehemiah 11:20 tells us, ‘the residue of Israel, of the priests and the Levites, were all in the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.' We are now therefore given details of some of these, demonstrating that they have again taken up God's inheritance. They had not, of course, returned to an empty land. The poor of the land, who had been left behind by the Babylonians, and would have been numerous, would have taken possession of these cities (Jeremiah 39:10); as would Jews who returned, having fled before the invasion (Jeremiah 40:11), together with others who were taking advantage of an empty land, whilst most of southern Judah had been occupied by the Edomites as they fled from the invading Arabs. It would appear also that the Negeb still retained a substantial Judean population. Thus there was a good sprinkling of Jews throughout ancient Judah, although in many cases a lack of leadership. The returnees had settled among all these peoples.
It should be noted that this is not a comprehensive list of Judean cities. Bethlehem, for example, is not mentioned. It is rather intended to indicate the widespread nature of the land occupied by the returnees, and it is significant that a considerable number of the towns were outside the Province of Judah (Persian version). The first to be mentioned are ‘the people of Judah'. They ‘encamped' from Beer-sheba in the extreme south, to the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem (compare Joshua 15:8). The use of the verb is interesting. It suggests either the newness of their arrival, or that they were like ancient Israel who ‘encamped' around the Tabernacle. But the overall aim appears to be to indicate that God's people once more occupied the whole of God's land, not just the Persian province of Judah (Yehud). Beersheba, for example, was in the Negeb, well outside the province of Judah. Thus it is apparent that some of the returning Jews had settled outside the province of Judah, and yet were seen as a part of the revived people of God.
The use of the word ‘encamped (dwelt in tents)' may well be intended to connect this description back to the wilderness period, when Israel literally all dwelt in tents. (Note how elsewhere the command for Israelite soldiers to return home is in terms of ‘return to your tents' e.g. 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16; Judges 7:8). It was as though they were again encamped around God's sanctuary, as they had been of old (Numbers 1-2). Behind the word may be a desire to emphasise that they were taking part in a new Exodus, seeing themselves as encamped and travelling towards the establishment of the kingdom of God, with ‘the holy city' as its fulcrum. This would especially be so as many of the returnees were dwelling outside contemporary Judah (i.e. the Persian province). Or it may be that they saw Judah as encamped around the holy city, in the same way as in Numbers 1-2 the tribes encamped around the Tabernacle. (Such ideas recurred later at Qumran).
The impression of partaking in a new Exodus with a view to the establishment of the new kingdom of God is possibly brought out by the fact that certain cities are selected and listed very much as in the Book of Joshua, even using ancient names. Possibly it was seen as a new ‘conquest'. We must not, however, assume too much for there are far more names mentioned in the Book of Joshua than are mentioned here, and the Benjamite towns mentioned later are not on the whole mentioned by Joshua. On the other hand the ancient names may have deliberately been taken up by the returnees with this in mind. Consider how Kiriath-arba, the ancient name for Hebron, is used. The name may well have been revived by the returnees in order to emphasise their ancient roots.
The towns are listed in three groups which we may roughly see as:
· Towns in the former Judean uplands (Nehemiah 11:25).
· Towns in and around the Negeb (Nehemiah 11:26-29 a).
· Towns in the Shephelah (Nehemiah 11:29-30).
The purpose is seemingly in order to indicate that Judah had been reoccupied as it was of yore. It is giving an impression of comprehensiveness, ignoring the fact that much of southern Judah was now occupied by the Edomites.