And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein,
And my God put it in my heart to gather together the nobles, the rulers, and the people so they could be counted according to their family lines. I found a record of the family histories of those who had returned from exile in the first group, and this is what was written in it:
Nehemiah is saying that God inspired him to organize a census of the returned Jewish exiles by researching their family records.
📚 Historical Context
This takes place around 445 BC when Nehemiah was governor of Jerusalem after the Jewish people returned from their 70-year exile in Babylon. The walls of Jerusalem had just been rebuilt, and Nehemiah needed to properly organize the population and establish who had legitimate claim to live in the holy city. Keeping accurate genealogical records was crucial for the Jewish people to maintain their identity and religious practices.
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