Asbury Bible Commentary – D. Repopulating Jerusalem (11:1-12:26)
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D. Repopulating Jerusalem (11:1-12:26)

D. Repopulating Jerusalem (11:1-12:26)

The task of repopulating the capital city after the completion of the walls (see 7:4) is taken up again. Although the leaders of the people had settled in Jerusalem, there seems to have been a dearth of ordinary citizens necessary to make it a living city. The solution was a lottery in which one out of every ten was chosen to live in Jerusalem, the holy city (11:1).

The rest of this section preserves three different lists, once again stressing the importance of continuity between the past, present, and future.