Nehemiah 11:1–11:2, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Nehemiah 11:1–11:2
Lots and volunteers populate Jerusalem
Leaders live in Jerusalem; lots take one in ten
The rulers of the people dwell at Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in other cities.
Volunteers are blessed beside those selected
The people bless all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. Compulsory-looking selection and willing offering stand in the same compact policy. Household costs of moving are not narrated.
Lots here allocate residence in a underpopulated capital. They do not authorize forced relocation as a spiritual ideal, and rural residents are not lesser saints.
How this should shape us
If a city needs residents, use transparent selection, real consent, relocation support, and appeals. Invest in the towns people leave, not only in the center they are asked to fill.
Teach it back
Explain Nehemiah 11:1–11:2 in your own words. Include its movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, one affected or obscured person, and one misuse the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The relation between those selected by lot and those who volunteered is not fully explained, nor are household impacts.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Nehemiah 11:1–11:2, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:1–11:2
Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.
NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed pp. 776–777, translation text and any translator notes printed for 11:1–11:2
Supports: A bounded Persian-period setting control for Jerusalem's small scale, disputed wall line, gates, repopulation, temple-centered administration, Sabbath, intermarriage, and archaeological limits; it is not cited as independent proof of this unit.
Sivan, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Jerusalem and Iran,' Vol. XIV, Fasc. 6, pp. 632–634, complete Achaemenid-period section; book-level setting control for Nehemiah 11:1–11:2
Supports: A bounded book-level control for competing memoir, source, editorial-layer, Ezra-Nehemiah, list, chronology, and literary-composition proposals; it is not cited as verse-specific historical proof.
Fulton pp. 5–10, Carr pp. 11–20, Klein pp. 21–27, and Wright pp. 28–36 in JHS 7 (2007), article 12; book-level composition control applied to Nehemiah 11:1–11:2
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Nehemiah 11:1–11:2, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nehemiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:1–11:2
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Nehemiah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed pp. 776–777, translation text and any translator notes printed for 11:1–11:2
Open source ↗scholarly encyclopedia article
Jerusalem and Iran
Hagith Sivan
Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XIV, Fasc. 6, pp. 632-634, 2008; updated 2012
Supports: A bounded Persian-period setting control for Jerusalem's small scale, disputed wall line, gates, repopulation, temple-centered administration, Sabbath, intermarriage, and archaeological limits; it is not cited as independent proof of this unit.
Exact location: Sivan, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Jerusalem and Iran,' Vol. XIV, Fasc. 6, pp. 632–634, complete Achaemenid-period section; book-level setting control for Nehemiah 11:1–11:2
Open source ↗peer reviewed scholarly forum
Revisiting the Composition of Ezra-Nehemiah: In Conversation with Jacob Wright's Rebuilding Identity
Deirdre N. Fulton, David M. Carr, Ralph W. Klein, Gary N. Knoppers, and Jacob L. Wright
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 7, article 12, 2007
Supports: A bounded book-level control for competing memoir, source, editorial-layer, Ezra-Nehemiah, list, chronology, and literary-composition proposals; it is not cited as verse-specific historical proof.
Exact location: Fulton pp. 5–10, Carr pp. 11–20, Klein pp. 21–27, and Wright pp. 28–36 in JHS 7 (2007), article 12; book-level composition control applied to Nehemiah 11:1–11:2
Open source ↗