When the exiles first returned to Jerusalem, they found the city was simply not an attractive place in which to live, and only a few people settled there (cp. Nehemiah 7:4). The city was in ruins, and debris had been scattered all around by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies (Nehemiah 2:14; cp. 4:10). Even after the rebuilding project was well underway, it was difficult for folks to simply move there, because they had established their businesses and trade markets elsewhere in the province of Judah. To move to Jerusalem after their businesses were established would require a change of trade routes, and their profits would almost certainly decline, at least in the beginning. Nevertheless, Jerusalem was the capital city of the province of Judah, and the Temple of God was there, and pilgrims from all over the civilized world would come there to worship during the annual festivals. Now that the wall had been rebuilt, and Jerusalem was established as a defense against enemies, it became imperative to populate it with loyal Jewish citizens, for to permit the heathen to populate the capital city and control access to one’s defense would defeat the purpose of building Jerusalem’s walls.
It seems Nehemiah first demanded that the rulers of the people reside in the city of Jerusalem, where their offices would normally obligate them to reside (Nehemiah 11:1). Not only did this show the heathen nations that Jerusalem was regaining its former importance in the world, but it also encouraged the rest of the people to consider changing their residence to the capital city of the province of Judah. Still, it was necessary to cast lots to bring one in ten of the nobility (cp. Nehemiah 11:3… these are the chief of the province) among the people to dwell in the city, for, as mentioned above, a change in the residence of one’s business was nearly certain to bring an initial loss in revenue.
The text doesn’t tell us that any of the nobility that fell under the lot refused to change their residence to Jerusalem. However, the fact that the people “blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 11:2) opens this possibility for consideration. No doubt, if this did occur, it didn’t develop into a problem, and other men filled the positions of the nobility who didn’t cooperate. Otherwise, a mention of the problem would have been required in the record.
Of course, most of the people dwelt outside Jerusalem in other cities of the province (Nehemiah 11:3), but the provincial leaders, both political and merchants, dwelt at Jerusalem. Moreover, a distinction in the record seems to have been made even among the Jews, because the text claims that certain men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin dwelt in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:4), but Israel, which included all twelve tribes, dwelt in cities outside Jerusalem, and this included priests, Levites, the Nethinim and the descendants of Solomon’s servants (verse-3).
There were five groups of people who either dwelt in Jerusalem, because this was where they needed to officiate their political and religious offices, or they dwelt there as a result of falling under the lot of one-in-ten (cp. Nehemiah 11:1). First the leading men of the children of Judah dwelt in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:4-6), and after them came the nobility of the children of Benjamin (Nehemiah 11:7-9). The third group of permanent residents were the leading priests (Nehemiah 11:10-14), which included their brethren who performed the duties of the House of God, and those who policed and protected the things done there. The fourth group were the Levites, whose responsibility was to oversee the public business of the House of God, as well as the services of thanksgiving and prayer (Nehemiah 11:15-18). The fifth and final group were the porters who kept charge of the gates of the city (Nehemiah 11:19).
A sixth group, the Nethinim (Nehemiah 11:21), did the servile work of the Temple. They dwelt in the Ophel, which was along the eastern wall, where the Temple was. However, their residence in the city seems to have been transitory, in that they dwelt permanently elsewhere in Judah’s cities (Nehemiah 11:3), but, when their turn to serve the Temple arose, they dwelt inside Jerusalem’s walls for however long their tenure endured. Of course, certain men of the nobility oversaw the work of the Nethinim, as well as the singers and the daily business of the Temple, and they dwelt there (Nehemiah 11:22-23). Finally, Pethahiah of the tribe of Judah was the official advisor to the king, concerning matters that pertained to the Jews (Nehemiah 11:24), and he, also, dwelt in the city.
The rest of Israel (cp. Nehemiah 11:20), which included Judah and Benjamin whose families didn’t dwell in Jerusalem, lived in the outlying towns and villages throughout the province of Judah (Nehemiah 11:25-36). These places were unwalled cities with their fields. It is also where the Levites lived whose division was not serving at the Temple.
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