Nehemiah 12:7 (KJV)

What does Nehemiah 12:7 mean?

Nehemiah 12:7 closes a list of priestly leaders from the time of Jeshua. By naming these men, the passage preserves a record of the leadership of the priests who returned to Jerusalem and Judah after exile in Babylon.

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah are the last names in the list begun in verse 1. “Their brethren” refers to their fellow priests, while “in the days of Jeshua” places these leaders in the time when Jeshua served as the leading priest.

The Hebrew behind Nehemiah 12:7

• “chief” — רֹאשׁ (rosh): The word often means “head” or “leader.” Here it describes the men’s standing among the priests.
• “brethren” — אָח (ʾach): The word can mean a brother or a member of a wider group. In this verse, it points to fellow priests rather than necessarily to brothers in the same immediate family.

Why Nehemiah 12:7 matters

• The verse identifies the listed names as leaders within a larger group. The phrase “chief of the priests and of their brethren” distinguishes the named men from the fellow priests associated with them.
• The names also help connect two generations of priestly leadership. Nehemiah 12:12–21 gives names of men who later headed priestly families, including families bearing names found in this earlier list.