The Nethinims were servants who had been given up to the
service of the tabernacle and temple, to perform the meanest and most
laborious services therein, in supplying wood and water. At first the
Gibeonites were appointed to this service, Joshua ix, 27. Afterward the
Canaanites who surrendered themselves, and whose lives were spared, were
consigned to the performance of the same duties. We read, Ezra viii, 20,
that the Nethinims were slaves devoted by David and the other princes to
the ministry of the temple; and elsewhere, that they were slaves given
by Solomon; the children of Solomon’s servants, Ezra ii, 58; and we see,
in 1 Kings ix, 20, 21, that this prince had subdued the remains of the
Canaanites, and had constrained them to several servitudes; and, it is
very probable, he gave a good number of them to the priests and Levites
for the service of the temple. The Nethinims were carried into captivity
with the tribe of Judah, and there were great numbers of them near the
coast of the Caspian Sea, from whence Ezra brought some of them back,
Ezra viii, 17. After the return from the captivity, they dwelt in the
cities appointed them, Ezra ii, 17. There were some of them also at
Jerusalem, who inhabited that part of the city called Ophel, Neh. iii,
26. Those who returned with Ezra were to the number of two hundred and
twenty, Ezra viii, 20; and those who followed Zerubbabel made up three
hundred and ninety-two, Ezra ii, 58. This number was but small in regard
to the offices that were imposed on them; so that we find them afterward
instituting a solemnity called _Xylophoria_, in which the people carried
wood to the temple with great ceremony, to keep up the fire on the altar
of burnt sacrifices.
service of the tabernacle and temple, to perform the meanest and most
laborious services therein, in supplying wood and water. At first the
Gibeonites were appointed to this service, Joshua ix, 27. Afterward the
Canaanites who surrendered themselves, and whose lives were spared, were
consigned to the performance of the same duties. We read, Ezra viii, 20,
that the Nethinims were slaves devoted by David and the other princes to
the ministry of the temple; and elsewhere, that they were slaves given
by Solomon; the children of Solomon’s servants, Ezra ii, 58; and we see,
in 1 Kings ix, 20, 21, that this prince had subdued the remains of the
Canaanites, and had constrained them to several servitudes; and, it is
very probable, he gave a good number of them to the priests and Levites
for the service of the temple. The Nethinims were carried into captivity
with the tribe of Judah, and there were great numbers of them near the
coast of the Caspian Sea, from whence Ezra brought some of them back,
Ezra viii, 17. After the return from the captivity, they dwelt in the
cities appointed them, Ezra ii, 17. There were some of them also at
Jerusalem, who inhabited that part of the city called Ophel, Neh. iii,
26. Those who returned with Ezra were to the number of two hundred and
twenty, Ezra viii, 20; and those who followed Zerubbabel made up three
hundred and ninety-two, Ezra ii, 58. This number was but small in regard
to the offices that were imposed on them; so that we find them afterward
instituting a solemnity called _Xylophoria_, in which the people carried
wood to the temple with great ceremony, to keep up the fire on the altar
of burnt sacrifices.