Nehemiah Chapter 10 verse 34 Holy Bible
And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the law;
read chapter 10 in ASV
And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of the Lord, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is recorded in the law;
read chapter 10 in BBE
And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring [it] into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the law;
read chapter 10 in DARBY
And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law:
read chapter 10 in KJV
And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law:
read chapter 10 in WBT
We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God, as it is written in the law;
read chapter 10 in WEB
And the lots we have caused to fall for the offering of wood, `among' the priests, the Levites, and the people, to bring in to the house of our God, by the house of our fathers, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the law,
read chapter 10 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 34. - We cast the lots for the wood offering. The "wood offering" is now first heard cf. Fuel had probably been more plentiful in the times of the monarchy than it had now become, and the temple treasury had been rich enough to provide what was needed in order to keep the altar fire perpetually burning (Leviticus 6:13). But times had changed. The hill-country of Judaea had gradually been stripped of its forests. The temple was, comparatively speaking, poor, and some permanent arrangement for the supply of the required fuel had become necessary. It would seem, from the present passage, that the arrangement actually made was one by which different families or districts undertook the duty of furnishing the wood in turn, and lots were cast to determine the order in which they should discharge the office. According to Josephus ('Bell. Jud.,' it. 17, ยง 6), the wood needed for a year was brought in on a particular day - the fourteenth day of the fifth month - which was kept as a festival, and known as the "Xylophoria." At times appointed year by year. It may be gathered from this that, originally, no single day was selected for bringing in all the wood; much less one and the same day appointed for every year. The original system was variable and elastic; but in course of time a rigid uniformity was introduced and established. As it is written in the law. See Leviticus 6:12.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(34) As it is written in the law.--Leviticus 6:12 prescribes that the fire on the altar should be kept burning by wood. But here we have the origin of the "feast of the wood-offering"--a special day, subsequently substituted for the "times appointed year by year." The lot determined the order in which the various classes should supply the wood.
