Priests and Levites: The listings of temple staff in 12:1–26 are a later supplement to the record of those who moved to Jerusalem in 11:10–23. This text again reminds us that moving to the capital meant coming to the home of the temple, but it now presents a bigger picture. The rebuilt temple, with its staff of priests and Levites, had existed since early in the history of the postexilic community, when Zerubbabel had been governor and Jeshua high priest (7:7). This larger perspective bridges the list in chapter 11 and the wall dedication ceremony in 12:27–43, in which priests and Levites were to play a major part. It announces their participation as a salute to their vital contribution over the years to the postexilic community and to the work of God.

The bulk of the list is in 12:12–26, w…