Reading for July 25th

 Read Nehemiah 11.25-36. In 11.25-36: A note about villages outside Jerusalem. This brief account touches on some of the settlements outside Jerusalem that constituted the territory of Judah. Several of the places on the list were not settled by Jews until the Hellenistic period, so this list may be an idealized fiction, approximating the settlements of Judah as described in the tribal allotments of the book of Joshua (Jos 15.1-12). In effect, this makes the same point as the notice of the Festival of Booths earlier (8.17). Comments or Questions..