Nehemiah
Nehemiah 13
1On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever, 2because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah, 5had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the wave offerings for the priests. 6But in all this, I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king; and after some days I asked leave of the king, 7and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God’s house. 8It grieved me severely. Therefore I threw all Tobiah’s household stuff out of the room. 9Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms. I brought into them the vessels of God’s house, with the meal offerings and the frankincense again.
10I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field. 11Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place. 12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries. 13I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.
14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.
15In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; also with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food. 16Some men of Tyre also lived there, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day? 18Didn’t your fathers do this, and didn’t our God bring all this evil on us, and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside of Jerusalem once or twice. 21Then I testified against them, and said to them, “Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they didn’t come on the Sabbath. 22I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.
23In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; 24and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. 25I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. 26Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin. 27Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?”
28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners, and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work; 31and for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
Commentary
No commentary on this chapter yet.
What others are saying
5 commentators · 74 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry4
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
It was the honour of Israel, and the greatest preservation of their holiness, that they were a peculiar people, and were so to keep themselves, and not to mingle with the nations, nor suffer any of them to incorporate with them. Now here we have, I. The law…
Here is another grievance redressed by Nehemiah. I. The Levites had been wronged. This was the grievance: their portions had not been given them, Neh 13:10. Perhaps Tobiah, when he took possession of the store-chambers, seized the stores too, and, by the…
Here is another instance of that blessed reformation in which Nehemiah was so active. He revived sabbath-sanctification, and maintained the authority of the fourth commandment; and a very good deed this was for the house of God and the offices thereof, for…
John Gill31
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
On that day,.... Not when the wall of the city was dedicated, nor quickly after; for it cannot be thought that people should be so corrupted so soon as this chapter shows; but when Nehemiah had governed them twelve years, and had been at Babylon, and was…
Because they met not the children of Israel with bread,.... The same reason is given, and what follows in this verse is observed in Deuteronomy 23:4; See Gill on Deuteronomy 23:4, Deuteronomy 23:5.
Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law,.... Or the law concerning the Ammonite and the Moabite, and which included other nations also, and forbad marriage with them: that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude; all of these, and other…
Adam Clarke22
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
On that day - I am quite of Calmet's mind that the transaction detailed in this chapter did not immediately succeed the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem. It is most likely that, when this dedication was ended, Nehemiah returned to Babylon, as himself…
They separated from Israel all the mixed multitude - They excluded all strange women, and all persons, young and old, who had been born of these illegal connections.
Eliashib the priest - Perhaps this was a different person from Eliashib the high priest; but there is no indubitable evidence that he was not the same. If he was high priest, he was very unfaithful to the high charge which he had received; and a reproach to…
Keil & Delitzsch11
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
This law being understood, all strangers were separated from Israel. ערב is taken from Exo 12:38, where it denotes the mixed multitude of non-Israelitish people who followed the Israelites at their departure from Egypt. The word is here transferred to…
Nehemiah, on his return to Jerusalem, reforms the irregularities that had broken out during his absence. - Neh 13:4-9. While Nehemiah was at Babylon with King Artaxerxes, Eliashib the high priest had given up to his relative, Tobiah the Ammonite (Neh 2:10…
In all this, i.e., while this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes I went to the king, and after the lapse of some days I entreated the king (נשׁאל like Sa1 20:6, Sa1 20:28). What he entreated is not expressly…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown6
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
before this--The practice of these mixed marriages, in open neglect or violation of the law, had become so common, that even the pontifical house, which ought to have set a better example, was polluted by such an impure mixture. Eliashib the priest . . . was…
But in all this was not I at Jerusalem--Eliashib (concluding that, as Nehemiah had departed from Jerusalem, and, on the expiry of his allotted term of absence, had resigned his government, he had gone not to return) began to use great liberties, and, there…
NEHEMIAH REFORMS THE OFFICERS IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. (Neh 13:10-14) And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them--The people, disgusted with the malversations of Eliashib, or the lax and irregular performance of the sacred rites…
World English Bible — Public domain