Nehemiah13
New King James Version
1On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God,
2because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.
5And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.
6But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,
7and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.
8And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room.
9Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field.
11So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place.
12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse.
13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse 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 considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.
14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!
15In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.
16Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them 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, by which you profane the Sabbath day?
18Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.
20Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.
22And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
23In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.
25So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.
26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.
27Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”
28And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.
29Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service,
31and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times. Remember me, O my God, for good!
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Nehemiah 13.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Nehemiah turns out the mixed multitude. (1–9). Nehemiah's reform in the house of God. (10–14). Sabbath-breaking restrained. (15–22). The dismissal of strange wives. (23–31).
vv1-9
Israel was a peculiar people, and not to mingle with the nations. See the benefit of publicly reading the word of God; when it is duly attended to, it discovers to us sin and duty, good and evil, and shows wherein we have erred. We profit, when we are thus wrought upon to separate from evil. Those that would drive sin out of their hearts, the living temples, must throw out its household stuff, and all the provision made for it; and take away all the things that are the food and fuel of lust; this is really to mortify it. When sin is cast out of the heart by repentance, let the blood of Christ be applied to it by faith, then let it be furnished with the graces of God's Spirit, for every good work.
vv10-14
If a sacred character will not keep men from setting an evil example, it must not shelter any one from deserved blame and punishment. The Levites had been wronged; their portions had not been given them. They were gone to get livelihoods for themselves and their families, for their profession would not maintain them. A maintenance not sufficient, makes a poor ministry. The work is neglected, because the workmen are. Nehemiah laid the fault upon the rulers. Both ministers and people, who forsake religion and the services of it, and magistrates, who do not what they can to keep them to it, will have much to answer for. He delayed not to bring the Levites to their places again, and that just payment should be made. Nehemiah on every occasion looked up to God, and committed himself and all his affairs to Him. It pleased him to think that he had been of use to revive and support religion in his country. He here refers to God, not in pride, but with a humble appeal concerning his honest intention in what he had done. He prays, “Remember me;” not, Reward me. “Wipe not out my good deeds;” not, Publish them, or record them. Yet he was rewarded, and his good deeds recorded. God does more than we are able to ask.
vv15-22
The keeping holy the Lord's day forms an important object for their attention who would promote true godliness. Religion never prospers while sabbaths are trodden under foot. No wonder there was a general decay of religion, and corruption of manners among the Jews, when they forsook the sanctuary and profaned the sabbath. Those little consider what an evil they do, who profane the sabbath. We must answer for the sins others are led to commit by our example. Nehemiah charges it on them as an evil thing, for so it is, proceeding from contempt of God and our own souls. He shows that sabbath-breaking was one of the sins for which God had brought judgments upon them; and if they did not take warning, but returned to the same sins again, they had to expect further judgments. The courage, zeal, and prudence of Nehemiah in this matter, are recorded for us to do likewise; and we have reason to think, that the cure he wrought was lasting. He felt and confessed himself a sinner, who could demand nothing from God as justice, when he thus cried unto him for mercy.
Key Words
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
קָרָא: to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)
סֵפֶר: properly, writing (the art or a document); by implication, a book
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אֹזֶן: broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in man)
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
מָצָא: properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present
כָּתַב: to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
Cross References
Nehemiah 13Direct source text read in the audience of the people regarding the Ammonite and Moabite exclusion.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jeremiah's explicit prophetic warning against bearing burdens through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The supreme historical warning of Solomon being led into sin and idolatry by strange, foreign wives.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The people's recent, solemn covenant agreement to pay the tithes, which they had quickly broken.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Nehemiah's signature prayer of appeal to God's remembrance of his good deeds and faithfulness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contemporaneous prophetic indictment of priests who corrupted the covenant of Levi, matching Nehemiah's charge.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel crisis of Ezra separating the holy seed from the mixed heathen population of the land.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Malachi's direct rebuke of robbing God by withholding the mandated tithes and offerings.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct contrast to their prior covenant oath: 'we will not forsake the house of our God.'
Supported by Matthew Poole
The legal warrant and limitation for beating the disobedient with stripes.
Supported by Matthew Henry