Nehemiah 13

Chap. XIII. Ver. 1—31. Nehemiah having gone back to his royal master, upon his return finds the Jews returned to their former sins.—It appears from ver. 6, that, at the period here referred to, Nehemiah was absent from Jerusalem, having returned to meet the king, perhaps at Babylon. 1. The public reading of the law was, however, kept up, and the passage here referred to, ((Deuteronomy 23:3-6).) being read in public, it was discovered that the Ammonite and Moabite were equally to be considered as strangers, and excluded from the congregation of Israel, as were the Canaanites themselves; and that therefore all alliances with them were forbidden. Upon this it was discovered that Eliashib himself had some time before formed an alliance between one of his grandchildren and Sanballat’s daughter, (see ver.

28.) which was now found unlawful, her father being a Moabite by birth: (see note on (Nehemiah 2:10).) and also intimately allied unto Tobiah the Ammonite, equally a foreigner and an idolater. From this connexion the priest had been induced, very shamefully, to allow this man private chambers in the sacred temple. This circumstance seems to have transpired just before the return of Nehemiah, (who is supposed to have been absent from five to ten years,) and the good man was exceedingly vexed and grieved at the discovery. He however lost no time in remedying the abuse: for he turned out all “the household stuff of Tobiah,” and, after the chambers had been properly cleansed, restored them to their proper use, and brought back the sacred vessels.

2. Another abuse which presented itself to Nehemiah on his return, and gave him great uneasiness, was that the Levites had been neglected to be provided for; and had been therefore constrained to leave their duties in the temple, to cultivate the ground for their support. The governor immediately called together the rulers, and reproved them for their neglect, though, but just before he left them, they had solemnly promised— “We will not forsake the house of our God.” ((Nehemiah 10)) 3. Upon the sabbath day he was grieved to find some of the people treading their wine-presses, and others holding a market for provisions. By vigorous measures, however, he soon suppressed these enormities. 4. The most distressing evil, and by far the most difficult to remedy, was that of their mixed marriages with the heathen.

Several years before this Ezra thought he had remedied this enormity; for the people had both promised and sworn to put away their strange (that is, foreign and idolatrous) wives. Many did so, but others only pretended to do it, or afterwards took them back again: for Nehemiah found Jews that married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. And their children spoke, one half of them in the language of Ashdod, and the other half in Hebrew. This so angered the good man, that it provoked him to language, and, we fear, actions, that cannot be wholly justified. He contended with them, and cursed them: and “certain of them,” who were probably insolent, and disregarded his authority, he “smote, and plucked off their hair;”

and, finally, he bound them by an oath to the God of Israel, that they should do so no more. He also reasoned with them on the evil consequences of such conduct in the case of Solomon, who, though eminently beloved of God, was led by his strange wives into apostacy and idolatry. This book closes with a petition to the Almighty, which is again and again repeated in the course of it. “Remember me, O my God, for good!” and it is sometimes connected in a manner that has been supposed to imply rather too high an opinion of himself and his exertions, as in ver. 14. of this chapter: ‘Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.’ On this we may first remark, that we are no more called upon to obey all the words and actions of Nehemiah than of David.

However, that, 2. He ascribed to God, not only all his good actions, but his good desires; “My God put it into my heart to gather together the nobles,” &c. ((Nehemiah 7:5).) 3. A good man, the best of men, may and ought to have, like Moses, “respect unto the recompense of the reward” set before him. 4. That Nehemiah founded not his future hopes on his own merits but on God’s mercy: “Remember me, O God, concerning this also, and spare me, according to the greatness of thy mercy!” (See note, ver. 14.);

Notes on the verses

Ver. 33 And the other company.—{The princes and priests were divided into two companies on the wall, Ezra going before one, and Nehemiah following the other. Thus they marched in a row opposite ways, in the circuit of the wall; the Levites playing upon instruments and singing praises to God, and in them on each side, part of them on the wall, and part in it. When they met on the opposite side of the city, they marched in a body to the temple, and offered sacrifices and thank-offerings, with rejoicings. }—Bagster.

Ver. 47. And they sanctified.—The people gave them to the Levites, and the Levites to the priests.

Chap. XII. Ver. 1. On that day they read.—Not the day of dedicating the walls; but, “On that day (wherein) was read, in the book of the law, it was found written,”

&c.—Should not come into the congregation.—That is, not be joined to it, without becoming a proselyte.

Ver. 6. After certain days.—Heb. “at the end of days.” See note on (Genesis 4:3). But this cannot here mean a week, and even a year seems far too short for such abuses to have crept in.

Ver. 14. Remember me, &c.—If thou wert strict to mark what is done amiss, even my good deeds must be wiped out: but, Lord, remember me in thy mercy, and let my upright conduct be acceptable to Thee! By some, Nehemiah has been thought to deal too much with God on the principle of merit. That he wished God to remember him for good is sufficiently evident—and who does not wish the same?—but that he expected heaven for his good deeds does not appear; for it is perfectly clear, that he expected nothing from God but through the greatness of his mercy.—Bagster.

OF Nehemiah, the author and hero of this book, the Jews speak as one of the greatest men of their nation. His concern for his country, manifested by such unequivocal marks, entitles him to the character of the first patriot that ever lived. Descended, according to some, of the family of Aaron, or according to others, of the tribe of Judah, and allied to the royal family of David, in the course of Divine Providence, he was a captive in Babylon; but there his excellencies were so apparent, that he was steadied by the Persian king to fill an office the most respectable, and the most confidential, in the whole court. Here he lived in ease and affluence; he lacked no good thing; and here he might have continued to live, in the same affluence, and in the same confidence; but he could enjoy neither, so long as he knew his people distressed, the sepulchres of his fathers trodden under foot, the altars of his God overturned, and his worship either totally neglected or corrupted.

He sought the peace of Jerusalem; prayed for it; and was willing to sacrifice wealth, ease, safety, and even life itself, if he might be the instrument of restoring the desola-

Ver. 28, One of the sons of Joiada.—Josephus relates, that this young man was named Manasseh; and that at his request, Sanballat and the Samaritans built their temple upon mount Gerizim, in opposition to that at Jerusalem, at which he officiated, in some measure, according to the Mosaic ritual.—Bagster.

tions of Israel. And God, who saw the desire of his heart, and knew the excellencies with which he had endowed him, granted his request, and set him the high honour of restoring the desolated city of his ancestors, and the pure worship of their God.

The opposition of Sanballat and the Samaritans, and the firmness and zeal with which he repelled their insults and mercantile efforts, cannot be read without the liveliest emotions; and will afford, to the latest times, a noble and animating example of distinguished patriotism, united with the sincerest devotion to the interests of religion. The virtue and piety of this great and good man, appear with equal lustre in the numerous and important reformations he effected. He relieved the people from their hardships and oppressions, by abolishing the harsh and usurious practices of the nobles and rulers; gave up his own revenue, as governor of the province, for the benefit of the people; and, as a further means of conciliating their affections, exhibited an example of the most princely hospitality. As the best security for good morals, and the better observance of the laws of God, he re-established the…