Nehemiah 13

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Chapter Thirteen PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

Where have we gotten acquainted with Tobiah before?

How many prayers of Nehemiah can you count in this chapter?

How did Nehemiah handle the problem of mixed marriages? Is this how Ezra would have handled it?

What was Sanballat’s last method of attack on Israel, in the book of Nehemiah?

OUTLINE

Foreigners are expelled and religious reforms are instituted to purify the nation.

Foreigners are expelled (Nehemiah 13:1-3).

Tobiah is driven out (Nehemiah 13:4-9).

Support for the Levites is renewed (Nehemiah 13:10-14).

Labor and merchandising is forbidden on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15-22).

Nehemiah deals with the problem of mixed marriages (Nehemiah 13:23-29).

Nehemiah summarizes his reforms (Nehemiah 13:30-31).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What objection did Moses have against Ammonites and Moabites?

Who were especially involved in the desecration of the Sabbath?

What did Nehemiah do to prevent continued desecration of the Sabbath?

With what nations in particular were the Jews intermarrying?

Nehemiah 13:1-3

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT

C. Foreigners are expelled and religious reforms are instituted to purify the nation.

Foreigners are expelled.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:1-3

On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

So it came about, that when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.

COMMENT

The events in Nehemiah 13:1-3, like those in the previous chapter, apparently happened on the occasion of Nehemiah’s second visit (Nehemiah 13:6 f), when the wall was dedicated.[82] The occasion on which the Law of Moses was being read is not identified, but this was a regular part of Israel’s community life following the exile. The particular passage which they read was Deuteronomy 23:3-6. The exclusion in Nehemiah 13:3 refers to foreigners, and not to those of foreign descent.[83] That is, those who retained their citizenship in and loyalty to other nations (not just Moab and Ammon), which would include worship of their gods, were not permitted to share in Israel’s Temple ceremonies.

[82] John E. Eggleton, Discovering The Old Testament, p. 237.

[83] Anchor Bible, op. cit., p. 206.

WORD STUDIES

EVER (Nehemiah 13:1: Olam): for ever, everlasting. Basically it means hidden (as in the secret sins of Psa 90:8): where the beginning or end is obscure or uncertain or indefinite. It is applied to (1) the past, or antiquity, time long past or even only a lifetime, the days of old, Micah 7:14; or of a long time, Isaiah 42:14; (2) the future, i.e., of the end of one-’ life, Deuteronomy 15:17; (3) end of an age or race or dynasty, limited by the length of their obedience, 1 Samuel 2:30. (4) The laws are for ever (Passover, Exodus 12:14), yet they are superseded now. (5) The earth and universe are forever (Psalms 104:5), though we know they will pass away. (6) Only when the term is used of God does it have the idea of absolute eternality (Psalms 90:2).

The people of the O.T. did not have an everlasting promise; they found no need to coin a word for an idea which they didn-’t have, or barely had, in their mind. Only Jesus could complete that picture for them (2 Timothy 1:10).

LOVED (Nehemiah 13:26: Aheb): to breathe after, long for, desire; the meaning is akin to Agape in the N.T. Israel loved Joseph, Genesis 37:3 f; Jacob loved Rachel, Genesis 29:18; Hosea was told to love his wife in spite of her unworthiness, Hosea 3:1; God loved His people, Deuteronomy 23:5; and we must love God, Deuteronomy 6:5.

Nehemiah 13:4-9

Tobiah is driven out.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:4-9

Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king,

and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.

And it was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

COMMENT

In Nehemiah 13:4, the prior to this would refer to the time when Nehemiah was in Persia, following his first visit to Jerusalem. The extent to which intermarriage had gone is evident in that it had affected even the household of Eliashib the priest. The chambers of the Temple (1 Kings 6:5-8) were in three stories along the full length of both sides.

In Nehemiah 13:5 the purpose of the chambers is given: they were for the supplies essential to the priests and Levites (including singers and gatekeepers), and for utensils (Nehemiah 7:70; Ezra 1:9-11; Ezra 8:26-27) necessary for the Temple ceremonies. Now the priests prepared them arbitrarily for the personal use of Tobiah, who had given Israel trouble in the past (Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 4:7; Nehemiah 6:12). According to Nehemiah 13:9 it was not unneeded extra space.

Nehemiah 13:6 sets the limit of twelve years on Nehemiah’s first term as governor. How long a term intervened before he returned to Jerusalem is not known, but it is thought to have been relatively short. We have seen the Persian kings-’ use of the title, king of Babylon, before: Ezra 5:13.

Nehemiah 13:7 shows that it was on Nehemiah’s return from Persia that he heard of this impropriety involving Tobiah.

In Nehemiah 13:8 we see his anger. Nehemiah was justified in the action he took; the Temple had been dedicated exclusively for the use of priests and Levites in their service for God: certainly not for foreigners, even heads of state. Nehemiah was responsible for all affairs within his realm, even over the priests, and he must defend the interests of the weak and abused or they would not be defended. We cannot say with certainty that Tobiah lived in the rooms; he may have used them only for storage; but the household goods would suggest at least preparation for occupancy.

Now, in Nehemiah 13:9, the rooms were cleansed from contamination (see PURIFY, Word Studies, chapter 12), and returned to their proper use.

WORD STUDIES

Nehemiah 13:10-14

Support for the Levites is renewed.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:10-14

I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field.

So I reprimanded the officials and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.

All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.

And in charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen.

Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

COMMENT

In Nehemiah 13:10, Nehemiah’s discovery of the Levites-’ predicament may have stemmed from the events of the previous paragraph, from seeing the shortage of supplies in the storage rooms. The service of the Levites and singers may have involved more than that at the dedication of the wall. Now they had been driven by financial necessity to agricultural pursuits, to the detriment of the Temple services. It was a waste to fail to employ such talents in praising and serving God. This was evidently a chronic problem throughout Israel’s history.

Nehemiah 13:11-13 show Nehemiah’s effectiveness in dealing with the problem: first a reprimand, pointing subtly to their obligation before God; then a searching out and restoration of the abused; then the contributions from the community of Judah followed; and then an organization of reliable, faithful people was set up to get all the contributions into the right hands.

Nehemiah 13:14 is another of Nehemiah’s trademark prayers.

WORD STUDIES

Nehemiah 13:15-22

Labor and merchandising is forbidden on the Sabbath.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:15-22

In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food.

Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem.

Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day?

Did not your fathers do the same so that our God brought on us, and on this city, all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath.

And it came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates that no load should enter on the sabbath day.

Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.

Then I warned them and said to them, Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you. From that time on they did not come on the sabbath.

And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Thy lovingkindness.

COMMENT

Note that what is described here is in direct violation of the vow which the people had signed in Nehemiah 10:31. Also, when the day of rest is violated, it is the poor and the laborer who suffer the most (Amos 8:4-6).

In Nehemiah 13:15, emphasis is put on Judah’s Sabbath violations: treading out grapes, loading and transporting sacks of produce, bringing them into the holy city, and selling them: the full route, from producer to consumer. The products were not all in season at the same time, so Nehemiah may have observed over a period of time until his patience was broken. His one corrective measure was jaw-boning.

Nehemiah 13:16 emphasizes similar activities of Tyrian merchants. Tyre was renowned in the ancient world for its commerce (Ezekiel 27:3 ff), and its position on the seacoast made it a source of fish. This illustrates another problem arising from intermarriage and other forms of involvement with foreigners. By their standards they were doing nothing wrong, though the Jews were buying from them. Israel’s law, on the other hand, required that it be a day of rest for the stranger or foreigner, and even for the animals (Exodus 20:10).

In Nehemiah 13:17, Nehemiah first approached his own countrymen to correct this evil; the word translated reprimand usually indicates quarreling and contention, but does not rule out physical violence.

Nehemiah 13:18 recalls the connection between Israel’s violation of the Sabbath and their suffering captivity and humiliation (Leviticus 26:35; 2 Chronicles 36:21). It was possible that God’s wrath might be increased or repeated because of their actions.

Next, in Nehemiah 13:19, Nehemiah took more direct action. At sundown, when the Sabbath began, he ordered that not only the huge gates that barred the entrance of carts, but the doors in the gates that prevented entrance of individuals, be closed and left closed for at least twenty-four hours. The social and business activity of the community took place at the gates. If the foreigners would do business in Israel, they must live by Israel’s laws.

Then some of Nehemiah’s own bodyguards, loyal personally to him, were stationed at the gates to prevent entry.

Nehemiah 13:20 indicates that he did not retract these policies under pressure. Though commerce meant prosperity and profits and taxes, still he risked offending the tradesmen.

In Nehemiah 13:21 he threatened the use of force. Until then the tradesmen were not convinced.

In Nehemiah 13:22 Nehemiah made this not only a religious issue but an act of service and worship to God. The Levites, who alone were allowed to labor on the Sabbath in the performance of sacred duties, were recruited as keepers of the gates. Then we have Nehemiah’s second prayer in this chapter.

WORD STUDIES

Nehemiah 13:23-29

Nehemiah deals with the problem of mixed marriages.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:23-29

In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people.

So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin.

Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?

Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

COMMENT

In Nehemiah 13:23, Ashdod was a city in the old Philistine area, in the present day Gaza strip. With the change of one letter Ammon becomes Amman, and we have its approximate present-day location. The people of Moab lived at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea.

The language of Ashdod, Nehemiah 13:24, is now known to have been quite similar to Hebrew, as Aramaic was (and so were the Moabite and Ammonite languages), but still a separate language[84] (as Dutch and German, or French and Spanish, or Spanish and Portuguese). The children were closer to their mothers through most of the day, so they spoke their language more than Hebrew.

[84] Op. cit., p. 217.

In Nehemiah 13:25, contended is the same as reprimanded in Nehemiah 13:17. Curse may be a little too strong. The Anchor Bible gives its literal translation as to be light, and gives the possible translation, treat with contempt. This would seem to be more in keeping with Nehemiah’s character. But he also struck some of them and pulled out their hair. We recall that when Ezra was faced with the same kind of a situation, the hair that was pulled was his own! Perhaps there is an illustration here of the nature of the offices of the two men: the one, God’s priest and man’s intercessor; the other, God’s chosen vessel still, but man’s ruler. We gather that there are times for both kinds of action. What he achieved by this method was an oath that they would no longer participate in or allow mixed marriages. There is no mention of divorce, as there was in Ezra (Nehemiah 10:11).

Nehemiah 13:26-27 give the argument which Nehemiah used. If the great King Solomon, powerful among the nations, loved by God (that is the meaning of his personal name, Jedediah, 2 Samuel 12:24 f), and able to rule over all Israel, could not take foreign wives without being led to forsake God and sin, how did they think they could do this without sinning, weak as they were?

A little curiosity, going back to Nehemiah 13:26, is the KJV reference to outlandish women, reminding us that the derivation and original English meaning of the word had reference to women from outside the land of Solomon.

The information in Nehemiah 13:28 has not been given us previously; it is given here for the first time.

Now Nehemiah’s prayer, in Nehemiah 13:29, is not for himself directly but against those of the Levitical line, priests and Levites alike, who had violated the covenant (Numbers 25:12) which God had made originally with their forefathers because they had stood more firmly against intermarriage and defilement with foreigners than any of the other tribes.

WORD STUDIES

Nehemiah 13:30-31

Nehemiah summarizes his reforms.

TEXT, Nehemiah 13:30-31

Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task,

and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

COMMENT

These two verses are Nehemiah’s summary of his work: note his attention to detail, which is one of the characteristics of the man. How else could he end it but with a prayer? He asks not to be remembered by man, but by God. This is a fitting close for the record of a great man.

WORD STUDIES

SUMMARY

The public reading of the Law revealed that God had forbidden the entrance of Moabites or Ammonites into their religious assemblies, so the people barred all foreigners. Nehemiah discovered on his return from Persia that space had been given to Tobiah, governor of Ammon, in some of the Temple rooms. He threw Tobiah’s belongings out and restored the rooms to the Levites for their intended uses for storage of supplies. He also observed that people were not supporting the Levites with their tithes, and he corrected that, appointing reliable people to make distributions of these goods to the Levites. Sabbath observance had become neglected, so he complained to the public officials and offending tradespeople from Tyre doing business at the gate on the Sabbath, eventually barring the gates and threatening to use force to prevent their entrance on the Sabbath. He observed that children were losing the ability to speak Hebrew because many of them were the products of marriages with foreigners and he got the people to agree to stop that practice. The high priest had a grandson who had married the daughter of Sanballat the Samaritan; Nehemiah drove him away. He summarized his achievements in purifying the people of foreign influences, restoring priests and Levites to their duties, seeing that wood was provided for their offerings, and restoring the offering of first fruits to them. In all these things he prayed for God’s approval on his work.

Old Green Commentaries

The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series — 59 volumes by 25 authors, published between 1961 and 1992 and affectionately known as the 'old green' commentaries for their green hardback bindings. Each volume is a commentary, workbook and teaching manual in one, written by Restoration Movement …

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Old Testament

GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUT 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZR NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SOS ISA JER LAM EZK DAN HOS JOL AMO OBA JON MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL

New Testament

MAT MRK LUK JHN ACT ROM 1CO 2CO GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TI 2TI TIT PHM HEB JAS 1PE 2PE 1JN 2JN 3JN JUD REV

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