Nehemiah 13

On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud so all the people could hear it. Written in it they found that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be part of God's assembly.

1On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;

NoteThe "Book of Moses" is the first five books of the Bible, read aloud because copies were rare and most people could not read. The passage found is Deuteronomy 23:3–6. The "assembly" is the gathered community of Israel, its worship and its public life, so being barred from it meant being excluded from full membership among the people. Ammon and Moab were small kingdoms east of the Dead Sea, long-standing neighbors and rivals of Israel.

2This was because those peoples had not met the Israelites with food and water. Instead they hired Balaam to curse them. But our God turned the curse into a blessing.

2Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

NoteThe story is in Numbers 22–24. Balaam was a professional diviner hired by the king of Moab to pronounce a curse on Israel as it traveled toward Canaan; in the account the words that came out of his mouth were blessings instead. Refusing travelers food and water was a serious breach of the hospitality expected in that world.

3When the people heard this law, they separated out from Israel everyone of foreign descent.

3Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

NoteThe King James "mixed multitude" translates a Hebrew word for people of mixed or foreign ancestry. What exactly the separation involved (exclusion from worship, from the assembly, or from the community altogether) is not spelled out.

4Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God, and he was closely connected to Tobiah.

4And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:

NoteTobiah is the Ammonite official who, with Sanballat, had opposed Nehemiah's rebuilding of the city wall earlier in the book. The Hebrew behind "closely connected" (King James "allied unto") means related or attached to; it most likely refers to a family tie by marriage, but the word is vague. The storerooms were chambers built around the temple courtyards where the goods brought in by the people were kept.

5Eliashib had prepared a large room for Tobiah. That room had been used to store the grain offerings, the frankincense, and the temple articles. It also held the tenth part of the grain, the new wine, and the oil that was ordered to be given to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, along with the gifts for the priests.

5And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.

NoteGrain offerings were gifts of flour, oil and grain presented at the temple. Frankincense is a fragrant resin burned as incense. The "tenth part" is the tithe, a tenth of each harvest, which the people owed as support for the temple staff. Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who did the temple's practical and musical work but were not priests; the singers and gatekeepers were Levite guilds responsible for music and for guarding the entrances. All of them lived off these deliveries, since the tribe of Levi held no farmland of its own.

6While all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem. In the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone back to the king. Some time later I asked the king for permission to leave.

6But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:

NoteArtaxerxes I ruled the Persian empire; Persian kings also held the title "king of Babylon" after conquering that city, which is why the King James uses it here. His thirty-second year was about 433 BC. Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer and served at court, so returning meant reporting back to his post; he then had to request royal permission before he could travel to Jerusalem again.

7I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done for Tobiah by preparing him a room in the courtyards of the house of God.

7And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

8This upset me deeply, so I threw all of Tobiah's household goods out of the room.

8And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.

NoteThrowing a man's furniture into the street was a public act of eviction, not private temper. Tobiah was not a priest and was an Ammonite, so his living quarters inside the temple precinct made the room unusable for its sacred purpose.

9Then I gave orders to have the rooms purified. I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, along with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

9Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.

NotePurifying meant a ceremony of washing and ritual cleansing that restored a space to fitness for sacred use. It says nothing about physical dirt.

10I also found out that the Levites had not been given the shares owed to them. So the Levites and the singers who did the work had each gone back to his own field.

10And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.

NoteThe Levites had no tribal territory to farm for a living; their income was the tithe. When the deliveries stopped, they had to fall back on the plots of land attached to the towns where they lived, which meant abandoning the temple duties.

11So I argued with the officials and said, "Why has the house of God been abandoned?" Then I gathered them together and put them back at their posts.

11Then contended I 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 a tenth of the grain, the new wine, and the oil into the storerooms.

12Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.

13I put men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites. Working with them was Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah. These men were considered trustworthy, and their job was to hand out the supplies to their fellow workers.

13And I 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 office was to distribute unto their brethren.

NoteA scribe was a trained professional official (literate, and employed to keep records and draft documents), not simply a copyist.

14Remember me for this, my God. Do not wipe out the faithful things I have done for the house of my God and for the work carried on there.

14Remember 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.

Note"Remember me" is a form of prayer that recurs through this chapter (verses 14, 22, 29, 31). The image behind "wipe out" is a written record: Nehemiah asks that the entry not be erased from the ledger.

15In those days I saw people in Judah crushing grapes in winepresses on the Sabbath. They were bringing in bundles of grain and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, and hauling it all into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I warned them about it on the day they were selling food.

15In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.

NoteThe Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, on which all work was to stop. A winepress was a hollowed rock basin where grapes were trodden by foot, the juice running into a lower basin. Sheaves are bundles of cut grain stalks tied together at harvest. Everything Nehemiah lists is ordinary harvest and market labor, which is the point.

16Men from Tyre who lived in the city brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, right in Jerusalem.

16There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

NoteTyre was a wealthy Phoenician port on the coast north of Israel, whose merchants traded across the Mediterranean. Fish would have been brought inland salted or dried.

17Then I argued with the leading men of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, treating the Sabbath day as if it were an ordinary day?

17Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?

18Did not your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this trouble on us and on this city? Now you are bringing even more anger on Israel by treating the Sabbath as ordinary."

18Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.

NoteThe "trouble" is the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem roughly a century and a half earlier, when the city walls and temple were destroyed and much of the population deported. Nehemiah's hearers were the descendants of those who had returned.

19So when it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the gates shut, and I said they were not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I also stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.

19And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

NoteThe day was reckoned from sunset to sunset, so the Sabbath began on what we would call Friday evening. Shutting the gates at dusk sealed the city for the whole of the following day.

20So the traders and the sellers of every kind of goods camped outside Jerusalem once or twice.

20So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.

21Then I warned them and said, "Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.

21Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

Note"Lay hands on you" means seize you by force. As governor, Nehemiah had the authority to arrest and punish.

22I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to come and guard the gates, so the Sabbath day would be kept holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and spare me because your mercy is so great.

22And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

NoteGuarding the gates was normally the job of ordinary watchmen. Assigning Levites (who had to ritually purify themselves first) treated the city gates on that day as an extension of temple duty.

23In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

23In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:

NoteAshdod was a coastal city on the old Philistine plain, by this time part of a neighboring Persian province. Ammon and Moab were the kingdoms east of the Dead Sea named in verse 1.

24Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, or the language of one of the other peoples, and they could not speak the language of Judah.

24And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.

NoteThe "language of Judah" is Hebrew. The Hebrew of this verse is compressed and can be read either as "half of the children spoke Ashdodite" or as "the children spoke half in Ashdodite": that is, a mixed speech. Either way the concern is that a generation was growing up unable to understand the texts read publicly in verse 1.

25I argued with those men, called down curses on them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear before God: "You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

25And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

NoteCursing here means pronouncing a formal, legally weighty curse aloud, not swearing at someone. Tearing out a man's hair or beard was a recognized public humiliation in that world, and beating was a magistrate's punishment; Nehemiah is acting as governor. The oath he imposes bans marriage in both directions, and "or for yourselves" adds the men he is addressing, not just their sons.

26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin because of women like these? Among many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet even he was led into sin by foreign women.

26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

NoteThe account is in 1 Kings 11. Solomon's foreign wives are said to have brought their own gods with them, and shrines for those gods were built in Jerusalem. The King James "outlandish" simply meant foreign in 1611; it did not mean bizarre.

27Should we then listen to you and let you do all this great evil, breaking faith with our God by marrying foreign women?"

27Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?

28One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I drove him away from me.

28And one 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.

NoteSanballat was the governor of Samaria, the province to the north, and Nehemiah's chief political opponent throughout the book. "Horonite" identifies his home town, either Beth-horon nearby or Horonaim in Moab. The man driven out was a grandson of the high priest, so a priest himself, married into the family of Nehemiah's rival.

29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the agreement made with the priests and with the Levites.

29Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.

NoteThe "covenant" is the standing agreement that set the priests and Levites apart for their office, which included restrictions on whom a priest might marry (Leviticus 21). To defile it is to break those terms.

30So I cleansed the priests and Levites of everything foreign, and I set out the duties of each one, giving every man his own task.

30Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;

31I also arranged for the wood offering to be brought at set times, and for the first part of the harvest. Remember me, my God, for good.

31And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

NoteThe wood offering was a rota of deliveries of firewood, since the altar fire burned continuously and Judah had little timber to spare. Firstfruits were the earliest part of each harvest, brought to the temple before the rest of the crop was used.