Chapter Thirteen
1–3. Separation from foreigners. 4–9. The expulsion of Tobiah. 10–14. Measures undertaken by Nehemiah to ensure the support of the clergy. 15–22. Safeguarding the Sabbath rest. 23–28. Measures against marriage with foreign women. 29–31. Other dispositions of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 13:1. On 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 enter the assembly of God, The separation from foreigners, which Ezra endeavored to accomplish (Ezra 9:12), proved to be only temporary. Marriages with foreign women again became a common practice in the Jewish community (verse 4, 23 etc.), and Nehemiah had to wage a struggle against them. – “On that day” – a note which has, as in (Neh 12:44), the sense of indefiniteness. It apparently points to the time between the first and second arrival of Nehemiah (see verse 4–6). “They read from the Book of Moses”: from the following, it is evident that the writer has in mind the place (Deut 23:3-6), which he does not quote in full.
Nehemiah 13:3. When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. “When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.” In what exactly the separation of the foreign element consisted in this case is not specified: this was either the dismissal of foreign wives (Robinson), or the exclusion of foreigners from participation in worship and festivals (Reuss).
Nehemiah 13:4. Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, was connected by marriage to Tobiah. Under the “priest Eliashib” mentioned in verse 4, one must understand the high priest Eliashib (Neh 3:1), who, apart from his usual duties, also had supervision of the chambers of the temple. Using his authority, Eliashib provided a large chamber, or, as can be concluded from verse 9, a series of chambers to his relative Tobiah – without doubt, Tobiah the Ammonite, one of Nehemiah’s enemies. How Tobiah was related to Eliashib, the writer does not indicate. From (Neh 6:18) it is evident that Tobiah’s son Jehohanan was married to the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. One can suppose that the latter (Neh 3:30) was in a marriage relationship with Eliashib, and thus arose the relationship of Eliashib with Tobiah.
Nehemiah 13:6. But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king The fact mentioned above occurred during Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem, when Nehemiah went to the court of the Persian king. Nehemiah’s absence began in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes I. The writer does not indicate the exact duration of this absence. But from the note “after some time” it is concluded that Nehemiah’s stay at the court of the Persian king was brief, and that he returned to Jerusalem under the same Artaxerxes, and probably in the same year 433–432. Artaxerxes in verse 6 is called the king of Babylon, as the ruler of the conquered Babylonian kingdom.
Nehemiah 13:8. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. Nehemiah 13:9. Then I gave orders to cleanse the chambers, and I brought back the utensils of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense. From verse 8 it is evident that the chamber in the court of the temple served Tobiah as a dwelling – perhaps during his visits to Jerusalem. After the chamber was cleansed, its former purpose was restored to it.
Nehemiah 13:10. I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, for the Levites and the singers who did their work had fled each to his field. Nehemiah 13:11. So I contended with the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Nehemiah 13:12. And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. Nehemiah 13:13. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable. And it was their duty to distribute to their brothers. Nehemiah 13:14. Remember me, O my God, for this, and do not blot out my loyal deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for its service. In verses 10–14 are described the cares of Nehemiah to provide the Levites with the means of support determined by law.
Nehemiah 13:15. In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of produce, and they were bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Nehemiah 13:16. Tyrians also, who lived there, brought in fish and all kinds of wares and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 13:17. Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Nehemiah 13:18. Did not your ancestors do the same, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13:19. When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates to prevent any load from being brought in on the Sabbath day. Nehemiah’s efforts to safeguard the Sabbath rest. The Sabbath rest was violated by field work and trade, which was conducted by Tyrians who lived in Judea. After his remonstration to the nobles, upon whom the duty of maintaining order rested, Nehemiah undertook strict measures to prevent the violation of the Sabbath. He ordered that the city gates be shut in the evening on the eve of the Sabbath and not be opened until the morning after the Sabbath. And since the exit from the city was still permitted, in order to prevent the carrying of any load through the gates, a guard was stationed near them.
Nehemiah 13:20. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Nehemiah 13:21. But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. “And the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.” Evidently, the sellers who were driven from the city began to stop by the walls on Sabbaths and continued to conduct business there as before. This ceased only after Nehemiah threatened to lay hands on them, that is, to use force against them.
Nehemiah 13:22. And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. “And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.” What exactly was this last disposition of Nehemiah, directed to the protection of the sanctity of the Sabbath, is difficult to say. It is supposed (Keil) that on the eve of the Sabbath the usual gate guard was reinforced by guards from the Levites, who were to remain at the gates throughout the entire Sabbath. By this reinforcement of the guard with persons serving at the temple, Nehemiah perhaps intended to indicate clearly the high importance and sacred character of the Sabbath, and at the same time to move the inhabitants of Jerusalem to observe the Sabbath law.
Nehemiah 13:23. In those days also I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Nehemiah 13:24. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke the language of various peoples. Nehemiah 13:25. So I contended with them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair; and I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Nehemiah 13:26. Did not King Solomon of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Nehemiah 13:27. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women? Nehemiah 13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. I drove him away from me. Nehemiah’s struggle against mixed marriages. “In those days also I saw Jews who had married women.” The article standing before “Jews” in the Hebrew indicates that the text speaks not of chance meetings but of such whom Nehemiah knew and sought out.
Nehemiah 13:24. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke the language of various peoples. “And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod,” that is, Philistine, or the language of other peoples – probably of the Ammonites and Moabites, into whose family alliances the Jews entered. The languages of these peoples were close to the Hebrew language, representing only a dialect of it.
Nehemiah 13:26. Did not King Solomon of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. See (1 Kgs 3:12-14; 2 Chr 1:12).
Nehemiah 13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. I drove him away from me. Strict measures taken against all who contracted mixed marriages were applied to one of the sons of the high priest Joiada, who was married to the daughter of Sanballat (Neh 2:10). Since Joiada’s son apparently refused to submit to Nehemiah’s demand and to send away his wife, he was expelled from Jerusalem. Alongside this account in the Book of Nehemiah, we have the account of Josephus that the name of the son of Joiada was Manasseh, and the fact itself of his removal from Jerusalem occurred under Darius Codomannus (331 B.C.), and at that time the Samaritan temple was also built, in which Manasseh was appointed as priest (Jewish Antiquities XI, 7, 2; VIII, 2, 5). Thus, an event which, according to the Book of Nehemiah, occurred during the reign of Artaxerxes I, according to Josephus, took place 100 years later – under Darius Codomannus. However, in view of the acknowledged inaccuracy of Josephus’s accounts relating to the 5th century B.C., the testimony of the Book of Nehemiah should be preferred (see Rybinsky, Essays on the History of the Samaritans. Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy. 1895).
Nehemiah 13:29. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, and the Levites. “They defiled the priesthood”: the defilement is understood as the defilement by marriage with foreign women. “The covenant of the priesthood and the Levites,” that is, the covenant which God made with the tribe of Levi, choosing this tribe to serve Him (Exod 28:1; Mal 2:8).
Nehemiah 13:31. and the supply of wood at appointed times and the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. “Remember me, O my God, for good.” This prayer, repeated several times (see Neh 13:22), reveals the piety of Nehemiah. The book concludes with this prayer. We have no further information in the Bible concerning the later life of Nehemiah. Josephus reports that Nehemiah died at an advanced age. The memory of him lived long in Jerusalem (Sir 49:15). The respect for him was so great that tradition ascribed to him the restoration of the temple and altar (2 Macc 1:18), as well as the collection of the canon of sacred books (2 Macc 2:13).