Nehemiah 13

Ne 13:1-9.

UPON THE

READING OF THE

LAW

SEPARATION

IS

MADE FROM THE

MIXED

MULTITUDE.

1. On that day--This was not immediately consequent on the dedication

of the city wall and gates, but after Nehemiah's return from the

Persian court to Jerusalem, his absence having extended over a

considerable period. The transaction here described probably took place

on one of the periodical occasions for the public readings of the law,

when the people's attention was particularly directed to some

violations of it which called for immediate correction. There is

another instance afforded, in addition to those which have already

fallen under our notice, of the great advantages resulting from the

public and periodical reading of the divine law. It was an established

provision for the religious instruction of the people, for diffusing a

knowledge and a reverence for the sacred volume, as well as for

removing those errors and corruptions which might, in the course of

time, have crept in.

the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of

God for ever--that is, not be incorporated into the Israelitish

kingdom, nor united in marriage relations with that people

(De 23:3, 4).

This appeal to the authority of the divine law led to a dissolution of

all heathen alliances

(Ne 9:2;

Ezr 10:3).

4, 5. before this--The practice of these mixed marriages, in open

neglect or violation of the law, had become so common, that even the

pontifical house, which ought to have set a better example, was

polluted by such an impure mixture.

Eliashib the priest . . . was allied unto Tobiah--This person was the

high priest

(Ne 13:28;

also

Ne 3:1),

who, by virtue of his dignified office, had the superintendence and

control of the apartments attached to the temple. The laxity of his

principles, as well as of his practice, is sufficiently apparent from

his contracting a family connection with so notorious an enemy of

Israel as Tobiah. But his obsequious attentions had carried him much

farther; for to accommodate so important a person as Tobiah on his

occasional visits to Jerusalem, Eliashib had provided him a splendid

apartment in the temple. The introduction of so gross an impropriety

can be accounted for in no other way than by supposing that in the

absence of the priests and the cessation of the services, the temple

was regarded as a common public building, which might, in the

circumstances, be appropriated as a palatial residence.

6-9. But in all this was not I at Jerusalem--Eliashib (concluding

that, as Nehemiah had departed from Jerusalem, and, on the expiry of

his allotted term of absence, had resigned his government, he had gone

not to return) began to use great liberties, and, there being none left

whose authority or frown he dreaded, allowed himself to do things most

unworthy of his sacred office, and which, though in unison with his own

irreligious character, he would not have dared to attempt during the

residence of the pious governor. Nehemiah resided twelve years as

governor of Jerusalem, and having succeeded in repairing and

refortifying the city, he at the end of that period returned to his

duties in Shushan. How long [Nehemiah] remained there is not expressly

said, but "after certain days," which is a Scripture phraseology for a

year or a number of years, he obtained leave to resume the government

of Jerusalem; to his deep mortification and regret, he found matters in

the neglected and disorderly state here described. Such gross

irregularities as were practised, such extraordinary corruptions as had

crept in, evidently imply the lapse of a considerable time. Besides,

they exhibit the character of Eliashib, the high priest, in a most

unfavorable light; for while he ought, by his office, to have preserved

the inviolable sanctity of the temple and its furniture, his influence

had been directly exercised for evil; especially he had given

permission and countenance to a most indecent outrage--the

appropriation of the best apartments in the sacred building to a

heathen governor, one of the worst and most determined enemies of the

people and the worship of God. The very first reform Nehemiah on his

second visit resolved upon, was the stopping of this gross profanation

the idolatrous Ammonite was, after undergoing the process of ritual

purification

(Nu 15:9),

restored to its proper use--a storehouse for the sacred vessels.

Ne 13:10-14.

NEHEMIAH

REFORMS THE

OFFICERS IN THE

HOUSE OF

GOD.

10-13. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been

given them--The people, disgusted with the malversations of

Eliashib, or the lax and irregular performance of the sacred rites,

withheld the tithes, so that the ministers of religion were compelled

for their livelihood to withdraw to their patrimonial possessions in

the country. The temple services had ceased; all religious duties had

fallen into neglect. The money put into the sacred treasury had been

squandered in the entertainment of an Ammonite heathen, an open and

contemptuous enemy of God and His people. The return of the governor

put an end to these disgraceful and profane proceedings. He

administered a sharp rebuke to those priests to whom the management of

the temple and its services was committed, for the total neglect of

their duties, and the violation of the solemn promises which they had

made to him at his departure. He upbraided them with the serious charge

of having not only withheld from men their dues, but of having robbed

God, by neglecting the care of His house and service. And thus having

roused them to a sense of duty and incited them to testify their godly

sorrow for their criminal negligence by renewed devotedness to their

sacred work, Nehemiah restored the temple services. He recalled the

dispersed Levites to the regular discharge of their duties; while the

people at large, perceiving that their contributions would be no longer

perverted to improper uses, willingly brought in their tithes as

formerly. Men of integrity and good report were appointed to act as

trustees of the sacred treasures, and thus order, regularity, and

active service were re-established in the temple.

Ne 13:15-31.

THE

VIOLATION OF THE

SABBATH.

15-22. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the

sabbath--The cessation of the temple services had been necessarily

followed by a public profanation of the Sabbath, and this had gone so

far that labor was carried on in the fields, and fish brought to the

markets on the sacred day. Nehemiah took the decisive step of ordering

the city gates to be shut, and not to be opened, till the Sabbath was

past; and in order to ensure the faithful execution of this order, he

stationed some of his own servants as guards, to prevent the

introduction of any commodities on that day. On the merchants and

various dealers finding admission denied them, they set up booths

outside the walls, in hopes of still driving a traffic with the

peasantry; but the governor threatened, if they continued, to adopt

violent measures for their removal. For this purpose a body of Levites

was stationed as sentinels at the gate, with discretionary powers to

protect the sanctification of the Sabbath.

24. could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the

language of each people--a mongrel dialect imbibed from their mothers,

together with foreign principles and habits.

25. cursed them--that is, pronounced on them an anathema which

entailed excommunication.

smote . . . and plucked off their hair--To cut off the

hair of offenders seems to be a punishment rather disgraceful than

severe; yet it is supposed that pain was added to disgrace, and that

they tore off the hair with violence as if they were plucking a bird

alive.

Send Addenda, Corrigenda, and Sententiae to

the editor