Nehemiah 13:23

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

Nehemiah 13:23 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:23

In those days also I saw Jews that married wives of Ashdod,
of Ammon, and of Moab.
] Ashdod, or Azotus, as it is called in ( Acts 8:40 ) , was one of the five cities of the Philistines; which, though none of the seven nations with whom marriage was forbid, yet it was very unfit and improper to marry with them, ( Judges 14:3 ) . This place was a mart of the Arabians ^F8, where they sold their goods, to which the Jews might resort, and thereby be ensnared into such marriages; and which with the Ammonites and Moabites were unlawful, ( Nehemiah 13:1 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Mela de Situ Orbis, l. 1. c. 10.

Nehemiah 13:23 In-Context

21 I warned them. "Why are you spending the night in front of the wall?" I asked them. "If you do it again, I'll arrest you." After that, they no longer came on the day of worship.

22 Then I told the Levites to cleanse themselves and guard the gates to keep the day of worship holy. [Nehemiah prayed,] "Remember me also for this, my God, and spare me, since you are very kind."

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

24 Half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or one of the other languages, but they couldn't understand the language of Judah well enough to speak it.

25 So I reprimanded those Jews, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God: "We won't allow our daughters to marry their sons, and we won't allow their daughters to marry us or our sons."