Nehemiah 13:4

4 And before this, Eliashib, the priest, had been the overseer of the chamber of the house of our God, and was related to Tobiah,

Nehemiah 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:4

And before this
Before the above law was read, and observed and acted upon:

Eliashib the priest;
whom some take to be a common priest; so Bishop Usher ^F1; but he seems rather to be the high priest, by comparing it with ( Nehemiah 13:28 ) ,

having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God;
which has led some to the notion of his being a common priest; but chamber may be put for chambers, and those for the whole house or temple, which the high priest had the greatest concern in, and oversight of:

was allied to Tobiah;
the servant and Ammonite, an inveterate enemy of the Jews, ( Nehemiah 2:10 Nehemiah 2:20 ) , having married a daughter of Shecaniah, and his son a daughter of Meshullam, who were both priests, and so as it seems related to Eliashib, ( Nehemiah 6:18 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Annal. Vet. Test. p. 200.

Nehemiah 13:4 In-Context

2 because they did not meet the sons 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.

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

4 And before this, Eliashib, the priest, had been the overseer of the chamber of the house of our God, and was related to Tobiah,

5 and he had prepared for him a great chamber, where before they had kept the present, the frankincense, the vessels, the tithe of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, to the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priests.

6 But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went unto the king, and after certain days I was sent by the king.