Nehemiah 13:23

Mixed Marriages are Condemned

23 Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of 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 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Nehemiah 13:23 In-Context

21 But I warned them and said to them, "Why are you spending the night opposite the wall? If you do [it again], I will lay hands against you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.

22 And then I told two Levites that they must purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to consecrate the day of the Sabbath. Remember this also, my God, and take pity on me according to the greatness of your loyal love.

23 Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

24 Half of their children spoke Ashdodite and could not speak Judean, but [only] the tongues of other nations.

25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.