Nehemiah 13:2-12

2 because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but ¹hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, ²our God turned the curse into a blessing.

3 So when they heard the law, ³they excluded ⁴all foreigners from Israel.

Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed

4 Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ⁵who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to ⁶Tobiah,

5 had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil ⁷prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

6 But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in ⁸the thirty-second * year of ⁹Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king,

7 and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ¹⁰by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.

8 It was very displeasing to me, so I ¹¹threw all of Tobiah's household goods out of the room.

9 Then I gave an order and ¹²they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

Tithes Restored

10 I also discovered that ¹³the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, ¹⁴each to his own field.

11 So I ¹⁵reprimanded the officials and said, "¹⁶Why is the house of God forsaken?" Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.

12 All Judah then brought ¹⁷the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses.

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Nehemiah 13:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 13

This chapter relates the reformation of various abuses crept in among the Jews by Nehemiah, who removed the Moabites and Ammonites, mixed with them, Ne 13:1-3, threw the household goods of Tobiah out of a chamber of the temple, and restored it to its former use, Ne 13:4-9, took care that the Levites had their portion given them which had been kept from them, Ne 13:10-14 prevented the profanation of the sabbath by selling goods on that day, Ne 13:15-22, and put a stop to the marrying of strange wives, which had prevailed again among them, Ne 13:23-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 17

1. Numbers 22:3-11
2. Deuteronomy 23:5
3. Nehemiah 9:2; Nehemiah 10:28
4. Exodus 12:38
5. Nehemiah 12:44
6. Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 6:1, 17, 18
7. Numbers 18:21
8. Nehemiah 5:14
9. Ezra 6:22
10. Nehemiah 13:5
11. John 2:13-16
12. 2 Chr 29:5, 15, 16
13. Deuteronomy 12:19; Nehemiah 10:37
14. Nehemiah 12:28, 29
15. Nehemiah 13:17, 25
16. Nehemiah 10:39
17. Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44; Malachi 3:10

Footnotes 8

[a]. Lit "close to"
[b]. Or "chamber"
[c]. Lit "heave offerings"
[d]. Or "understood"
[e]. Or "chamber," and so in vv 8, 9
[f]. Or "knew"
[g]. Lit "fled"
[h]. Or "contended with"