Nehemiah 13:25-31

25 So 1I contended with them and cursed them and 2struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and 3made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26 "4Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? 5Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and 6he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin.
27 "Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil 7by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"
28 Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of 8Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.
29 9Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the 10covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30 11Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task,
31 and I arranged 12for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. 13Remember me, O my God, for good.

Nehemiah 13:25-31 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.

Cross References 13

  • 1. Nehemiah 13:11, 17
  • 2. Deuteronomy 25:2
  • 3. Nehemiah 10:29, 30
  • 4. 1 Kings 11:1
  • 5. 1 Kings 3:13; 2 Chronicles 1:12
  • 6. 2 Samuel 12:24, 25
  • 7. Ezra 10:2; Nehemiah 13:23
  • 8. Nehemiah 2:10, 19; Nehemiah 4:1
  • 9. Nehemiah 6:14
  • 10. Numbers 25:13
  • 11. Nehemiah 10:30
  • 12. Nehemiah 10:34
  • 13. Nehemiah 13:14, 22

Footnotes 3

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