Nehemiah 13:5-15

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 ¹prescribed 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 ²the thirty-second * year of ³Artaxerxes 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, ⁴by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.

8 It was very displeasing to me, so I ⁵threw all of Tobiah's household goods out of the room.

9 Then I gave an order and ⁶they 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 ⁷the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, ⁸each to his own field.

11 So I ⁹reprimanded the officials and said, "¹⁰Why is the house of God forsaken?" Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.

12 All Judah then brought ¹¹the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses.

13 In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition * to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for ¹²they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen.

14 ¹³Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

Sabbath Restored

15 In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses ¹⁴on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, ¹⁵and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So ¹⁶I admonished them on the day they sold food.

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Nehemiah 13:5-15 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 16

1. Numbers 18:21
2. Nehemiah 5:14
3. Ezra 6:22
4. Nehemiah 13:5
5. John 2:13-16
6. 2 Chr 29:5, 15, 16
7. Deuteronomy 12:19; Nehemiah 10:37
8. Nehemiah 12:28, 29
9. Nehemiah 13:17, 25
10. Nehemiah 10:39
11. Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44; Malachi 3:10
12. Nehemiah 7:2
13. Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 13:22, 31
14. Exodus 20:8; Exodus 34:21; Deuteronomy 5:12-14; Jeremiah 17:22
15. Nehemiah 10:31; Jeremiah 17:21
16. Nehemiah 9:29; Nehemiah 13:21

Footnotes 9

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