Nehemiah 13:25

25 So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.

Nehemiah 13:25 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:25

And I contended with them
Argued with them, faithfully admonished them, and sharply reproved them:

and cursed them;
assuring them that the curse of God would come upon them, unless they repented. Aben Ezra interprets it of excommunicating them, either with "Cherem" or "Niddui", which were two sorts of excommunication among the Jews; but it is a question whether as yet those were used by them:

and smote certain of them;
ordered them to be beaten with rods or scourges, as transgressors of the law:

and plucked off their hair;
or ordered it to be plucked off by the executioner that smote them; which sort of punishment, as it was painful, it was disgraceful and ignominious, see ( Isaiah 1:6 ) ,

and made them swear by God, saying, ye shall not give your daughters
unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for
yourselves;
not intermarry with them; this they had sworn to before, ( Nehemiah 10:29 Nehemiah 10:30 ) .

Nehemiah 13:25 In-Context

23 About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

24 Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all.

25 So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.

26 “Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives.

27 How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”