Nehemiah 13:6-7

6 I was not in Jerusalem at that time, for I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign, though I later asked his permission to return.

7 When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I learned about Eliashib’s evil deed in providing Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God.

Nehemiah 13:6-7 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. King Artaxerxes of Persia is here identified as the king of Babylon because Persia had conquered the Babylonian Empire. The thirty-second year of Artaxerxes was 433