Nehemiah 13:19

19 And it was done, when the gates of Jerusalem had rested in the day of sabbath, I said, Shut ye the gates; and they shutted the gates; and I commanded, that they should not open the gates till after the sabbath. And of my children, or servants, I ordained numbers on the gates to keep (them) shut, that no man should bring in a burden in the day of sabbath. (And so it was done, when the gates of Jerusalem were empty, early on the Sabbath day, that I said, Shut ye the gates; and so they shut the gates; and I commanded, that they should not open the gates until after the Sabbath. And I ordained a number of my servants there at the gates, to keep them shut, so that no one could bring in a load on the Sabbath day.)

Nehemiah 13:19 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:19

And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to
be dark before the sabbath
Or "were shaded" ^F7; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, when the shadows of the eve of the sabbath were stretched out upon the gates; the sabbath did not begin till sun setting, and the stars appeared; but before that, as the sun was declining, the shadows through the houses in Jerusalem, and mountains about it, spread themselves over the gates: and when it was near dusk, and as soon as it was so,

I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should
not be opened till after the sabbath;
until sun setting the next day:

and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should be burden
brought in on the sabbath day;
the porters being not to be trusted, being liable to be bribed and corrupted, which he knew his servants were not; and therefore, since it might be necessary on a few occasions to open the gates to let some persons in and out, and especially such who dwelt near, and came to worship, he placed his servants there, to take care that none were admitted that had any burdens upon them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (wllu) "obumbratae", Pagninus, Montanus; "obumbrarentur", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Rambachius; "incidentibus umbris", Tigurine version.

Nehemiah 13:19 In-Context

17 And I rebuked the principal men of Judah, and I said to them, What is this evil thing that ye do, and make unholy the day of the sabbath? (And I rebuked the leaders of Judah, and I said to them, What is this evil thing that ye do, and make the Sabbath day unholy!)

18 Whether our fathers did not these things, and (then) our God brought on us all this evil, and on this city? and ye increase wrathfulness on Israel, in defouling the sabbath. (Did not our forefathers do all these things, and then our God brought down all this evil upon us, and upon this city? and now ye shall bring more of God's anger upon Israel by defiling the Sabbath!)

19 And it was done, when the gates of Jerusalem had rested in the day of sabbath, I said, Shut ye the gates; and they shutted the gates; and I commanded, that they should not open the gates till after the sabbath. And of my children, or servants, I ordained numbers on the gates to keep (them) shut, that no man should bring in a burden in the day of sabbath. (And so it was done, when the gates of Jerusalem were empty, early on the Sabbath day, that I said, Shut ye the gates; and so they shut the gates; and I commanded, that they should not open the gates until after the Sabbath. And I ordained a number of my servants there at the gates, to keep them shut, so that no one could bring in a load on the Sabbath day.)

20 And merchants, and men selling all things set to sale, dwelled without Jerusalem once or twice. (And once or twice, some merchants, and people selling all kinds of things, set up shop outside the wall of Jerusalem.)

21 And I areasoned (with) them, and I said to them, Why dwell ye there even against, or on the other side of, the wall? If ye do this thing the second time, I shall set hand on you. Therefore from that time forth they came not thither in the sabbath. (And I warned them, and I said to them, Why do ye stay there on the other side of the wall? If ye do this thing another time, I shall put my hands on you. And from that time forth they did not come back there on the Sabbath.)