Nehemiah 13:23

23 But also in those days I saw Jews wedding wives, women of Ashdod, and women of Ammonites, and women of Moabites.

Nehemiah 13:23 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:23

In those days also I saw Jews that married wives of Ashdod,
of Ammon, and of Moab.
] Ashdod, or Azotus, as it is called in ( Acts 8:40 ) , was one of the five cities of the Philistines; which, though none of the seven nations with whom marriage was forbid, yet it was very unfit and improper to marry with them, ( Judges 14:3 ) . This place was a mart of the Arabians F8, where they sold their goods, to which the Jews might resort, and thereby be ensnared into such marriages; and which with the Ammonites and Moabites were unlawful, ( Nehemiah 13:1 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Mela de Situ Orbis, l. 1. c. 10.

Nehemiah 13:23 In-Context

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.)
22 Also I said to the deacons, that they should be cleansed, and that they should come to keep the gates, and to hallow the day of sabbath. And therefore for this thing, my God, have mind of me, and spare me by the muchliness of thy merciful doings. (And I said to the Levites, that they should be purified, and then that they should go and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. And so for this thing, my God, remember me, and spare me by the greatness of thy mercy.)
23 But also in those days I saw Jews wedding wives, women of Ashdod, and women of Ammonites, and women of Moabites.
24 And their children spake half part by the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak by the speech of Jews (and could not speak the Jewish language, or Hebrew), and they spake by the language of (this) people, and of (that) people.
25 And I rebuked them, and cursed them; and I beat the men of them, and I made them bald, and I made them swear by the Lord, that they should not give their daughters to the sons of those aliens, and that they should not take of the daughters of those aliens to their sons, and to themselves; (And I rebuked them, and cursed them; and I beat these men, and I made them bald, and I made them swear by the Lord, that they would not give their daughters as wives to the sons of those foreigners, and that they would not take the daughters of those foreigners as wives for their sons, or for themselves;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.