Nehemiah 13:8

8 and to me it seemed full evil. And I casted forth the vessels of the house of Tobiah out of the chamber; (and I was greatly angered by that. And I threw all of Tobiah's things out of the room;)

Nehemiah 13:8 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:8

And it grieved me sore
That such a sacred place should be converted to common use, and to that of an Heathen, and of an enemy to the Jews and their religion:

therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the
chamber;
as being chief magistrate, and acting by commission under the king of Persia, and to regulate everything amiss, according to the Jewish laws, as well as those of the king, his power being, no doubt, as large as Ezra's, ( Ezra 7:25 Ezra 7:26 ) , by "household stuff" is meant what is movable in the house, as chairs, tables, vessels for dressing, caring, drinking there are various opinions about this with the ancients {e}.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 19.

Nehemiah 13:8 In-Context

6 And in all these things I was not in Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I came to the king, and in the end of days I prayed the king. (And at this time I was not in Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, I went and reported to the king, but after some number of days, I was granted leave to return to Jerusalem.)

7 And I came into Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliashib had done to Tobiah, to make to him a chamber in the porches of God's house; (And so I came back to Jerusalem, and I learned of the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah's sake, by giving him a room in one of the courtyards of the House of God;)

8 and to me it seemed full evil. And I casted forth the vessels of the house of Tobiah out of the chamber; (and I was greatly angered by that. And I threw all of Tobiah's things out of the room;)

9 and I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and I brought again there the vessels of God's house, and the sacrifice thereof, and the incense. (and I commanded, that they purify the room, and that all the vessels of the House of God, and the offerings, and the incense, should be put back into it.)

10 And I knew that the parts of the deacons were not given to them, and that each man of the deacons and of the singers, and of them that ministered in the temple, had gone away into his country(side); (And I also learned that the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, and so all of the Levites and the singers, those who ministered in the Temple, had gone back to their fields;)