Nehemiah 13:4

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.

Nehemiah 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:4

And before this
Before the above law was read, and observed and acted upon:

Eliashib the priest;
whom some take to be a common priest; so Bishop Usher ^F1; but he seems rather to be the high priest, by comparing it with ( Nehemiah 13:28 ) ,

having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God;
which has led some to the notion of his being a common priest; but chamber may be put for chambers, and those for the whole house or temple, which the high priest had the greatest concern in, and oversight of:

was allied to Tobiah;
the servant and Ammonite, an inveterate enemy of the Jews, ( Nehemiah 2:10 Nehemiah 2:20 ) , having married a daughter of Shecaniah, and his son a daughter of Meshullam, who were both priests, and so as it seems related to Eliashib, ( Nehemiah 6:18 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F1 Annal. Vet. Test. p. 200.

Nehemiah 13:4 In-Context

2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

3 So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.

5 And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.

6 But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,