Nehemiah 13:1

1 On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.

Nehemiah 13:1 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:1

On that day
Not when the wall of the city was dedicated, nor quickly after; for it cannot be thought that people should be so corrupted so soon as this chapter shows; but when Nehemiah had governed them twelve years, and had been at Babylon, and was returned again, as appears from ( Nehemiah 13:6 ) , compared with ( Nehemiah 2:1 Nehemiah 2:6 ) ( 7:2 ) ,

they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people;
for from the time of the reading of the law by Ezra, ( Nehemiah 8:1 ) it became a custom to read the law publicly:

and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should
not come into the congregation of the Lord;
that is, be admitted to marry with any of the people of Israel; (See Gill on Deuteronomy 23:3).

Nehemiah 13:1 In-Context

1 On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.

2 For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing.

3 When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.

4 Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as supervisor of the storerooms of the Temple of our God and who was also a relative of Tobiah,

5 had converted a large storage room and placed it at Tobiah’s disposal. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, the frankincense, various articles for the Temple, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil (which were prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers), as well as the offerings for the priests.

Footnotes

• [a]. See Deut 23:3-6 .