Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
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Nehemiah 10:1-8 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests. The Levites: namely, Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu. The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahathmoab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nobai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
Parallel Translations
-
Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
-
Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashur, Amariah, Malchijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah: these were the priests.
Show all 3 translations
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(10-2) Now those that set their seal were: Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zedekiah;
(10-3) Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah;
(10-4) Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah;
(10-5) Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch;
(10-6) Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah;
(10-7) Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch;
(10-8) Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin;
(10-9) Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests.
Cross-references (36)
- Nehemiah 9:38 (v1) Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”
- Nehemiah 1:1 (v1) The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,
- Nehemiah 8:9 (v1) Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, “Today is…
- Nehemiah 3:11 (vv3, 5) Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.
- Nehemiah 8:4 (vv3, 7) Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah,…
Show all 31 cross-references
- Nehemiah 11:11 (vv2, 7) Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of God’s house,
- Nehemiah 12:2 (vv3–4) Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
- Nehemiah 12:13 (vv3, 7) of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
- Ezra 2:63 (v1) The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things until a priest stood up to serve with Urim and with Thummim.
- Ezra 10:21 (v8) Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
- Nehemiah 3:4 (v5) Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of…
- Nehemiah 3:6 (v7) Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its…
- Nehemiah 3:10 (v4) Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.
- Nehemiah 3:20 (v6) After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib…
- Nehemiah 3:21 (v5) After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of…
- Nehemiah 3:23 (v2) After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made…
- Nehemiah 3:29 (v8) After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east…
- Nehemiah 7:70 (v1) Some from among the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty…
- Nehemiah 11:12 (v3) and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of…
- Nehemiah 12:1 (v2) Now these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
- Nehemiah 12:3 (v5) Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
- Nehemiah 12:4 (v6) Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
- Nehemiah 12:4-5 (v7) Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
- Nehemiah 12:5-6 (v8) Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah.
- Nehemiah 12:14 (v4) of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
- Nehemiah 12:17 (v7) of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;
- Nehemiah 12:18 (v8) of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
- Nehemiah 12:25-33 (v7) Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates. These were…
- Nehemiah 12:33-34 (v2) and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,
- Nehemiah 12:41 (v7) and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
- Nehemiah 12:42 (v8) and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.
31 distinct cross-references across this passage (36 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 Or, butler.
Or, butler.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v1 Neh 10:1 Now those that sealed [were], Nehemiah, the…
Neh 10:1 Now those that sealed [were], Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,
Ver. 1. Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha] He is first mentioned, not as a priest, but as a provost; and one that held it an honour to be first in so good a matter; as Caesar never said to his soldiers, Ite, but Venite, Go, but, Come along, I will lead you; and as Abimelech said, What ye have seen me do, make haste and do accordingly. So should all superiors say to their inferiors. Vita principis censura est, imo cynosura, The life of the prince is the loede star of the people, upon which most men fix their eyes and shape their courses. Magnates sunt Magnetes, Great men draw many by their examples, they are as looking glasses by which others dress themselves. And hence Nehemiah’s forwardness here to seal first. There follow in their order priests, Levites, princes, and people, solemnly sealing a sure covenant. God had caused them to pass under the rod, and now he is bringing them into the bond of the covenant, that he may purge out the rebels from amongst them, Eze 20:37-38.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v1 Those that sealed, both in their own names, and…
Those that sealed, both in their own names, and in the name of all the rest. It may seem strange that Ezra doth not appear among them. But that might be because he was prevented, either by death, or by some sickness, or other extraordinary impediment, for which we have this presumption, that whereas Ezra appears, and preacheth, and prayeth with Jeshua and Bani, &c., before the feast of tabernacles, Neh 8:4, &c., we have no mention of him Ne 9, but the whole work of that solemn fast day was managed by them alone, without any mention of Ezra, whose name would not have been omitted, if he had been then present. It is true, we meet with Ezra after this, at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, Neh 12:36, and therefore he was then freed from this impediment, whatsoever it was; but thence it appears that he was not dead. Nehemiah, the Tirshatha: this is added to distinguish him from others of that name, whereof we have one, Neh 3:16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 When Israel was first brought into covenant with God…
When Israel was first brought into covenant with God it was done by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood, Ex. 24. But here it was done by the more natural and common way of sealing and subscribing the written articles of the covenant, which bound them to no more than was already their duty. Now here we have,
I. The names of those public persons who, as the representatives and heads of the congregation, set their hands and seals to this covenant, because it would have been an endless piece of work for every particular person to do it; and, if these leading men did their part in pursuance of this covenant, their example would have a good influence upon all the people. Now observe, 1. Nehemiah, who was the governor, signed first, to show his forwardness in this work and to set others a good example, Neh 10:1. Those that are above others in dignity and power should go before them in the way of God. 2. Next to him subscribed twenty-two priests, among whom I wonder we do not find Ezra, who was an active man in the solemnity (Ezr 8:2) which was but the first day of the same month, and therefore we cannot think he was absent; but he, having before done his part as a scribe, now left it to others to do theirs. 3. Next to the priests, seventeen Levites subscribed this covenant, among whom we find all or most of those who were the mouth of the congregation in prayer, Ezr 9:4, Ezr 9:5. This showed that they themselves were affected with what they had said, and would not bind those burdens on others which they themselves declined to touch. Those that lead in prayer should lead in every other good work. 4. Next to the Levites, forty-four of the chief of the people gave it under their hands for themselves and all the rest, chiefly those whom they had influence upon, that they would keep God's commandments. Their names are left upon record here, to their honour, as men that were forward and active in reviving and endeavouring to perpetuate religion in their country. The memory of such shall be blessed. It is observable that most of those who were mentioned, Ezr 7:8, etc., as heads of houses or clans, are here mentioned among the first of the chief of the people that subscribed, whoever was the present head bearing the name of him that was head when they came out of Babylon, and these were fittest to subscribe for all those of their father's house. Here are Parosh, Pahathmoab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani (Neh 10:14), Azgad, Bebai, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, and some others in the following verses, that are all found in that catalogue. Those that have interest must use it for God.
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II. The concurrence of the rest of the people with them, and the rest of the priests and Levites, who signified their consent to what their chiefs did. With them joined, 1. Their wives and children; for they had transgressed, and they must reform. Every one that had knowledge and understanding must covenant with God. As soon as young people grow up to be capable of distinguishing between good and evil, and of acting intelligently, they ought to make it their own act and deed to join themselves to the Lord. 2. The proselytes of other nations, all that had separated themselves from the people of the lands, their gods and their worship, unto the law of God, and the observance of that law. See what conversion it; it is separating ourselves from the course and custom of this world, and devoting ourselves to the conduce of the word of God. And, as there is one law, so there is one covenant, one baptism, for the stranger and for him that is born in the land. Observe how the concurrence of the people is expressed, Neh 10:29. (1.) They clave to their brethren one and all. Here those whom the court blessed the country blessed too! The commonalty agreed with their nobles in this good work. Great men never look so great as when they encourage religion, and are examples of it; and they would by that, as much as any thing, secure an interest in the most valuable of their inferiors. Let but the nobles cordially espouse religious causes, and perhaps they will find people cleave to them therein closer than they can imagine. Observe, Their nobles are called their brethren; for, in the things of God, rich and poor, high and low, meet together. (2.) They entered into a curse and an oath. As the nobles confirmed the covenant with their hands and seals, so the people with a curse and an oath, solemnly appealing to God concerning their sincerity, and imprecating his just revenge if they dealt deceitfully. Every oath has in it a conditional curse upon the soul, which makes it a strong bond upon the soul; for our own tongues, if false and lying tongues, will fall, and fall heavily, upon ourselves.
III. The general purport of this covenant. They laid upon themselves no other burden than this necessary thing, which they were already obliged to by all other engagements of duty, interest, and gratitude - to walk in God's law, and to do all his commandments, Neh 10:29. Thus David swore that he would keep God's righteous judgments, Psa 119:106. Our own covenant binds us to this, if not more strongly, yet more sensibly, than we were before bound, and therefore we must not think it needless thus to bind ourselves. Observe, When we bind ourselves to do the commandments of God we bind ourselves to do all his commandments, and therein to have an eye to him as the Lord and our Lord.
IV. Some of the particular articles of this covenant, such as were adapted to their present temptations. 1. That they would not intermarry with the heathen, Neh 10:30. Many of them had been guilty of this, Ezr 9:1. In our covenants with God we should engage particularly against those sins that we have been most frequently overtaken in and damaged by. Those that resolve to keep the commandments of God must say to evil doers, Depart, Psa 119:115. 2. That they would keep no markets on the sabbath day, or any other day of which the law had said, You shall do no work therein. They would not only not sell goods themselves for gain on that day, but they would not encourage the heathen to sell on that day by buying of them, no not victuals, under pretence of necessity; but would buy in their provisions for their families the day before, Neh 10:31. Note, Those that covenant to keep all God's commandments must particularly covenant to keep sabbaths well; for the profanation of them is an inlet to other instances of profaneness. The sabbath is a market day for our souls, but not for our bodies. 3. That they would not be severe in exacting their debts, but would observe the seventh year as a year of release, according to the law, Neh 10:31. In this matter they had been faulty (ch. 5), and here therefore they promise to reform. This was the acceptable fast, to undo the heavy burden, and to let the oppressed go free, Isa 58:6. It was in the close of the day of expiation that the jubilee trumpet sounded. It was for the neglect of observing the seventh year as a year of rest for the land that God had made it enjoy its sabbaths seventy years (Lev 26:35), and therefore they covenanted to observe that law. Those are stubborn children indeed that will not amend the fault for which they have been particularly corrected.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On v1 Now those that sealed were,.... That sealed the covenant,…
Now those that sealed were,.... That sealed the covenant, made Neh 9:38.
Nehemiah the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah; the governor of the Jews:
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and Zidkijah; who seems also to have been a prince, since, without, it could not be said it was sealed by their princes, Neh 9:38 though some think both these were priests, and then the princes must be supposed to be among the chief of the people, Neh 10:14, from hence to the end of the twenty seventh their names follow; the names of the priests, Neh 10:2, who were in all twenty one; no mention is made either of Eliashib the high priest, nor of Ezra the priest and scribe; some think the former had not behaved well in his office, and that the latter was either sick, or returned to Babylon, or however hindered by some providence or another, since we hear of him both a little before and after, Neh 8:2 then the names of the Levites, Neh 10:9, in all seventeen, most of which we have met with in this book before; next follow the names of the chief of the people, Neh 10:14, their number in all forty four; and their names may be observed in the list of those that came out of Babylon with Zerubbabel; the whole number of those that sealed, princes, priests, Levites, and chief of the people, were eighty four.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v1 The names of those who set their seal to…
The names of those who set their seal to the covenant, ver. 1- 27. An account of those who consented thereto, ver. 28-31. They engage to adhere to the temple service, ver. 32-39.
Sealed - Both in their own names, and in the name of all the rest. It may seem strange that Ezra doth not appear among them. But that might be because he was prevented, by some sickness, or other extraordinary impediment. It is true, we meet with Ezra after this, at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, chap. xii, 36, and therefore he was then freed from this impediment, whatsoever it was.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v1 The names of those who sealed the covenant, 1-27.
CHAPTER X
The names of those who sealed the covenant, 1-27.
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All solemnly promise not to have affinity with the people of
the land, 28-30;
to observe the Sabbaths, 31;
to provide for the sanctuary according to the law, 32-36;
and to pay the regular tithes for the support of the priests,
Levites, and other officers of the temple, 37-39.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1. Now those that sealed] Four classes here seal. Nehemiah first, as their governor. And after him, secondly, The priests, Ne 10:2-8. Thirdly, The Levites, Ne 10:9-13. Fourthly, The chiefs of the people, Ne 10:14-27.
It is strange that, among all these, we hear nothing of Ezra, nor of the high priest Eliashib. Nor are any of the prophets mentioned, though there must have been some of them at Jerusalem at this time.
The whole of this chapter, the two first verses excepted, is wanting in the Arabic; the word Pashur of the third verse is retained; and the rest of the chapter is summed up in these words, and the rest of their assembly.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 Neh 10:1. Now those that sealed — Both in…
Neh 10:1. Now those that sealed — Both in their own names, and in the name of all the rest. It may seem strange that Ezra doth not appear among them. But that might be because he was prevented by some sickness, or other extraordinary impediment. It is true we meet with Ezra after this, at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, (Neh 12:36,) and therefore he was then freed from this impediment, whatsoever it was. It appears from hence, that the government of the Jews was an aristocracy, or a government in which the nobles were the rulers. This mode of administration continued till the time of the Asmodæan princes, and from thence, by a natural translation, passed into an absolute monarchy, or rather tyranny.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The “Zidkijah” of this passage is probably the same…
The “Zidkijah” of this passage is probably the same as “Zadok” Neh 13:13. “Zadok” is expressly called “the scribe,” and it was probably as the scribe who drew up the document that “Zidkijah” signed it immediately after Nehemiah.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 Athersatha. Hebrew hatirshatha. Protestants, "the tirshatha," cup-bearer, or governor,…
Athersatha. Hebrew hatirshatha. Protestants, "the tirshatha," cup-bearer, or governor, highly (Haydock) "privileged" and honoured by Artaxerxes. (Worthington) --- Hebrew, "And over those who were sealed, (Calmet; Septuagint; or who sealed the deed. Haydock) Nehemias, the cup-bearer." Esdras, Eliasib, &c., were also princes. (Calmet) --- It is not easy to account for the omission of their names. (Menochius) --- They may be designated by different titles. An aristocracy, mixed with oligarchy, was the present form of government. The advice of the ancients, and of the people, was taken. (Calmet) --- Hachelai, is less properly styled Helchias; (chap. i. 1.) where the Septuagint read Chelchias, or Achalia, (Hebrew chacala) as well as here.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 1Now those that sealed [and on the sealed documents]…
Neh_10:1-39
1Now those that sealed [and on the sealed documents] were Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah [i.e., Zedekiah] 2Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah , 3, 4, 5 Pashur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, 6Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah: these were the priests. 9And the Levites: both Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10and their brethren, Shebaniah, Hodijah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12, 13, 14Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodijah, Bani, Beninu. The chief of th 15, 16people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, 17, 18Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hizkijah [i.e., Hezekiah], Azzur, Hodijah, Hashum, 19, 20, 21Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabeel, 22, 23, 24Zadok, Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hashub, Hallohesh, 25Pileha, Shobek, Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26and Ahijah, Hanan, Anan, 27Malluch, Harim, Baanah.
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28And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters every one having knowledge and having understanding; 29they clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by [the hand of] Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; 30And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters 31for our sons: And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath or on the holy day: and that we would leave [i.e., leave the land to lie untilled] the seventh 32year and the exaction [loan] of every debt [hand]. Also [And] we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God; 33for the shewbread [the bread of arrangement], and for the continual meat-offering, and for the continual burnt-offering of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings, to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law: 35And to bring the first-fruits of our ground, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the Lord: 36also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that 37minister in the house of our God: and that we should bring the first-fruits [beginning] of our dough [groats], and [of] our offerings [oblations], and [of] the fruit of all manner of trees, of [new] wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes [perhaps, and they the Levites pay tithes] in all the cities of our tillage [service]. 38And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take [perhaps, pay] tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes [tithe] unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into 39[belonging unto] the treasure house. For the children [sons] of Israel and the children [sons] of Levi shall bring the offering [oblation] of the corn, of the new wine, and [of] the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1 Neh_10:31. וּמשָּׂא כָל־יָד [or וּמַשָּא] וְנִטַּשׁ אתהַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית. The ellipsis is to be filled from Exo_23:11. וְּהַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּה וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ, where the pronoun refers to אֶרֶצ of the preceding verse.
2 Neh_10:37. הַמְעַשְׂריִם here and בַּעְשֵׂר in Neh_10:38. (Piel part. and Hiph. inf. of עָשַׂר), if we follow the analogy of Deu_14:22; Deu_26:12, must refer to the paying and not to the receiving tithes.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The Covenant
Neh_10:1-8. Because of these twenty-three names fifteen are supposed to be found in the list (Neh_12:1-7) of the priests who came with Zerubbabel in the preceding century, it is held by many that this list contains only family names, and that these families were represented by descendants in the signing, Ezra, for example, signing for his ancestor Seraiah. But as we find Nehemiah in the list, and also the very Levites (Neh_10:9-13), who individually stood upon the stairs on the 24th of Tisri (Neh_9:4-5), it is better to suppose that the similarity of the names is accidental, and that family names only occur in the list of the people, Neh_10:14-27, if even there. The only alternative is harsh in two features: first, that the Levites on the stairs should be called, in a plain historical statement, by their family names; and secondly, that family names and personal names should be so strangely mixed. Moreover, it is to be noted that the family names of chap. 7 and of Ezra 2. are not all repeated here. We have abundant evidence of the very common use of the same names among the Israelites, and a theory, which that fact will explain, seems the easier one here.
Neh_10:9-27. See above note.
Neh_10:28. The rest of the people,i.e., besides the chiefs given in Neh_10:14-27. The word rest (Heb. shear) seems to carry its force to the other classes enumerated, to wit, the rest of the priests, etc.; that is, besides those enumerated. Every one having knowledge and having understanding.—This evidently qualifies the general phrase before it. Not all the rest, but those who had knowledge and understanding, joined their brethren in the reform.
Neh_10:29. Clave to their brethren, their nobles.—That is, to their brethren, the chiefs above mentioned. Commandments,etc.—See on Neh_9:13-14.
Neh_10:31. We would leave the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.—The verb natash (leave) here seems to have a pregnant meaning. We would leave fallow the land each seventh year (comp. Exo_23:11), and remit at that time (lit.) the debt of every hand. See Deu_15:2.
Neh_10:32. The third part of a shekel.—This tax, thus first laid, became afterward a half shekel. (See Mat_17:24, where the Greek is didrachma,i.e., a half shekel.) The half shekel tax of Exo_30:13 is another matter, not an annual tax, but ransom money to be taken at a census as a mark of the Lord’s ownership.
Neh_10:33. The shew-bread.—Heb. lehem hammaareketh (bread of arrangement). The older phrase is lehem happanim (bread of the face). The continual meat-offering.—Heb. minhath hattamidh.—The continual burnt-offering.—Heb. olath hattamidh. So the shew-bread is called lehem hattamidh (Num_4:7). So called as oft-recurring in distinction from the occasional offerings. Here, as we see, the offerings are those of each day, of the sabbaths, and of the new moons.—The set feasts are mentioned separately with lamedh (for).
Neh_10:34. For the wood-offering.—Heb. kurban haetzim. The feast of the wood-offering (Josephus, B. J., II. 17, 6) on the 14th of Ab arose from this institution of Nehemiah. It was the day when those assigned to the duty brought in the wood for the altar. (See Lev_6:12)
Neh_10:35. The first fruits of all fruits of all trees.—See Lev_19:24 and comp. Deu_26:2.
Neh_10:36. The first born of our sons.—That is, by bringing redemption-money, as ordered in Num_18:15-16. Cattle.—Heb. behemoth. Here unclean beasts, as contrasted with the herds and flocks below. These were also redeemed. (See Num. l. c.)
Neh_10:37. First fruits of our dough (groats or ground meal).—See Num_15:20. Offerings—i.e., all special offerings. Chambers.—Heb. lishcoth. The cells or chambers in the courts of the temple. Might have the tithes.—Many read might pay tithes, anticipating the statement of the next verse. Tillage.—There may be a reasonable doubt whether anodhah ever means tillage, unless, as in 1Ch_27:26, it is qualified by another noun. It may mean here “service” in the relation of servants to God, as elsewhere. To suppose that the cities of work or service must mean the country towns, is scarcely credible.
Neh_10:38. To the chambers, Into the treasure house.—Rather, to the chambers of the treasure house, one of the buildings in the temple area. The tithe of the tithes belonged to the priests (Num_18:26-28), the children of Aaron.
HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL
1. The natural leaders of a people are largely responsible for the people’s conduct. The priests, Levites, and chiefs, the nobles of the nation readily find a following. Nehemiah, as Tirshatha, puts his own name first to the solemn reform-document, and then he causes the nobles to set their names to the instrument. A reform begun the other way in the lower circles of society is apt to degenerate into the excesses of revolution. The healing Salt should be thrown in at the sources of the streams, if the waters are to be cured.
2. The points specially indicated, wherein the reform was most pressing, are (1) marriage alliances, (2) Sabbath-observance, (3) usury, (4) temple-taxes of the third part of a shekel, of first-fruits and of tithes. On these points we may believe the people had been especially remiss. They were the points where their covetousness would operate to undermine their piety, and thus the integrity of the commonwealth. Was not that, which has become a distinctive trait of the Israelitish race, already in Nehemiah’s time beginning to develop itself?
3. When a people grow remiss in the support of religious privileges, the foundations of society are shaken: The moral tone of any people can only be cultivated and sustained by systematized methods, for natural depravity must take advantage of the lack of discipline, and prove too strong for morality. Religion, in any true and high sense, is an exotic, and must be tenderly cared for in this sin-grown earth. The zeal of Nehemiah and other reformers for the thorough establishment of religious rites is a wise example to all who come after them. Where the state cannot enforce such a result, public opinion can be made.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Neh_10:1. To what the consideration of the Lord’s faithfulness to the covenant leads us: 1) To penitence and conversion which shows itself through obedience. 2) To faith—particularly in the fact that the Lord always keeps His covenant with us, and that it is only necessary that we on our part should confirm and maintain it. 3) To hope that the Lord will set us free, and evermore aid us to the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Neh_10:31-32. The principal duties of the congregation and its members: 1) To keep themselves unspotted, and particularly separated from the world. 2) To practice communion with the Lord, and especially in the way that is beneficial to us in this mortal state. Bede: Porro sabbatismus orationum ac devotionis nostrœ, in qua vacamus a temporalibus agendis, ut œternitatis gaudia dulcius gustare mereamur, recte diei septimo adsignatur quia futurœ quietem vitœ ac beatœ laudationis imitatur: sed diem sabbathi alienigenœ quœrunt profanare, cum terrcnœ cogitationes in tempore nostrœ orationis importune nos conturbant, et memoria sive delectatione temporalium rerum ab amore intimo nituntur extrahere.—Imponunt asinis vinum, uvas et ficus et omne onus, et inferunt in Hierusalem, cum oblectamentis carnalibus stultos animi nostri motus onerantes, per hœc et hujus modi tentamenta quietem nostri cordis deo debitam violare conantur. Comp. Neh_13:15.
Neh_10:33-39. The tasks to which each member of the congregation must submit himself. 1) The offerings which must be made directly to the Lord for the erection of His buildings, expenses of the service, etc. 2) The doing that which assists the servants of the Lord. Starke: My God! I remember that I too made a covenant with Thee at my baptism. I beseech thee seal the same also in me, and give me in my heart the pledge, the Holy Spirit (2Co_1:21-22; 2Co_5:5). We must not only ourselves have a Christian zeal for true religion, but also incite others to it, and admonish them (Heb_10:24; Psa_49:2). Marriages with the godless are displeasing to God, and dangerous (1Ti_2:14). Nothing must be so near to us that it withdraws us from the service of God.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–2 1. Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah — Literally,…
1. Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah — Literally, And upon the sealed instruments were Nehemiah, etc. It was important that the heads of houses or families, and chief representatives of the nation, should sign the document. First came the name of the governor, the Tirshatha. See note on Ezr_2:63. Next is the name Zidkijah, perhaps the secretary to the governor, (compare Ezr_4:9; Ezr_4:17,) or else some other high official. Then follow (Neh_10:2-8) twenty-one names of priests, seventeen Levites, (Neh_10:9-13,) and forty-four of the chief of the people, (Neh_10:14-27.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 8 Neh_10:1-29. The List of ‘those that sealed’: Neh_10:30-39 Special…
Neh_10:1-29. The List of ‘those that sealed’: Neh_10:30-39 Special Obligations of the Covenant
1. those that sealed] Literally ‘at the sealings,’ the plur. of the word used in Neh_9:38. As in Jer_32:14, the singular and plural are used apparently of the same documents.
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Some commentators are inclined to follow the LXX. ἐπὶ τῶν σφραγιζόντων, as if the words could be rendered ‘among those that sealed or subscribed:’ so apparently the Vulg. ‘signatores.’ But the Hebrew word does not mean the man who affixes his seal, but the thing or document to which it is affixed. Others explain the plur. as indicating the numerous ‘lists’ prepared for signature, as if the different obligations would require different lists. This explanation cannot be pressed. It is sufficient to bear in mind that ‘the sealings’ were very probably ‘parchments’ or ‘tablets,’ and that several would be required for the signature of so large a number.
Nehemiah, the Tirshatha] Cf. Neh_7:65, Neh_8:9. Nehemiah’s name comes first as that of the governor.
Hachaliah] R.V. Hacaliah.
Zidkijah] R.V. Zedekiah. Who this Zedekiah is who receives this honourable place next to the governor we are not told. As his name precedes the priests, we must suppose that he is either an official under the Persian rule ranking next to Nehemiah, or one of royal line (e.g. of the house of Zerubbabel).
The conjecture that he is the same as Zadok ‘the scribe’ in Neh_13:13, and that, having drawn up the document of the Covenant, he therefore signed next after Nehemiah, rests partly on the assumption that ‘Zadok’ and ‘Zedekiah’ are interchangeable names, and partly on the fact that in Ezr_4:8-9; Ezr_4:17 a scribe’s signature follows that of the chief officer. But the identification is not very probable.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 8 (1) Zidkijah.—Probably, Zadok the scribe (Neh_13:13), Nehemiah’s secretary. (Comp.…
(1) Zidkijah.—Probably, Zadok the scribe (Neh_13:13), Nehemiah’s secretary. (Comp. Ezr_4:8.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–2 THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO SEALED, AND THE TERMS…
THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO SEALED, AND THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT (Ne 10). The covenant which the Levites had recommended, probably at the suggestion of Nehemiah and Ezra, whose hand may perhaps be traced in the long address of the preceding chapter (vers. 6-38), was at once accepted by the heads of the nation in Church and State, and was "sealed to" by Nehemiah, by his secretary, by the heads of the priestly and Levitical families, each sealing for his house, by the heads of various lay families or communities, and by a certain number of individual laymen, sealing (as it would seem) for themselves only. The rest of the people, those who did not actually seal, still "clave to their brethren," i.e. agreed with them, and accepted the obligations of the covenant as fully as if they had put their seals to it. There was no opposition, no dissentient voice, no party even which stood sullenly aloof. That sort of enthusiasm had come upon the nation which carries everything before it, and causes a whole multitude to become "as one man" for good or for evil. This time it was for good. The people bound themselves, first of all, in general terms, to keep the whole law, "to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord their Lord, and his judgments and his statutes" (ver. 29); after which they went on to particularise certain special points of the law, recently infringed upon, which they bound themselves to observe in future. These were chiefly the following:
1. The prohibition of intermarriage with the neighbouring idolatrous nations (ver. 30);
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2. The command to hallow the sabbath;
3. The law concerning the sabbatical year (ver. 31);
4. The law of firstfruits (vers. 35-37);
5. The obligation to pay tithes to the sacerdotal order (vers. 37, 38). Finally, they undertook certain new obligations, not expressly contained in the law, but perhaps regarded as flowing from it by way of natural consequence, or else as desirable modes of carrying out its provisions.
These were three in number, viz.
1. The entire abolition of the custom which had grown up of lending money to their brethren upon pledge; (see Neh_5:3-13)
2. The support of the temple service by an annual tax upon each adult male, which was fixed for the present at the rate of one-third part of a shekel (ver. 32); and,
3. The supply of the wood requisite for keeping the fire alight upon the great altar, and for consuming the various offerings (ver. 34). It is remarkable that these two latter regulations became permanent national institutions, maintaining themselves into Roman times, when we find them still continuing (see Mat_17:24; Joseph., "Bell. Jud:," 2:17,
Nehemiah, as Tirshatha, or civil ruler, naturally appended his seal first of all. He was followed by Zidkijah, or Zadok, probably his secretary. (Neh_13:13)
Ch. 10. A solemn covenant.
The public confession and recital of God"s dealings with Israel, recorded in the previous chapter, concluded with a declaration of the making of "a sure covenant," written and sealed. This chapter contains a particular account of the transaction.
I WHY THE COVENANT WAS MADE.
1. For the reasons contained in the previous confession. "Because of all this". (Neh_9:38)
(1) The covenant of God with their fathers, and his faithfulness to it. They had been chosen as his people, and now felt they ought to act accordingly. They held the land again by virtue of his covenant and promises, and would forfeit it by unfaithfulness.
(2) The manifold goodness of God to them as a nation throughout their history. "The goodness of God leadeth to repentance," and they felt its influence for this end, as they recalled the displays of it to their fathers and themselves.
(3) The long succession of their national departures from God. Showing how prone they were to evil; how much they needed every safeguard against it.
(4) The successive punishments inflicted upon them. Impressing them with the evil of sin, and the necessity of godliness and righteousness to their happiness.
2. In the hope that so solemn an engagement would greatly aid in insuring their future obedience. Feeling that all that had been said consisted of so many reasons for conformity to the Divine law, they are concerned to adopt what- ever means were likely to secure it. To this end they unite in a solemn public vow, written and sealed, by which they engage, not only to God, but to each other, to obey the Divine laws and maintain the Divine worship. And doubtless such a transaction was adapted to strengthen their good resolutions, and promote the fulfilment of them.
II BY WHOM IT WAS.MADE, AND IN WHAT MANNER. By all the assembly priests, Levites, etc., and the whole body of the people, men and women, and their sons and daughters who were of understanding. Included amongst them were "they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, partly, perhaps, proselytes from the heathen, but including probably the descendants of Israelites who had been left in the land by the Assyrians and Chaldaeans, and had become much mixed up with the heathen. (see Ezr_6:21)
1. The chiefs of the people affixed their seals to the document (vers. 1-27). At their head was Nehemiah himself, as governor; then follow the heads of the priestly and Levitical houses, and after them the chiefs of the laity.
2. The rest of the people signified their solemn assent by an oath with a curse.
III THE PROMISES OF WHICH IT CONSISTED.
1. A general comprehensive promise of obedience to all the law of God (ver. 29).
2. Certain special promises.
(1) Not to intermarry with the heathen (ver. 30). A matter about which both Ezra and Nehemiah were very much concerned. (see Ezr_9:10 Neh_13:23-30) Laxity in this respect threatened to destroy the distinctiveness of Israel in respect both to race and religion.
(2) To observe strictly the sabbath and other holy days, and the sabbatical year, including the remission of debts (ver. 31; see Deu_15:2).
(3) To contribute to the support of the temple, its ministers and services (vers. 32-39). The promised contributions included an annual money payment of one-third of a shekel each towards the expense of the ordinary services; the bringing up in turn to the temple of the wood required for the altar fire; the offering of the first-fruits of all produce, the firstlings of cattle, and the first-born children (i.e. the redemption money for them); and the payment of tithes to the Levites, who on their part would pay "the tithe of the tithes" unto the priests.
(4) Not to forsake the temple. They would continue to support it, and attend its services at the appointed times.
Reflections:
1. The review of the past is adapted to impress on our hearts the duty and wisdom of serving God.
2. In the service of God, the observance of the sabbath and the maintenance of public worship are of the greatest importance. As Divine ordinances, and for the well-being of individuals and families, the Church and the State.
3. All should unite in supporting the worship of God. By contributions, attendance, and endeavors to induce others to attend.
4. Solemn definite engagements are aids to the cultivation and practice of religion. The impressions and purposes of times of peculiar religious feeling may thus become of permanent value. Obligations thus recognised and adopted are more likely to be called to mind in times of temptation. The Christian settles it thus with himself that he is the Lord"s, and must not, wilt not, depart from him; must and will serve him in all things. In such a definite settlement are peace and safety. Hence the worth of those ordinances by which a profession of piety is made, and from time to time renewed. To these some have added forms of "covenanting" more resembling that recorded in this chapter. They have put hand and seal to a written document. Dr. Doddridge did this, and in his "Rise and Progress" recommends the practice and supplies forms for the purpose. The Scottish Covenants present probably the most memorable instances of documents of this kind publicly agreed to, signed by thousands of all classes, and exercising a great and lasting influence on the course of affairs. A definite promise is specially appropriate and useful in respect to outward practices, such as the devoting of a certain proportion of income to religion and charity. The demands for money for the ordinary purposes of life are so numerous and urgent, that the claims of God"s cause and of the poor are likely to be very insufficiently met, unless some specific portion be distinctly devoted to them. When this is done, the other branches of expenditure adjust themselves to the income as thus diminished. Care, however, needs to be taken lest vows are made which cannot be kept, and so become a snare and burden to the conscience. They should for the most part be simply promises to do what, apart from them, is incumbent upon us, or to avoid what, apart from them, is wrong, or commonly, if not uniformly, leads us into wrong-doing.
5. It is pleasing when all classes of society unite in solemn acts of dedication of themselves and their property to God, and in arrangements for the maintenance of religion amongst them.
6. General religious excitement and professions are, however, often deceptive. The solemn covenant recorded in this chapter was soon violated. (see Neh_13:10-29)
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON. Ch. 10. Entering into covenant.
Nehemiah and Ezra, and those who acted with them, showed true insight into character when they provided
I THAT STRONG RELIGIOUS FEELING SHOULD TAKE DEFINITE FORM. "Because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, set their seal unto it". (Neh_9:38) And Nehemiah and Zidkijah (Zadok), and many others, priests, Levites, and heads of families, formally signed and sealed a solemn covenant, pledging themselves and the people generally to a purer and more loyal service of the Lord. Feeling was running strong m Jerusalem. Many things concurred to call it forth. At the great gathering which followed the feast of tabernacles it rose to its height; the multitude had to be calmed by the leaders; (Neh_8:9) then followed a day of fasting and confession; when all the people drew very near to God in humiliation. In what should it all end? Should it pass off in emotion, in religious excitement? That would have been a serious mistake. Nehemiah wisely provided that they should formally and solemnly pledge themselves to the purer and worthier service of Jehovah, turning from evils which had grown up, and returning to duties which had been neglected. He was well sustained by all in this movement, and we have a long list of the influential men who added their seals to his, committing themselves and all whom they represented to a renewed and revived national holiness. Let strong feeling in
(1) the individual, in
(2) the Church, in
(3) the society or community pass soon into some definite shape; let it take tangible form; let it come to some deliberate resolution that can be formulated and written down, or it may pass away, leaving nothing but spiritual lassitude and demoralisation behind. We learn further
II THAT A RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT SHOULD BE HEADED BY A FEW, BUT SHOULD HAVE THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF ALL (vers. 1-29). "Those that sealed" were less than a hundred (vers. 1-27); these were leading men, "nobles," few enough for their names to be attached to the roll and to be entered in our sacred Scriptures, there enjoying an honourable immortality which many that have taken great pains to secure, it will assuredly miss; but "the rest of the people," including "porters, stagers, Nethinims,... "their wives, their sons, and their daughters" (ver. 28), all these "clave to their brethren, the nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath" (ver. 29). They publicly and audibly swore to "walk in God"s law," thus sustaining all that the leaders initiated. All movements of revival, and indeed of any religious action or undertaking, must be orderly; there must be leaders who will give direction and counsel; also general followers who will give practical and cordial concurrence. God would not have an ill-regulated service, in which is confusion and haphazard, nor yet does he desire a mere representative service, in which a few act for the many without their sympathy. All must join
(1) the humblest classes porters, Nethinims, etc.;
(2) the weaker sex the wives, the women;
(3) the young sons and daughters," "every one that has understanding (ver. 28); for the service of God should be intelligent as well as general and orderly. We must serve him "with the understanding". (1Co_14:15)
III THAT THE "VOWS OF GOD" SHOULD BE NOT ONLY GENERAL, BUT PARTICULAR. These Jews vowed "to walk in God"s law,.., to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his statutes" (ver. 29); but they were not content with such a general covenant: they undertook to refrain from particular evils from forbidden marriage alliances (ver. 30), sabbath breaking, usury (ver. 31); and also to discharge particular obligations they charged themselves with
(1) payment of money for the temple service (vers. 32, 33), with
(2) provision of wood for the fire that never went out (ver. 34),
(3) with rendering the first-fruits and tithes according to the law (vers. 35-39).
There are times of revival and reconsecration in the lives of men and the history of Churches. These are irregular, coming in the grace of God we know not when or whence. "The wind bloweth where it listeth," etc. (Joh_3:8) And regular: anniversaries, festivals, etc. times when we are moved to consecrate or reconsecrate ourselves to the service of the Saviour. These should be used for a solemn and thorough devotedness of ourselves and our possessions; and they should comprise the deliberate separation of ourselves from worldly entanglements (ver. 30), from neglect of ordinances (ver. 31), from injustice and hardness, from all pressure of legal right which is indistinguishable from unchristian severity (ver. 31), and the deliberate resolution to worship the Lord and dedicate a good share of our material resources to his service and the glory of his name. C.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 1-39. Solemn engagement to maintain the house of God.
I ALL SHOULD PLEDGE THEMSELVES "not to forsake the house of our God." Those who are first in position, influence, capability should be leaders in caring, for God"s house. Distinction of rank is lost in the unity of dedication. The service of God will call to itself all the variety of human faculty. Where there is the heart "to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God," there will be found an office or a post for each one, from the nobles to the children.
II THE BOND WHICH BINDS US TO THE HOUSE OF GOD AND HIS SERVICE should be regarded as THE MOST SOLEMN AND IRREVOCABLE.
1. We should be ready to give our name and take upon us the vow of a public profession. The Jew placed himself under the oath and curse. We are in a dispensation of liberty, but our liberty is not license. The bond of love is the strongest of all bonds. We are made free by the Son of God; but our freedom is the surrender of our all to him, that we may take his yoke upon us, and bear his burden.
2. We shall separate ourselves from the world that we may be faithful to God. We cannot serve God and mammon. We must be free from entanglements, that we may be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, enduring hardness.
3. Our consecration to God will include the consecration of our substance. With ungrudging liberality we shall fill the "treasure house of our God," that there may be no lack in his service, that every department of Divine worship may be praise to his name. While the proportion of contributions was a matter of written prescription under the law, for the guidance of the people in their lower stage of enlightenment, let us take care that with our higher privilege, and our larger knowledge, and our more spiritual principles, we do not fall below their standard. Our hearts should not require any formal rule; but it is well to systematise our giving for our own sake, for human nature requires every possible assistance, and habit holds up principle and fortifies feeling. The effect of a universal recognition of duty in giving to God"s house would be immeasurable. Any true revival of religion will certainly be known by this test. The larger hearts will secure a larger blessing in the future. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah.
Neh_10:1-39
Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah.
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Covenanting with God -
I. The parties entering the covenant.
1. Nehemiah the governor. This is true greatness in the sight of God, to be foremost in consecration to the service of religion, and to stand among His people in trying times.
2. The priests. It is remarkable that the name of Eliashib, the high-priest does not appear in this list. It is honourable to the rest of the priests that notwithstanding this defection of their chief, so many of them set their hands to this holy bond.
3. The Levites. We observe among them almost all the names of those who took part in the previous solemnities of this memorable day. It is well, when those who are eminent in devotion are also eminent for devotedness. It sometimes happens that those who are gifted in prayer are not distinguished for holy practice.
4. The chiefs of the nation. This fidelity to the cause of truth adds a lustre to all earthly glory, and sets an ornament of grace on the noblest brow.
5. The rest of the people. It is a blessed thing when whole families thus unite together in the faith of Christ and the life of religion.
II. The engagements of the covenant.
1. Sins to be renounced. It is vain to make loud profession of spiritual experience, and of devotion to the Saviour, unless besetting sins are abandoned and a new course of obedience begun.
2. Duties to be performed.
(1) To give to God.
(2) To work for God (verse 34).
All vow to work for God, each in his own place, according to the Divine will, at the appointed times, and unwearied in well-doing. Henry Martyn wrote: With resignation and peace, I can look forward to a life of labour and seclusion from earthly comforts, while Jesus stands near changing me into His holy image. How happy and honoured am I in being suffered to be a missionary. And Levi Parsons testified: I can subscribe with my hand to be for ever the Lords, to be sent anywhere, to do anything, to endure any hardship, live and die a missionary.
(3) To wait on God.
III. The inferences deducible from the covenant.
1. We here see the propriety of religious covenanting.
2. The obligation in covenanting established. When you devote yourself to the Lord in covenant, to obey the precepts of His Word, your essential obligation is not strengthened or altered; it is merely recognised by you, and promised to be fulfilled.
3. The benefits from covenanting illustrated. (W. Ritchie.)
Covenant comfort
Christmas Evans, after being sorely tried, was led to enter afresh into personal, covenant,, with God; and such was the joy in God which followed, that he said of it, After forming this covenant I felt great calmness and peace. I had the feelings of a poor man who has just come under the protection of the Royal Family, and has obtained a pension for life, the dreadful tear of poverty and want having left his house for ever. I felt the safety and shelter which the little chickens feel under the wings of the hen. (The Thinker.)
A national covenant
On February 25, 1688, a memorable scene was witnessed in the churchyard of Greyfriars, Edinburgh. The National Covenant to maintain Presbyterianism, and to resist contrary errors, having been numerously signed within the church, the parchment was subsequently placed upon the flat tombstone, still extant, of Boswell of Auchinleck, where many others, to show their determination to die rather than yield, signed it with blood from their arms. History testifies that numbers of them endured much suffering rather than violate their pledge. If frail men will so keep their promise, much more must the Omnipotent (God honour His covenant. (The Thinker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Nehemiah 10
THE COVENANT
Nehemiah 10
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THE tenth chapter of Nehemiah introduces us to one of the most vital crises in the History of Israel. It shows us how the secret cult of the priests of Jehovah became a popular religion. The process was brought to a focus in the public reading of The Law; it was completed in the acceptance of The Law which the sealing of the covenant ratified. This event may be compared with the earlier scene, when the lawbook discovered in the temple by Hilkiah was accepted and enforced by Josiah. Undoubtedly that book is included in Ezras complete edition of The Law. Generations before Ezra, then, though nothing more than Deuteronomy may have been forthcoming, that vital section of The Law, containing as it did the essential principles of Judaism, was adopted. But how was this result brought about? Not by the intelligent conviction, nor by the voluntary action of the nation. It was the work of a king, who thought to drive his ideas into his subjects. No doubt Josiah acted in a spirit of genuine loyalty to Jehovah, and yet the method he followed could not lead to success. The transient character of his spasmodic attempt to save his people at the eleventh hour, followed by the total collapse of the fabric he had built up, shows how insecure a foundation he had obtained. It was a royal reformation, not a revival of religion on the part of the nation. We have an instance of a similar course of action in the English reformation under Edward VI, which was swept away in a moment when his Catholic sister succeeded to the throne, because it was a movement originating in the court and not supported by the country, as was that under Elizabeth when Mary had opened the eyes of the English nation to the character of Romanism.
But now a very different scene presents itself to our notice. The sealing of the covenant signifies the voluntary acceptance of The Law by the people of Israel, and their solemn promise to submit to its yoke. There are two sides to this covenant arrangement. The first is seen in the conduct of the people in entering into the covenant. This is absolutely an act of free will on their part. We have seen that Ezra never attempted to force The Law upon his fellow-countrymen-that he was slow in producing it; that when he read it he only did so at the urgent request of the people, and that even after this he went no further, but left it with the audience for them to do with it as they thought fit. It came with the authority of the will of God, which to religious men is the highest authority, but it was not backed by the secular arm, even though Ezra possessed a firman from the Persian court which would have justified him in calling in the aid of the civil government. Now the acceptance of The Law is to be in the same spirit of freedom. Of course somebody must have started the idea of forming a covenant. Possibly it was Nehemiah who did so. Still this was-when the people were ripe for entering into it, and the whole process was voluntary on their part. The only religion that can be real to us is that which we believe in with personal faith and surrender ourselves to with willing obedience. Even when the law is recorded on parchment, it must also be written on the fleshy table of the heart if it is to be effective.
But there is another side to the covenant-sealing. The very existence of a covenant is significant. The word "covenant" suggests an agreement between two parties, a mutual arrangement to which each is pledged. So profound was the conviction of Israel that in coming to an agreement with God it was not possible for man to bargain with his Maker on equal terms, that in translating the Hebrew name for covenant into Greek the writers of the Septuagint did not use the term that elsewhere stands for an agreement among equals, but employed one indicative of an arrangement made by one party to the transaction and submitted to the other. The covenant, then, is a Divine disposition, a Divine ordinance. Even when, as in the present instance, it is formally made by men, this is still on lines laid down by God; the covenanting is a voluntary act of adhesion to a law which comes from God. Therefore the terms of the covenant are fixed, and not to be discussed by the signatories. This is of the very essence of Judaism as a religion of Divine law. Then, though the sealing is voluntary, it entails a great obligation; henceforth the covenant people are bound by the covenant which they have deliberately entered into. This, too, is a characteristic of the religion of law. It is a bondage, though a bondage willingly submitted to by those who stoop to its yoke. To St. Paul it became a crushing slavery. But the burden was not felt at first, simply because neither the range of The Law, nor the searching force of its requirements, nor the weakness of men to keep their vows, was yet perceived by the sanguine Jews who so unhesitatingly surrendered to it. As we look back to their position from the vantage ground of Christian liberty, we are astounded at the Jewish love of law, and we rejoice in our freedom from its irksome restraints. And yet the Christian is not an antinomian; he is not a sort of free lance, sworn to no obedience. He too has his obligation. He is bound to a lofty service-not to a law, indeed, but to a personal Master, not in the servitude of the letter, but, though with the freedom of the spirit, really with far higher obligations of love and fidelity than were ever recognised by the most rigorous covenant-keeping Jews. Thus he has a new covenant, sealed in the blood of his Saviour, and his communion with his Lord implies a sacramental vow of loyalty. The Christian covenant, however, is not visibly, exhibited, because a formal pledge is scarcely in accordance with the spirit of the gospel. We find it better to take a more self-distrustful course, one marked by greater dependence of faith on the preserving grace of God, by turning our vows into prayers. While the Jews "entered into a curse and into an oath" to keep the law, we shrink from anything so terrible, yet our duty is not the less because we limit our professions of it.
The Jews were prepared for their covenant by two essential preliminaries. The first was knowledge. The reading of The Law preceded the covenant, which was entered into intelligently. There is no idea of what is called "implicit faith." The whole situation is clearly surveyed and The Law is adopted with a consciousness of what it means as far as the understanding of its requirements by the people will yet penetrate into its signification. It is necessary to count the cost before entering on a course of religious service. With a view to this our Lord spoke of the "narrow way" and the "cross," much to the disappointment of His more sanguine disciples, but as a real security for genuine loyalty. With religion, of all things, it is foolish to take a leap in the dark. Judaism and Christianity absolutely contradict the idea that "Ignorance is the mother of devotion."
The second preparation consisted in the moral effect on the Jews of the review of their history in the light of religion and their consequent confession of sin and acknowledgment of Gods goodness. Here was the justification for the written law. The old methods had failed. The people had not kept the desultory Torah of the prophets. They needed a more formal system of discipline. Here too were the motives for adopting the covenant. Penitence for the nations miserable past prompted the desire for a better future, and gratitude for the overwhelming goodness of God roused an enthusiasm of devotion. Nothing urges us to surrender ourselves to God so much as these two motives-our repentance and His goodness. They are the two powerful magnets that draw souls to Christ.
The chronicler-always delighting in any opportunity to insert his lists of names-records the names of the signatories of the covenant. The seals of these men were of importance so long as the original document to which they were affixed was preserved, and so long as any recognised descendants of the families they represented were living. To us they are of interest because they indicate the orderly arrangement of the nation and the thoroughness of procedure in the ratification of the covenant. Nehemiah, who is again called by his Persian title Tirshatha, appears first. This fact is to be noted as a sign that as yet even in a religious document the civil ruler takes precedence of the hierarchy. At present it is allowed for a layman to head the list of leading Israelites. We might have looked for Ezras name in the first place, for he it was who had taken the lead in the introduction of The Law, while Nehemiah had retreated into the background during the whole months proceedings. But the name of Ezra does not appear anywhere on the document. The probable explanation of its absence is that only heads of houses affixed their seals, and that Ezra was not accounted one of them. Nehemiahs position in the document is official. The next name, Zedekiah, possibly stands for Zadok the Scribe mentioned later, {Neh_13:13} who may have been the writer of the document, or perhaps Nehemiahs secretary. Then come the priests. It was not the business of these men to assist in the reading of The Law. While the Levites acted as scribes and instructors of the people, the priests were chiefly occupied with the temple ritual and the performance of the other ceremonies of religion. The Levites were teachers of The Law, the priests were its administrators. In the question of the execution of The Law, therefore, the priests have a prominent place, and after remaining in obscurity during the previous engagements, they naturally come to the front when the national acceptance of the Pentateuch is being confirmed. The hierarchy is so far established that, though the priests follow the lay ruler of Jerusalem, they precede the general body of citizens, and even the nobility. No doubt many of the higher families were in the line of the priesthood. But this was not the case with all of them, and therefore we must see here a distinct clerical precedence over all but the very highest rank.
Most of the names in this list of priests occur again in a list of those who came up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, {Neh_12:1-7} from which fact we must infer that they represent families, not individuals.. But some of the names in the other list are missing here. A most significant omission is that of the high-priest. Are we merely to suppose that some names have dropped out in course of transcription? Or was the high-priest, with some of his brethren, unwilling to sign the covenant? We have had earlier signs that the high-priest did not enjoy the full confidence of Ezra. The heads of the hierarchy may have resented the popularising of The Law. Since formerly, while the people were often favoured with the moral Torah of the prophets, the ceremonial Torah of the priests was kept among the arcana of the initiated, the change may not have been pleasing to its old custodians. Then these conservatives may not have approved of Ezras latest recension of The Law. A much more serious difficulty lay with those priests who had contracted foreign marriages, and who had favoured the policy of alliance with neighbouring peoples which Ezra had so fiercely opposed. Old animosities from this source were still smouldering in the bosoms of some of the priests. But apart from any specific grounds of disaffection, it is clear that there never was much sympathy between the scribes and the priests. Putting all these considerations together, it is scarcely too much to conjecture that the absentees were designedly holding back when the covenant was signed. The only wonder is that the disaffected minority was so small.
According to the new order advised by Ezekiel and now established, the Levites take the second place and come after the priests, as a separate and inferior order of clergy. Yet the hierarchy is so far honoured that even the lowest of the clergy precede the general body of the laity. We come down to the porters, the choristers, and the temple-helots before we hear of the mass of the people. When this lay element is reached, the whole of it is included. Men, women, and children are all represented in the covenant. The Law had been read to all classes, and now it is accepted by all classes. Thus again the rights and duties of women and children in religion are recognised, and the thoroughly domestic character of Judaism is provided for. There is a solidity in the compact. A common obligation draws all who are included in it together. The population generally follows the example of the leaders. "They clave to their brethren, their nobles," {Neh_10:29} says the chronicler. The most effective unifying influence is a common enthusiasm in a great cause. The unity of Christendom will only be restored when the passion of loyalty to Christ is supreme in every Christian, and when every Christian acknowledges that this is the case with all his brother Christians.
It is clear that the obligation of the covenant extended to the whole law. This is called "Gods law, which was given by Moses the servant of God." {Neh_10:29} Nothing can be clearer than that in the eyes of the chronicler, at all events, it was the Mosaic law. We have seen many indications of this view in the chroniclers narrative. Can we resist the conclusion that it was held by the contemporaries of Ezra and Nehemiah? We are repeatedly warned against the mistake of supposing that the Pentateuch was accepted as a brand-new document. On the contrary, it was certainly received on the authority of the Mosaic origin of its contents, and because of the Divine authority that accompanied this origin. By the Jews it was viewed as the law of Moses, just as in Roman jurisprudence every law was considered to be derived from the "Twelve Tables." No doubt Ezra also considered it to be a true interpretation of the genius of Mosaism adapted to modern requirements. If we keep this clearly before our minds, the Pentateuchal controversy will lose its sharpest points of conflict. The truth here noted once more is so often disregarded that it needs to be repeatedly insisted on at the risk of tautology.
After the general acceptance of the whole law, the covenant specifies certain important details. First comes the separation from the heathen-the burning question of the day. Next we have Sabbath observance-also made especially important, because it was distinctive of Judaism as well as needful for the relief of poor and oppressed labourers. But the principal part of the schedule is occupied with pledges for the provision of the temple services. Immense supplies of fuel would be required for the numerous sacrifices, and therefore considerable prominence was given to the collecting of wood; subsequently a festival was established to celebrate this action. According to a later tradition, Nehemiah kindled the flames on the great altar of the burnt-offerings with supernatural fire. {RAPC 2 Maccabees 1:19-22} Like the Vestal virgins at Rome, the temple officials were to tend the sacred fire as a high duty, and never let it go out. "Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually," {Lev_6:13} was the Levitical rule. Thus the very greatest honour was given to the rite of sacrifice. As the restoration of the religion of Israel began with the erection of the altar before the temple was built, so the preservation of that religion was centred in the altar fire-and so, we may add, its completion was attained in the supreme sacrifice of Christ.
Finally, special care was taken for what we may call "Church finance" in the collection of the tithes. This comes last, yet it has its place. Not only is it necessary for the sake of the work that is to be carried on, it is also important in regard to the religious obligation of the worshipper. The cry for a cheap religion is irreligious, because real religion demands sacrifices, and, indeed, necessarily promotes the liberal spirit from which those sacrifices flow. But if the contributions are to come within the range of religious duties, they must be voluntary. Clearly this was the case with the Jewish tithes, as we may see for two reasons. First, they were included in the covenant, and adhesion to this was entirely voluntary. Secondly, Malachi rebuked the Jews for withholding the payment of tithes as a sin against God, {Mal_3:8-12} showing that the payment only rested on a sense of moral obligation on the part of the people. It would have been difficult to go further while a foreign government was in power, even if the religious leaders had desired to do so. Moreover, God can only accept the offerings that are given freely with heart and will, for all He cares for is the spirit of the gift.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 EXPLANATORY NOTES.] Neh_10:1-27.] “First came the name of the…
EXPLANATORY NOTES.] Neh_10:1-27.] “First came the name of the governor, the Tirshatha; next Zidkijah, perhaps the secretary to the governor. Then follow twenty-one names of priests, seventeen Levites, and forty-four of the chief of the people.”
Neh_10:28. The rest of the people] Represented by the heads of the nations who had sealed the covenant. These sealed; those swore. All they that had separated themselves] “The descendants of those Israelites who had been left in the land, and who now joined the new community.”—Keil.
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Neh_10:30-31.] “Besides the general obligation to observe all the commandments, judgments, and statutes of God, two points, then frequently transgressed, are specially mentioned. In Neh_10:30, that we would not give our daughters to the people of the lands, nor take their daughters for our sons. In Neh_10:31, that if the people of the land brought wares or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and would let the seventh year lie, and the loan of every hand. To the sanctification of the Sabbath pertained the celebration of the Sabbatical year in which the land was to lie untilled and unsown” (Exo_23:10).—Keil.
Neh_10:32-39.] Having agreed to keep the law they then resolved to maintain the Temple service.
Neh_10:32. The third part of a shekel] The law required half a shekel; perhaps reduced to one-third in consequence of the people’s poverty. Ver.
Neh_10:34. We cast the lots for the wood offering] “The carrying of the wood had formerly been the work of the Nethinims. But few of them having returned, the duty was assigned as stated in the text. The practice afterwards rose into great importance, and Josephus speaks of the Xylophoria, or certain stated and solemn times, at which the people brought up wood to the Temple.”—Jamieson.
Neh_10:38. The priest shall be with the Levites when they take tithes] A prudential arrangement. The presence of a dignified priest would prevent the people deceiving the Levites, or the Levites defrauding the priests.—Jamieson. The tithe of the tithes] The Levites, having received a tenth of all land produce, were required to give a tenth of this to the priests. The Levites were charged with the additional obligation to carry the tithes when received, and deposit them in the Temple stores, for the use of the priests.—Jamieson.
Neh_10:39. We will not forsake the house] The people swore to maintain, the priests and Levites to serve, the Temple.
HOMILETICAL CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 10
Neh_10:28-31. Unworldliness.
Neh_10:29. Moses.
Neh_10:32-39. Voluntary Taxation.
Neh_10:39. Zeal for the Sanctuary.
Neh_10:39. Zeal for God’s House expressed in a holy resolution not to forsake it.
UNWORLDLINESS
Neh_10:28-31. And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding; they clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; and that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: and if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.
THEY did not pray to be taken out of the world; they did resolve to keep themselves from its evil. Is that biblical unworldliness? St. James says, “The friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Does the Apostle stand alone in this? Is he carried away by the vehemence of his feelings as public speakers sometimes are? He was pre-eminently a calm man. He weighed his words. The men of his age styled him “the just.” He was a man of weight. And the key-note of his epistle is struck in the sermon on the mount. Let us listen to the teaching of Jesus, so tranquil in its tone: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.” Unfortunately use has dulled the edge of these beautiful words. Could we listen to them as they deserve to be heard they would sound strangely. They distinguish between things that differ—the world and God. They separate the worshippers of the world from the worshippers of God. They tell of a reciprocal influence. If we turn from Christ to Paul the strain is the same. “Be not conformed to this world, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” “The time is short: it remaineth, that they that weep be as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” Take one more step—from Paul to John. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
I. What is the forbidden world?
1. Not the material world. “Every creature of God is good.” The world is God’s: he made it; he gloried in it; he upholds it. It is a mark of God’s likeness to enjoy this beautiful world. In the world God is mirrored. When night draws its curtain and hangs up its silvery lamps,
All things are calm, and fair, and passive. Earth
Looks as if lulled upon an angel’s lap
Into a breathless dewy sleep: so still
That we can only say of things, they be!
It is said that the first Napoleon was once on the deck of a vessel surveying such a scene when he overheard two of his officers in discussion, and one denying the existence of God. Going towards them he said, “Gentlemen, I heard one of you say there is no God; then pray tell me who made all this?” pointing as he spoke to “the beads of light strung o’er night’s dark brow.” Think you God has forbidden us to love this beautiful world? Why has he hidden it from us? Why has he made science, art, health, life itself, dependent on the study of it? Is it not that he would have us cultivate its friendship and worm out its secret? and whether we gaze with awe on the worlds upon worlds circling in distant space, or the worlds within worlds in each the minutest creation of God, rise from our daily contemplation, as he rose on the first day of its existence, with the words upon our lips—“It is very good;” “He hath done all things well.”
2. Not the men who are in the world. If the world is dear to God because he made it and sustains it, how much more man, whom he has redeemed with his Son’s most precious blood? We have been on the Mount with Christ. Let us revisit it. He shall teach us our relations to the world of men. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world.” Did Christ scorn men? He scorned, hated, recoiled from, denounced sin; but the sinner he sought, soothed, taught, won, and rejoiced over. Christ had human affections. Broad enough to embrace a world was the love of Christ, and yet he needed human love. And in selected homes and from selected hearts he got what he wanted. God has not outlawed our affections. They will outlast death. Love is of God. Love is eternal. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a lair: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.”
3. But the spirit of the world. Our Lord styled it “the evil.”; St. John phrases it, “the lust of the world.” The maxims, the tone, the tendency of a life that shuts out God, ignores death, buries the thought of another life, the godlessness of the world—this is forbidden. The World’s Final Court of Appeal is Opinion; the Christian’s is God’s Word. The one anxiously asks, “What will society say?” The other fearlessly asks, “What has God said?” “Will it be discovered? will shame follow?” that is one way of meeting a temptation. “Is it right?” that is the other, the more excellent, way.
II. Importance of a correct answer to the question, What is the forbidden world? A mistake here is fatal.
1. Some have looked upon this world as accursed. They have betaken themselves to monasteries and sisterhoods, oblivious of the fact that
The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask:
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us daily nearer God.
2. Some have supposed the evil to be in our business. Here temptation arises; but the place where the fire breaks out is not the cause of the fire. To be unworldly does not mean to be out of the world. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” St. Paul did not give up tent-making, nor St. Peter relinquish fishing, when they became apostles. They taught their converts to “abide” in their callings. Business is not outside religion; it must be religiously attended to. The shop should be as sacred as a sanctuary. Work done with right motives and aims is a ceaseless litany. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Illustrations:—Let us use worldly things as wise pilgrims do their staves and other necessaries convenient for their journey. So long as they help us forward in our way, let us make use of them, and accordingly esteem them. But if they become troublesome hindrances and cumbersome burdens, let us leave them behind us or cast them away.—Downame.
All the water is waste that runs beside the mill; so all thy thoughts and words are waste which are not to the glory of God. A bee will not sit on a flower where no honey can be sucked; neither should the Christian engage in anything but for his soul’s good and God’s honour.—Gurnall.
Christianity allows us to use the world, provided we do not abuse it. It docs not spread before us a delicious banquet, and then come with a “Touch not, taste not, handle not.”—Porteous.
A Christian is like Jacob’s ladder: while his body, that lower part, stands on the ground, the top, his higher and better part, is in heaven. He that hath the living waters of Jesus flowing in his heart, is mad if he stoop to the puddles of vanity, or seek content in the world. Yea, such a one will scarce descend to lawful pleasures, but for God’s allowance and nature’s necessity; and then but as the eagle, who lives aloft, and stoops not but for her prey.—Adams.
MOSES
Neh_10:29. Moses, the servant of God
Three periods of forty years:—agreeing with his life in Egypt, Arabia, and the wilderness of the wandering.
I. Birth and education. Tyranny and cowardice twin-sisters. Pharaoh enslaved the people. Unrighteous power is uncertain power. Pharaoh knew this. Dreading the increasing numbers of the children of Israel, he issued an edict that all the male children should be strangled at birth. Fearing political intrigue, he placed over them Egyptian task-masters. Anxious to crush their spirits, he increased their burdens. Then Moses was born. Jewish proverb says, “When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.” “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” The story of the child’s salvation. His mother his educator. Mother’s influence. Augustine and Monica. The mother of the Wesleys. Cowper’s poem on seeing his mother’s picture. Boyhood of Moses not detailed. Nor childhood of Jesus. Two anecdotes in Stephen’s speech. Flight now necessary.
II. Moses kept the flock in the desert near Horeb. Desert voices—solitude and thought. Burning bush—a lesson to the eye; “My people are in the fire; they shall not be burned.” Voice—a command and a commission. Reluctance. Moses and Aaron. Our dependence upon each other. Goes to Pharaoh.
III. His work. Eighty years of preparation. How God can wait! Our impatience if harvest ripens slowly. Moses became deliverer. Difficulties from Pharaoh; from people’s accustom edness to bondage. Human sagacity and Divine help. The order of their march he indicated, but Hobab a guide. With the sagacity of a leader Moses united the courage of a warrior. He was the patriarch and judge. Difficulties he surmounted, and doubts he resolved. How he bore with them the history tells. His speech sometimes song. The poet of the nation. Passage of the Red Sea (Psalms 90). Farewell (Deuteronomy 32, 33). The scenes of this history have passed into proverbs. Our conceptions of the journey of a human soul from this land of exile to its home with God are borrowed from this narrative. Horeb, Sinai, and Nebo speak a language understood by thousands. The Red Sea, the city of palm trees, and the cleft rock have suggested thoughts of God which have inspired untold myriads in their pilgrimage. Such a history can never again be written. “A man of like passions.” Penalty of passion. He was to see, but not to enter the land. Forty years he had toiled to bring them there, and now he must die outside. How many coveted objects get just within our reach, and then are removed as by invisible hands. A few lines sum up a human life. “Moses, the servant of the Lord.” Few words, but 120 years in them—the victories and defeats, fears and hopes, temptations and resistances, dangers and deliverances of a lifetime. Moses died: God buried him. The people wept: Joshua arose. Moses died, but his work remained—remains. His life is ours to study. His laws are at the base of English and American jurisprudence; and he is with those who have gotten the victory, who stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God; and sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.
Illustrations:—“The life of Moses is probably the most complete of any man’s, either in the Old Testament or the New—a great, noble, growing life to the very end, and most clearly and graphically depicted in the word of God. But not a single ray of light falls upon his death, and no man attends his funeral. We only know that it was well cared for; “the Lord buried him.”—Ker.
Moses, pre-eminently one of the greatest men of all time. Coming from the lowest ranks of life,—born a slave under the iron tyranny of an Eastern despot,—he rose to become the emancipator of his people from that bondage, and the founder of a nation that held the light of heaven through the darkness of ages; and which, of all nations, has had the mightiest influence in advancing the true progress of the world.—E. L. Hull.
VOLUNTARY TAXATION
Neh_10:32-39. We made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, &c.
The old law required the offerings; but it had been long unread. In the enthusiasm of the Reformation under Nehemiah they accepted the neglected law, and adapted it to their new conditions. Not to enter upon the thorny path of endowed or voluntary religion, nor to inquire whether tithes are coeval with the first man, and binding upon the present age, let us maintain—
I. That a Church supposes an edifice. “No particular sort of building, style of architecture, or ceremony of preparation is essential. An upper room in Jerusalem, the abode of the eleven, is the first-mentioned place of Christian consolation. The place of pentecostal concourse is not exactly mentioned, but is called a house. Afterwards the Christians met in the temple, probably for public worship; and celebrated the eucharist or broke the bread in the house. Perhaps it was in the same place in which the eleven abode that the pentecostal assemblage was held, that the eucharistic bread was broken, that the deacons were installed, and that the apostolic council was held, and which was ‘shaken’ in answer to prayer.”—Manly. God may be worshipped in any house. Experience has taught the convenience and value of a house of God. The edifice must be built and maintained.
II. That a Church requires a minister. “All elders are worthy of honour, the elders that rule well of double honour, the elders that labour in the word and doctrine of special honour. The honour consists of either obedience, or maintenance, or of both together. The labourer is worthy of his reward. No man can rightly labour in the word and doctrine without diligent and habitual biblical study; no man can conduct such study without the renunciation of secular pursuits; no man can abandon such pursuits without an adequate and guaranteed salary from the Church in which he teaches and for which he labours; and accordingly it is a wise arrangement, an equitable exchange, a Divine direction, that the bishops or ministers of the churches should be adequately sustained and paid. An unpaid ministry must always be an occasional and defective ministry; and a Church that relies on it will droop and decline. It is simple justice; and it is God’s law that he who is taught in the word should communicate to him that teacheth in all good things.”—Manly. The ministry must be sustained.
III. That a Church is a brotherhood. “The rich and poor meet together.” “The poor ye have always with you.” In a Church sense, “if any provide not for his own house he hath denied the faith.” “All ye are brethren.”
IV. That a Church is a missionary organization. It has duties both at home and abroad. The word of God must be translated, the masses evangelized, society leavened. This is the only “needs-be” for a Church. It gets to give; exists for what it does. A praying Church must also be a working Church. A working Church must of necessity be a generous Church. Jesus stood over against the treasury and saw the rich men casting in their gifts. And he saw also a certain widow casting in the two mites. “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” “God loveth the cheerful giver.”
Illustration:—Men may say they prefer to give their missionary money nearer home, where they see what becomes of it. But remember that it is by setting up standards and beacons, getting hold of a few here and there and Christianizing them, even when results look small, that a great testimony to Christ is finally given. Make the gospel “witness to all nations,” before the end comes. The apostles travelled and sailed, casting their bread upon the waters, not too anxious to count up visible results. The great commission was, “Go, preach the gospel to all nations.” There is no knowing where the fruit will spring.—Bishop Huntington.
ZEAL FOR THE SANCTUARY
Neh_10:39. We will not forsake the house of our God
Israel ordained the guardians of God’s spiritual worship, and the repositories of his lively oracles. So long as they kept oracles undefiled and maintained worship undebased God was with them; when they profaned or abandoned the place where his honour dwelt—defiling his worship with superstition and idolatry—he turned to be their adversary. He gave up their city to destruction, and their beautiful house, where their fathers had praised him, to utter desolation. They were carried away captive into Babylon. After seventy years of tribulation, God hearkened to their cries. He caused Cyrus to issue a decree of return. Multitudes hastened back. Having rebuilt the temple they kept a solemn festival. They made confessions, and renewed their covenant with God. They bound themselves to restore the tithes and sacrifices which the law ordained. Though impoverished and oppressed they undertook to give such things as were needful for the full service of the temple. The whole assembly, in unison with their governor, protested with one mind and one mouth, WE WILL NOT FORSAKE THE HOUSE OF OUR GOD.
Why you should say of “the habitation of God’s house,” we will not forsake it?
1. God has clearly ordained public worship. He made man to be social—social in virtue of his sorrows, his joys, his wants, his affections, his relationships. But if he formed men to be social in things natural, he no less formed them to be social in things spiritual. The isolation of selfishness is of sin; the union of love is of God. But union is cherished by communion, and communion strengthened by united worship. The faithful ought therefore to assemble themselves together in their Master’s name. Accordingly, fellowship in worship may be traced from the earliest period. It seems not improbable that, as our great poet has represented, even in paradise the primitive pair had some chosen bower whither they resorted to offer up their stated homage to their Maker. But be that as it may, no sooner do we find men calling upon the Lord after the fall, than we find them calling upon him in fellowship. Where the patriarch pitched his tent, there he built his altar. As soon as ever God had singled out a people for himself, he bade them raise a tabernacle of witness and of worship, giving the minutest instructions for its construction, its furniture, and its ordinances. He added this memorable promise, which remains in all its force, “Wherever I record my name I will come to thee and bless thee.” And gloriously did he record his name—first in the tabernacle, and afterwards more gloriously still in the temple. He dwelt between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat, and poured his blessing on all who truly sought him there. Jesus honoured the temple. He loved to resort to his Father’s house. He was very jealous of its desecration; the zeal of it ate him up. There he was wont to teach; there he wrought mighty miracles. His disciples met for worship, sometimes in the synagogue, sometimes in the upper chamber, sometimes at the river-side: and no sooner did opportunity serve than they set apart holy places for the ordinances and worship of God. The faithful in every ago have desired to dwell in the house of the Lord. If, therefore, any man have the mind of the Spirit; if he love the Saviour and those whom the Saviour loves—he cannot but say of the solemn assembly, “I will not forsake the house of my God.”
2. The special manifestations of the Divine presence, vouchsafed in the congregations of the saints, ought to endear to us such privileged scenes. Never has the promise failed, “Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” His chosen have sought and seen his “power and glory in the sanctuary.” The history of the Church in all ages is rich in the illustration of this fact. The patriarchal altar was many a time illumined from on high. The cloud of glory often rested on the tabernacle of witness. The mystic splendour which shone between the wings of the cherubim, reflecting a radiance on the mercy-seat—that symbol of the propitiation of Jesus—testified that “God dwelt with man on the earth,”—that “his dwelling-place was in Zion. There, by voices and by visions, by Urim and Thummim,” and by secret communications of his grace, he revealed himself to his people. And now—what though the temple with its magnificent ceremonial and impressive ordinances has passed away—what though no visible Shekinah irradiates the simple house of prayer—have we no signs, no tokens left? Have we not the substance instead of the shadow? the spirit in lieu of the letter? If the carnal worshipper sees less—does not the spiritual worshipper see more—abundant glory? “If the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” Are there not still memorials of a present Lord amongst us—memorials sublimely simple, exquisitely expressive?—his blessed gospel—his living sacraments—the preaching of his word? Neither are there lacking demonstrations of his power and love. True it is that they who come not in faith find him not here; but those who come believingly hear a voice the unbelieving do not hear—feel a presence the unbelieving do not feel—enjoy a blessing the unbelieving cannot receive. If, then, God manifests himself surpassingly in the sanctuary; if he has never failed to bestow his special favour towards the social services of his children, it follows that they who love the Lord and love to meet him cannot but say, “We will not forsake the house of our God.”
3. As the sanctuary has been the place of the Lord’s rest, so has it been the scene where he has imparted the richest gifts to his worshippers. On the day of Pentecost, it was “when they were all with one accord in one place,” that “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as a of rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Examine the history of the Church ever since, and you will find that of the multitudes of the believing, the largest proportion have been born for eternity in the house of God. If not begotten in the sanctuary, the saints have at least been nursed and nourished there. Many a time has the devout worshipper entered the sanctuary in darkness, and left it full of light; entered sorely beset with temptations, returned from it with the snare of the fowler broken; come perplexed, departed assured; come burdened, gone back enlarged; come prostrate, gone back exalted; come mourning, returned rejoicing; come cold, gone back enkindled; come secularized, gone back spiritualized; come weary, gone back revived; come earthly-minded, gone back heavenly-minded.
4. The servant of God will love the courts of the Lord and not forsake them, because in them he tastes most of heaven below. You cannot form a better conception of heaven than by fixing on the happiest Sabbath, and the happiest hour of worship on the happiest Sabbath, you ever enjoyed in the assembly of the saints. Then and there, withdrawn from the world’s vanities and disquietudes; then and there, abstracted from things seen and temporal, and absorbed in things unseen and eternal; then and there, when all was tranquillity without, and all was calm within; then and there, faith almost turned into sight and hope into fruition—all earthly distinctions forgotten, the poor and the rich blended in fellowship and love, the whole assembly worshipping in unison, like many instruments all true to one key-note; then and there, you had a miniature of heaven, you reached the very vestibule of that temple not made with hands, where congregations never break up, and Sabbaths never end. He then who loves not such scenes on earth—how could he love the heavenly habitation of holiness? He who has no taste for the communion and the songs of the saints below, how would he weary of the ceaseless thanksgiving and the eternal communion of the glorified in immortality! Of all men, the busy, harassed, weary mercantile man—forced to plunge daily into the dust and din of the world’s mart—is the very man who most requires the refreshment and savour of the sanctuary. A Sunday passed in worship has an influence on the days of toil. Many are witnesses that, when on the evening of the stated service which forms the half-way well in the week, they have gone up to the house of the Lord, rich has been the return of blessing and comfort. These services interrupt the current of earthly care, and suspend for a little the play of the overwrought machinery of the mind. Alas! with what punctuality do many frequent the counting-house who are seldom seen in the solemn assembly! What numbers who never think of contenting themselves with a single visit to the warehouse on the Monday, yet content themselves with a solitary attendance at church on the Sunday. What numbers are all alive and alert in the exchange, who are sluggish and uninterested in waiting on God—as though the toys and shadows of time and earth surpassed in magnitude and moment the illimitable realities of immortality.—Canon Stowell, abridged.
ZEAL FOR GOD’S HOUSE, EXPRESSED IN A HOLY RESOLUTION NOT TO FORSAKE IT
Neh_10:39. And we will not forsake the house of our God
INTRODUCTION. Consider these words as they relate to the Jews at that time. The house of God was once the tabernacle, after that the temple. Tabernacle was forsaken: temple destroyed: worshippers carried away into captivity.
I. A resolution well becoming Christians themselves. “We will not forsake the house of our God.” The same zeal and affection which this people expressed to the temple, should be manifested by us to the Church and ordinances of Christ. The material temple was the centre of their unity. Under the gospel there is no such house, unto which all are obliged to repair, and any parts of divine worship are confined. Our house not a material building of wood and stones, of silver and gold, and cedar work; but a mystical building, a spiritual house, whose maker is the living God, and whose materials are living stones: whose house are we. By this house I mean the Church of God, as it is composed of the faithful in all ages and places of the world; comprehending his worship and ordinances, with all the concerns of his kingdom, and interests among men. This is that house which we should resolve never to forsake. There is doubtless much more intended than is expressed in such forms of speech, and in its full extent this resolution comprehends the three following particulars:—
1. That we will never cast off the profession of our faith, nor make a defection from the truths and ways of the gospel, for any cause nor upon any account whatsoever. It’s so rare a thing for a nation to change their gods (though really no gods) that the prophet challenges his people to produce a single instance of its being ever done—Hath a nation changed their gods? But to the everlasting reproach of Israel, they had changed their glory for that which did not profit. They that were the only people under heaven who had no cause to change their God, were of all others the people that had done it. Now it’s this defection from the true God and his worship which this people covenanted against.
2. That we will not neglect the ordinances of Divine worship, nor be wanting in our attendance on them whenever we are called, and have an opportunity of appearing before God in his house. Thus much is contained in this resolution of these devout and reforming Jews. And the same should be our resolution with respect to the house and worship of God under the gospel; we certainly are under no less obligations to frequent Christian assemblies and keep up public worship than they were; we stand in as much need of these helps and advantages as they did. Jesus Christ, as lord of his own house, has appointed divers ordinances to be observed. There must be an assembly of people meeting together for the public administration of these holy ordinances. There must be some proper and convenient places appointed and agreed upon for such religious assemblies where they can be had. Some have learned to condemn all assemblies but their own, and every way of worship but what agrees with theirs. I shall leave it to every man’s conscience where (according to the best light he can get) he thinks himself obliged ordinarily to worship God. There are particular times and seasons for the holding these religious assemblies. Reason tells us, if God is to be worshipped there must be a set time for it. Which day of the week is designed, and ought to be observed, for this stated worship is not agreed among all those that yet are heartily affected to the worship of God itself. Seventh day? First day? There are certain persons, whose work and duty it is to go before others in these holy administrations. Who they are that have this authority I list not now to contend. Some have the charity as well as modesty to nullify all administrations besides their own.
3. That we will promote as far as in us lies the interests of religion, and spread the kingdom of Christ in the world. It’s not the good of this or that particular Church and society only, but the whole interest of Christ as opposed to the devil’s kingdom in the world, whose welfare and prosperity we are bound to seek.
II. It is not only lawful, but may be useful and expedient, for Christians in societies to engage themselves to God, and the duties they owe to him and one another. This people agreed together as one man, and bound themselves by a solemn covenant, which was written and subscribed, sealed and sworn to, that they would never forsake the house of the Lord their God. What I would gather from this instance is, that as this people did, Christians may voluntarily agree together, and engage themselves in particular societies to carry on a work for God in such a way as is warranted by his word, and judged by themselves most likely to promote some valuable end. I shall,
III. Offer reasons both for making this resolution and obliging ourselves to make it good.
1. Because it is God’s house. Everything that is his should be sacred and dear to us. It is his house we are to frequent; they are his ordinances on which we attend. His word is preached and heard. His interest we oblige ourselves to support. They carry his image and superscription; this gives them their worth and value.
(1) To forsake God’s house would be to forsake our own mercies, and deprive ourselves of the most valuable blessing in the whole world. In God’s house we are sure to meet with the truest pleasure and satisfaction. They that come crowding to God’s house, shall be sent away rejoicing to their own, with the greatest benefit and advantage. Here we may hope to have our doubts resolved, our darkness scattered, and temptations most effectually vanquished. With that which will prove the firmest and most effectual support to us under all the troubles of life and at the near approach of death.
(2) To leave this house is to forsake the place which God himself hath chosen, and where he delights to dwell. He loveth the gates of Zion. Is it not good for us to be near to God? Has he said, Here will I dwell?—and should not we for that reason say, Here will we dwell?
(3) To forsake this house is to forsake God himself. We cannot quit the inheritance of the Lord but in effect we go and serve other gods. To what houses will they resort that have once forsaken God’s house? With what company will they associate, and in what assemblies may we expect to find those that have renounced the communion of saints?
2. Because our particular good is lodged in the public interest. In seeking this we seek ourselves. At the same time that we discharge our duty we consult our interests. No service performed to Christ shall lose its reward. No man shall kindle a fire on God’s altar, or shut a door in his house, for nought. It is then likely to go well with our own houses when due care is taken that it may go well with God’s house.
3. This is the noblest way of imitating the great God himself, and conforming to the example of our blessed Saviour. Thou art good, O Lord, and thou doest good. To be like God is our truest glory, and should be our highest ambition. Herein also we imitate the shining example of Jesus Christ. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” His anger at the profanation of the temple rose up to an holy indignation.
4. This makes men real blessings to the world. However they may be esteemed by others, they really are the strength and security of a nation; the stay and support of the public interest: they bear up the pillars of the earth, and keep it from being quite dissolved. For their sakes God sometimes preserves others from those judgments which their crying sins would otherwise pull down upon their guilty heads. Sodom had been preserved for the sake of ten righteous persons, could so many have been found in the place.
5. This will be our rejoicing and comfort another day. Having made this resolution we must oblige ourselves to make it good. Because of the deceitfulness and inconstancy of our hearts. Such engagements will help to fix us more firmly in the interests of religion, and make us more successful in resisting all temptations to apostasy. Hereby we are rendered more capable of serving the interests of religion. A force when united becomes the stronger. The joint concurrence of many give a great advantage to a design, and a better prospect of success.—Matthew Clarke 1715; abridged.
ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 10
TITHES
Without inquiring into the reason for which the number ten has been so frequently preferred as a number of selection in the cases of tribute offerings, both sacred and secular, voluntary and compulsory, we may remark that numerous instances of its use are found both in profane and also in Biblical history, prior to, or independently of, the appointment of the Levitical tithes under the law. In Biblical history the two prominent instances are—
1. Abram presenting the tenth of all his property, according to the Syrian and Arabic versions of Hebrews 7, but as the passages themselves appear to show, of the spoils of his victory, to Melchizedek (Gen_14:20; Heb_7:2; Heb_7:6).
2. Jacob, after his vision at Luz, devoting a tenth of all his property to God in caso he should return home in safety (Gen_28:22). These instances bear witness to the antiquity of tithes, in some shape or other, previous to the Mosaic tithe system. But numerous instances are to be found of the practice of heathen nations, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Arabians, of applying tenths derived from property in general, from spoil, from confiscated goods, or from commercial profits, to sacred, and quasi-sacred, and also to fiscal, purposes, viz. as consecrated to a deity, presented as a reward to a successful general, set apart as a tribute to a sovereign, or as a permanent source of revenue.…
The first enactment of the law in respect of tithes is the declaration that the tenth of all produce, as well as of flocks and cattle, belongs to Jehovah, and must be offered to him.
2. That the tithe was to be paid in kind, or, if redeemed, with an addition of one-fifth to its value (Lev_27:30-33). This tenth is ordered to be assigned to the Levites, as the reward of their service, and it is ordered further, that they are themselves to dedicate to the Lord a tenth of these receipts, which is to be devoted to the maintenance of the high priest (Num_18:21-28).
This legislation is modified or extended in the Book of Deuteronomy, i.e. from thirty-eight to forty years later. Commands are given to the people—
1. To bring their tithes, together with their votive and other offerings and first-fruits, to the chosen centre of worship, the metropolis, there to be eaten in festive celebration, in company with their children, their servants, and the Levites (Deu_12:5-18).
2. After warnings against idolatrous, or virtually idolatrous, practices, and the definition of clean as distinguished from unclean animals, among which latter class the swine is of obvious importance in reference to the subject of tithes, the legislator proceeds to direct that all the produce of the soil shall be tithed every year (Neh_10:17 seems to show that corn, wine, and oil, alone are intended), and that these tithes, with the firstlings of the flock and herd, are to be eaten in the metropolis.
3. But in case of distance, permission is given to convert the produce into money, which is to be taken to the appointed place, and there laid out in the purchase of food for a festal celebration, in which the Levite is, by special command, to be included (Deu_14:22-27).
4. Then follows the direction, that at the end of three years, i.e. in the course of the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical period, all the tithe of that year is to be gathered and laid up “within the gates,” i.e. probably in some central place in each district, not at the metropolis; and that a festival is to be held, in which the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, together with the Levite, are to partake.
5. Lastly, it is ordered that after taking the tithe in each third year, “which is the year of tithing,” an exculpatory declaration is to be made by every Israelite that he has done his best to fulfil the Divine command (Deu_26:12-14). From all this we gather—
1. That one-tenth of the whole produce of the soil was to be assigned for the maintenance of the Levites.
2. That out of this the Levites were to dedicate a tenth to God, for the use of the high priest.
3. That a tithe, in all probability a second tithe, was to be applied to festival purposes.
4. That in every third year, either this festival tithe or a third tenth was to be eaten in company with the poor and the Levites.…
Ewald thinks that under the kings the ecclesiastical tithe system reverted to what he supposes to have been its original free-will character. It is plain that during that period the tithe system partook of the general neglect into which the observance of the law declined, and that Hezekiah, among his other reforms, took effectual means to revive its use (2Ch_31:5; 2Ch_31:12; 2Ch_31:19). Similar measures were taken after the Captivity by Nehemiah (Neh_12:44), and in both these cases special officers were appointed to take charge of the stores and store-houses for the purpose. The practice of tithing especially for relief of the poor appears to have subsisted even in Israel, for the prophet Amos speaks of it, though in an ironical tone, as existing in his day (Amo_4:4). But as any degeneracy in the national faith would be likely to have an effect on the tithe-system, we find complaint of neglect in this respect made by the prophet Malachi (Neh_3:8; Neh_3:10.) Yet, notwithstanding partial evasion or omission, the system itself was continued to a late period in Jewish history, and was even carried to excess by those who, like the Pharisees, affected peculiar exactness in observance of the law (Heb_7:5; Heb_7:8; Mat_23:23; Luk_18:12). Among details relating to the tithe payments mentioned by Rabbinical writers may be noticed:
(1) That in reference to the permission given in case of distance (Deu_14:24), Jews dwelling in Babylonia, Ammon, Moab, and Egypt, were considered as subject to the law of tithe in kind.
(2) In tithing sheep the custom was to enclose them in a pen, and as the sheep went out at the opening, every tenth animal was marked with a rod dipped in vermilion. This was “the passing under the rod.” The law ordered that no inquiry should be made whether the animal were good or bad, and that if the owner changed it, both the original and the changeling were to be regarded as devoted (Lev_27:32-33; Jer_33:13).
(3) Cattle were tithed in and after August, corn in and after September, fruits of trees in and after January.
(4) “Corners” were exempt from tithe.
(5) The general rule was, that all edible articles not purchased were titheable, but that products not specified in Deu_14:23 were regarded as doubtful. Tithe of them was not forbidden, but was not required.—Rev. H. W. Phillot, M.A., in Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary.’
SENTENCES FROM OLD WRITERS
Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah the Tirshatha.—“He is first mentioned, not as a priest, but as a provost; and one that held it an honour to be first in so good a matter. The life of the prince is the load-star of the people, upon which most men fix their eyes and shape their courses. Great men draw many by their examples; they are as looking-glasses by which others dress themselves. And hence Nehemiah’s forwardness here to seal first.” “Those that are above others in dignity and power should go before them in the way of God.” The priests.—“They that lead in prayers should lead in every other good work.” The chief of the people.—“Great men never look so great as when they encourage religion.” “They that have interest must use it for God.” All they that had separated themselves.—“In St. Paul’s sense ‘come out from among them;’ from such stand off; stand up from the dead; save yourselves from this untoward generation; shun their sins, lest ye share in their plagues. These holy separates, or proselytes, sealed the covenant, and became free denizens of the commonwealth of Israel.” Entered into a curse.—“The more to confirm the oath, and to keep their deceitful hearts close to God.” “If he that firmly purposeth often faileth, what shall he do that seldom purposeth any thing, or with little resolvedness?” To walk in God’s law.—“To walk accurately and exactly by line and by rule in all the commandments so far as God should assist them. The bowls of the candlestick have no oil but what droppeth from the olive branches. Condition with the Lord for his strength and grace.” That they would, not intermarry.—“In our covenants with God we should engage particularly against those sins that we have been most frequently overtaken in and damaged by. They that resolve to keep the commandments of God must say to evil doers, Depart.” “By the rib, as by a ladder, Satan oft climbs to the heart and corrupts it.” “Every man when he marrieth, brings either a good or an evil spirit into his house, and so make it either a heaven or a hell.” If the people of the land bring ware on the Sabbath day, &c.—“The Sabbath is a market day for our souls.” And the exaction of every debt we would leave.—“Those are stubborn children indeed that will not mend the fault which they have been particularly corrected for.” Also we made ordinances for us.—“Having covenanted against the sins they had been guilty of, they proceed in obliging themselves to revive and observe the duties they had neglected. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well.” The temple service.—“Let not any people expect the blessing of God unless they make conscience of observing his ordinances.” The third part of a shekel.—“Thankfulness is measured, both by God and good men, not by the weight, but by the will, of the retributor. God doth highly accept the small offerings of his weak servants when he seeth them to proceed from great love.” The wood offering.—“They provided the fire and the wood as well as the lambs for a burnt-offering.” The first-fruits.—“God required to be honoured with the firstlings of all; to show how he sets by our young services.” To bring to the house of our God unto the priests.—“No man might offer his own sacrifice, though it were never so good, but present it to the priest, who was to offer as well the poor man’s lamb as the rich man’s ox.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 List of Those Who Participated in the Covenant
List of Those Who Participated in the Covenant
1. Now those that sealed were] The names that follow ZidMjah's are those of families whose living representatives sealed on behalf of their houses. Several of these family names occur in the list of those who accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12). Zidkijah] The fact that his name is coupled with Nehemiah's suggests that he was a person of importance, but nothing is known of him.
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29. To walk in God's law, etc.] The enactments of the Law which they more particularly undertook to carry out were those directing (a) abstention from marriage with aliens, (b) the observance of the sabbath and sabbatical year, (c) the provision of supplies for the Temple and its ministers. These enactments gained in importance from the circumstances of the times, for there was a persistent tendency on the part of many of the people both to form alliances with their heathen neighbours and to be indifferent to the external ordinances of religion (see Ezra 9 Nehemiah 13). It was to counteract these evils that prominence was given to those regulations which were calculated to preserve the separateness of the Jewish race, and to accentuate the sacredness of their religious institutions. The stress thus laid upon the ceremonial law was not due to any relapse from the spiritual faith of the prophets to the more material and mechanical ideas of primitive times, but was intended to impress upon the people a sense of the transcendent sanctity of the God with whom they enjoyed such privileged relations.
31. Leave the seventh year] i.e. forego the produce of the land in that year.
32. The third part of a shekel] In Exo_30:11-16 the amount named is 'a half shekel' (cp. Mat_17:24), the change being perhaps due to an alteration in the weight of the shekel.
34. The wood offering] This is not specifically prescribed in the Pentateuch. Josephus speaks of it as a festival (the Xylophory).
38. The priest] i.e. some priest was to attend when the Levites took their tithes.
39. Forsake] i.e. fail to provide for.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 See margin ref. (See Scofield "Neh 3:26").
Tirshatha
See margin ref. (See Scofield "Neh 3:26").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. Those who sealed the covenant (Neh 10:1-27)
CHAPTER 10
1. Those who sealed the covenant (Neh 10:1-27)
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2. The obligations of the covenant (Neh 10:28-39)
Neh 10:1-27. The last verse of the preceding chapter mentions a covenant. “And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.” In this chapter we find the names of the heads of the different houses who sealed the covenant, which means they put their signature to it. According to talmudical tradition these signers constituted “the Great Synagogue.” Originally it consisted of 120 members, but later only 70 belonged to it. Its covenants were as follows:
(1) Not to marry heathen women;
(2) to keep Sabbath;
(3) to keep the Sabbatical year;
(4) to pay every year a certain sum to the Temple;
(5) to supply wood for the altar;
(6) to pay the priestly dues;
(7) to collect and to preserve the Holy Scriptures.
The list is headed by Nehemiah with his official title as Governor (Tirshatha). In Neh 10:2-8 the priestly houses are given. The Levitical houses are recorded in Neh 10:9-13. From the book of Ezra we learn that only four priestly houses and only two Levites had returned under Zerubbabel. Here we have twenty-one priestly and seventeen Levitical houses. This shows a marked increase. The chiefs of the people were forty-one houses; their names are given in Neh 10:14-27.
Neh 10:28-39. Besides the heads of the houses recorded in this chapter there were the rest of the people, priests, Levites (the individuals), porters, singers and the Nethinim (Ezr 2:43); they all had separated themselves and entered into a curse, and into an oath. The word “curse” has the meaning of an imprecatory expression in the form of an oath. There must have been some formula in connection with signing the covenant, in which the signers declared that if they broke the covenant God would do something to them (the curse) and then by a direct oath swore to keep the covenant. The obligationsof the covenant are given in the rest of this chapter. These obligations may be summed up in one word, “obedience.” They covenanted to obey the law of the Lord and to do all the commandments.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Signers of the Covenant
The Signers of the Covenant
v. 1. Now, those that sealed were, literally, "those on the sealings," that is, the names of those appearing on the sealed documents: Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, he being the first signer, not only by virtue of his office as the representative of the Persian monarch, but also on account of his own individual zeal for the cause, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah;
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v. 2. Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
v. 3. Pashur, Amariah, Malchijah,
v. 4. Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
v. 6. Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
v. 6. Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
v. 7. Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
v. 8. Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests. Throughout the list there is little value in attempting to identify these men, for most of them are common names and were not confined to any one family.
v. 9. And the Levites: both Jeshua, the son of Azaniah, Binnui, of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,
v. 10. and their brethren: Shebaniah, Hodijah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hauan,
v. 11. Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
v. 12. Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
v. 13. Hodijah, Rant, Beninu. Some of these at least are identical with the Levites named in Neh 9:4-5.
v. 14. The chief of the people, the elders who represented the entire nation: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani,
v. 15. Bunni, Azgad, Rebai,
v. 16. Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
v. 17. Ater, Hizkijah, Azzur,
v. 18. Hodijah, Hashum, Bezai,
v. 19. Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
v. 20. Magpiash, Meshullam, Hesir,
v. 21. Meshesabeel, Zadok, Jaddua,
v. 22. Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
v. 23. Hoshea, Hananiah, Hashub,
v. 24. Hallohesh, Pileha, Shobek,
v. 25. Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
v. 26. and Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,
v. 27. Malluch, Harim, Baanah, some of whom took a very prominent part in the affairs of the people. As these eighty-three heads of families subscribed the covenant for the congregation, so the voting members of a Christian congregation assume the responsibility for the preaching of the Word and pledge their support by signing the constitution.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 On the sealed documents were Nehemiah ... Malchijah
On the sealed documents were Nehemiah ... Malchijah
The names of these people were written on the documents. This can be stated clearly. AT: "On the sealed documents were the names of Nehemiah ... Malchijah" or "On the sealed documents were the names of the following people: Nehemiah ... Malchijah" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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sealed documents
The documents were sealed after the names had been signed on the documents.
Nehemiah
Some people believe that Nehemiah wrote this book and is speaking of himself as if he were someone else because this is an official list. (See: Pronouns)
Hakaliah
This is a man's name. See how you translated this in Nehemiah 1:1. (See: How to Translate Names)
Zedekiah, Seraiah ... Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah
These are names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
Azariah
This is a man's name. See how you translated this in Nehemiah 3:23. (See: How to Translate Names)
Malchijah
This is a man's name. See how you translated this in Nehemiah 3:11. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
name
seal
Nehemiah
govern
Zedekiah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 10:1-27 The eighty-four names included the governor: Nehemiah (10:1),…
10:1-27 The eighty-four names included the governor: Nehemiah (10:1), and a group of priests (10:2-8; cp. 12:1-7), Levites (10:9-13; cp. 9:4-5; 12:8-9), and leaders (10:14-27; cp. 3:4-31).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.