In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?”
Parallel Translations
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In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.
Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?”
-
In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.
Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?
Show all 3 translations
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In those days also saw I the Jews that had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God: 'Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even him did the foreign women cause to sin.
Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to break faith with our God in marrying foreign women?'
Cross-references (34)
- 1 Kings 11:1-8 (v26) Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians,…
- 1 Kings 3:13 (v26) I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all…
- Ezra 10:2 (v27) Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of…
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 (v26) I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her;…
- Ezra 9:1-2 (v23) Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, have not…
Show all 34 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 7:3 (v25) You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.
- 2 Samuel 12:24-25 (v26) David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him;…
- 2 Chronicles 1:12 (v26) therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have…
- Ezra 10:5 (v25) Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So…
- Ezra 10:10 (v23) Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.
- Nehemiah 10:29-30 (v25) joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the…
- Nehemiah 10:30 (v23) and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;
- Nehemiah 13:17 (v25) Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?
- Nehemiah 5:13 (v25) Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise;…
- Nehemiah 13:1 (v23) On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite…
- Nehemiah 13:11 (v25) Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14 (v23) Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with…
- Exodus 34:16 (v25) and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the…
- Deuteronomy 6:13 (v25) You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
- Deuteronomy 25:2-3 (v25) It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face,…
- Deuteronomy 27:14-26 (v25) With a loud voice, the Levites shall say to all the men of Israel, ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination…
- 2 Chronicles 9:22 (v26) So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
- 2 Chronicles 15:12-15 (v25) They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; and that whoever…
- Ezra 7:26 (v25) Whoever will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to…
- Ezra 10:44 (v23) All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
- Psalms 15:4 (v25) in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
- Proverbs 28:4 (v25) Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them.
- Isaiah 50:6 (v25) I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
- 1 Samuel 5:1 (v23) Now the Philistines had taken God’s ark, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
- 1 Samuel 30:24 (v27) Who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage.…
- Ezra 9:11-12 (v23) which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the…
- Nehemiah 4:7 (v23) But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went…
- Zephaniah 3:9 (v24) For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
- Luke 11:45-46 (v25) One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv23, 25 Which was a city of the Philistines, and they…
Which was a city of the Philistines, and they had married wives thereof, and so had corrupted their speech and Religion.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv23–27 Neh 13:23 In those days also saw I Jews…
Neh 13:23 In those days also saw I Jews [that] had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, [and] of Moab:
Ver. 23. In those days saw I Jews] Outwardly, at least (as the apostle distinguishes, Rom 2:28), and that also was then a prerogative, Rom 3:1, and shall appear to be so again, when their long looked for conversion day is come, Rom 11:26.
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That had married wives of Ashdod] Outlandish wives, and of another religion; and with these they cohabited, as the Hebrew word here importeth.
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 vv23, 24, 25, 27 Ashdod; a city of the Philistines, 1Sa 5:1,2, &c.
Ashdod; a city of the Philistines, 1Sa 5:1,2, &c.
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 v23 We have here one instance more of Nehemiah's pious…
We have here one instance more of Nehemiah's pious zeal for the purifying of his countrymen as a peculiar people to God; that was the thing he aimed at in the use of his power, not the enriching of himself. See here,
I. How they had corrupted themselves by marrying strange wives. This was complained of in Ezra's time, and much done towards a reformation, Ezr 9:1-15 and 10. But, when the unclean spirit is cast out, if a watchful eye be not kept upon him, he will re-enter; so he did here. Though in Ezra's time those that had married strange wives were forced to put them away, which could not but occasion trouble and confusion in families, yet others would not take warning. Nitimur in vetitum - we still lean towards what is forbidden. Nehemiah, like a good governor, enquired into the state of the families of those that were under his charge, that he might reform what was amiss in them, and so heal the streams by healing the springs. 1. He enquired whence they had their wives, and found that many of the Jews had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab (Neh 13:23), either because they were fond of what was far-fetched or because they hoped by these alliances to strengthen and enrich themselves. See how God by the prophet reproves this, Mal 2:11. Judah has dealt treacherously, and broken covenant with God, the covenant made in Ezra's time with reference to this very thing; he has profaned the holiness of the Lord by marrying the daughter (that is, the worshipper) of a strange god. 2. He talked with the children, and found they were children of strangers, for their speech betrayed them. The children were bred up with their mothers, and learned of them and their nurses and servants to speak, so that they could not speak the Jews' language, could not speak it at all, or not readily, or not purely, but half in the speech of Ashdod, or Ammon, or Moab, according as the country was which the mother was a native of. Observe, (1.) Children, in their childhood, learn much of their mothers. Partus sequitur ventrem - they are prone to imitate their mothers. (2.) If either side be bad, the corrupt nature will incline the children to take after that, which is a good reason why Christians should not be unequally yoked. (3.) In the education of children great care should be taken about the government of their tongues, that they learn not the language of Ashdod, any impious or impure talk, any corrupt communication.
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II. What course Nehemiah took to purge out this corruption, when he discovered how much it had prevailed.
1. He showed them the evil of it, and the obligation he lay under to witness against it. He did not seek an occasion against them, but this was an iniquity to be punished by the judge, and which he must by no means connive at (Neh 13:27): "Shall we hearken to you, who endeavour to palliate and excuse it? No, it is an evil, a great evil, it is a transgression against our God, to marry strange wives, and we must do our utmost to put a stop to it. You beg that they may not be divorced from you, but we cannot hearken to you, for there is no other remedy to clear us from the guilt and prevent infection." (1.) He quotes a precept, to prove that it was in itself a great sin; and makes them swear to that precept: You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, etc., which is taken from Deu 7:3. When we would reclaim people from sin we must show them the sinfulness of it in the glass of the commandment. (2.) He quotes a precedent, to show the pernicious consequences of it, which made it necessary to be animadverted upon by the government (Neh 13:26): Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? The falls of great and good men are recorded in order that we may take warning by them to shun the temptations which they were overcome by. Solomon was famous for wisdom; there was no king like him for it; yet, when he married strange wives, his wisdom could not secure him from their snares, nay, it departed from him, and he did very foolishly. He was beloved of God, but his marrying strange wives threw him out of God's favour, and went near to extinguish the holy fire of grace in his soul: he was king over all Israel; but his doing this occasioned the loss of ten of his twelve tribes. You plead that you can marry strange wives and yet retain the purity of Israelites; but Solomon himself could not; even him did outlandish women cause to sin. Therefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall when he runs upon such a precipice.
2. He showed himself highly displeased at it, that he might awaken them to a due sense of the evil of it: He contended with them, Neh 13:25. They offered to justify themselves in what they did, but he showed them how frivolous their excuses were, and argued it warmly with them. When he had silenced them he cursed them, that is, he denounced the judgments of God against them, and showed them what their sin deserved. He then picked out some of them that were more obstinate than the rest, and fit to be made examples, and smote them (that is, ordered them to be beaten by the proper officers according to the law, Deu 25:2, Deu 25:3), to which he added this further mark of infamy that he plucked off their hair, or cut or shaved it off; for it may so be understood. Perhaps they had prided themselves in their hair, and therefore he took it off to deform and humble them, and put them to shame; it was, in effect, to stigmatize them, at least for a time. Ezra, in this case, had plucked off his own hair, in holy sorrow for the sin; Nehemiah plucked off their hair, in a holy indignation at the sinners. See the different tempers of wise, and good, and useful men, and the divers graces, as well as divers gifts, of the same Spirit.
3. He obliged them not to take any more such wives, and separated those whom they had taken: He cleansed them from all strangers, both men and women (Neh 13:30), and made them promise with an oath that they would never do so again, Neh 13:25. Thus did he try all ways and means to put a stop to this mischief and to prevent another relapse into this disease.
4. He took particular care of the priests' families, that they might not lie under this stain, this guilt. He found, upon enquiry, that a branch of the high priest's own family, one of his grandsons, had married a daughter of Sanballat, that notorious enemy of the Jews (Neh 2:10; Neh 4:1), and so had, in effect, twisted interests with the Samaritans, Neh 13:28. How little love had that man either to God or his country who could make himself in duty and interest a friend to him that was a sworn enemy to both. It seems this young priest would not put away his wife, and therefore Nehemiah chased him from him, deprived him, degraded him, and made him for ever incapable of the priesthood. Josephus says that this expelled priest was Manasseh, and that when Nehemiah drove him away he went to his father-in-law Sanballat, who built him a temple upon Mount Gerazim, like that at Jerusalem, and promised him he should be high priest in it, and that then was laid the foundation of the Samaritans' pretensions, which continued warm to our Saviour's time. Joh 4:20, Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. When Nehemiah had thus expelled one that had forfeited the honour of the priesthood he again posted the priests and Levites every one in his business, Neh 13:30. It was no loss to them to part with one that was the scandal of their cloth; the work would be done better without him. When Judas had gone out Christ said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, Joh 13:30, Joh 13:31. Here are Nehemiah's prayers on this occasion. (1.) He prays, Remember them, O my God! Neh 13:29. "Lord, convince and convert them; put them in mind of what they should be and do, that they may come to themselves." Or, "Remember them to reckon with them for their sin; remember it against them." If we take it so, this prayer is a prophecy that God would remember it against them. Those that defile the priesthood despise God, and shall be lightly esteemed. Perhaps they were too many and too great for him to deal with. "Lord" (says he), "deal thou with them; take the work into thy own hands." (2.) He prays, Remember me, O my God! Neh 13:31. The best services done to the public have sometimes been forgotten by those for whom they were done (Ecc 9:15); therefore Nehemiah refers it to God to recompense him, takes him for his paymaster, and then doubts not but he shall be well paid. This may well be the summary of our petitions; we need no more to make us happy than this: Remember me, O my God! for good.
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 vv23–27 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these…
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?.... By marrying strange wives, by whom he was drawn into idolatry, Kg1 11:3,
yet among many nations was there no king like him; as not for grandeur and riches, so not for wisdom, and yet was ensnared by his idolatrous wives:
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who was beloved of God; alluding to his name Jedidiah, which signifies beloved of the Lord, Sa2 12:24
and God made him king over all Israel; which was a proof of his love to him, and so he was under the greater obligation to serve him, and him only, and yet his heart, through his wives, was turned after other gods:
even him did outlandish women cause to sin; and if so great and wise a man was enticed by them to idolatry, much more may you, and therefore it was very dangerous to marry with them.
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 v25 Cursed - Caused them to be excommunicated and cast…
Cursed - Caused them to be excommunicated and cast out of the society of God's people. This and the following punishments were justly inflicted upon them, because this transgression was contrary both to a plain law of God, and to their own late solemn covenants. Smote - I caused to be beaten with stripes, according to the law, Deut. xxv, 2, such whose faults were most aggravated; to whom he added this punishment over and above the former. Plucked off - Or, shaved them. The hair was an ensign of liberty among the eastern nations; and baldness was a disgrace, and token of slavery and sorrow.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–27 Verse 24. Half in the speech of Ashdod] There…
Verse 24. Half in the speech of Ashdod] There were children in the same family by Jewish and Philistine mothers. As the Jewish mother would always speak to her children in Hebrew or Chaldee, so they learnt to speak these languages; and as the Ashdod mother would always speak to her children in the Ashdod language, so they learnt that tongue. Thus there were, in the same family, children who could not understand each other; half, or one part, speaking one language, and the other part another. Children of different wives did not ordinarily mingle together; and the wives had separate apartments. This is a better explanation than that which intimates that the same child spoke a jargon, half Ashdod and half Hebrew.
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 vv23–27 Neh 13:23. Also saw I Jews that had married…
Neh 13:23. Also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod — A city of the Philistines; of Ammon and of Moab — They had married strangers, though not long before they had most solemnly promised not to do so, Neh 10:30. So hard a thing it is perfectly to root out tares, which will be continually springing up again.
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 v24 The speech of Ashdod - The Philistine language, which…
The speech of Ashdod - The Philistine language, which was akin to that of Egypt.
According to the language of each people - The children spoke a mixed dialect - half-Philistine, half-Hebrew.
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 vv23, 24, 25, 27 Azotus. In the country of the Philistines.
Azotus. In the country of the Philistines.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv24–25 could not speak in the Jews' language, but according…
could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people--a mongrel dialect imbibed from their mothers, together with foreign principles and habits.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv23–27 FOREIGN MARRIAGES DISSOLVED, Neh_13:23-31.
FOREIGN MARRIAGES DISSOLVED, Neh_13:23-31.
“The sin of mixed marriages was one of the crying sins of the Jews at this time. The greatness of the sin arose from the fact that it tended to defeat one of the purposes of the Mosaic economy. God isolated the Jews from all other nations that they might be a nursery for the great ideas of religion that were to be elaborated in the history of the world, and a stock from which he would bring forth the Messiah. All mingling with other nations, who had not been trained in this way and preserved for this purpose, tended to defeat this design. Especially was this true of matrimonial alliances. Heathen women retained a natural longing for the indulgences of their own religion, and easily led their husbands into guilty compliances. The women of Moab and Philistia, and the wives of Solomon, furnish mournful proofs of this fact. They led their infatuated husbands and paramours into the grossest idolatry. They, therefore, who chose heathen wives, thereby rejected the God of Israel.” — T.V. Moore.
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23. Saw I Jews — That is, he observed, or his attention was called to, certain Jews who had contracted foreign marriages. Perhaps he observed this during some journey through the province, for these Jews seem not to have lived in Jerusalem.
Had married wives — Literally, had caused to dwell. An expression originating in the custom of the husband’s bringing his wife home to dwell in his own house.
Ashdod — One of the principal cities of the Philistines. See on Jos_11:22.
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 vv23–27 23. saw I Jews] R.V. saw I the Jews.…
23. saw I Jews] R.V. saw I the Jews. The article which the R.V. rightly renders shows that Nehemiah is not making a general charge against the Jewish nation, but reports what he had seen in the instance of a certain set of Jews. It has been suggested that Nehemiah came across them in the course of a journey (cf. Neh_13:15) through the southern districts of the Judean territory.
that had married wives (R.V. women)] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. had made to dwell with them ‘. LXX. οἳ ἐκάθισαν γυναῖκας. Cf. Ezr_10:2; Ezr_10:10; Ezr_10:14; Ezr_10:17-18.
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23–29. Nehemiah’s protest against mixed marriages, cf. Neh_9:2, Neh_10:28; Neh_10:30; Ezr_9:1 ff; Ezr_10:1 ff.
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 vv23–26 (23) Saw I Jews.—The punishment shows that these were…
(23) Saw I Jews.—The punishment shows that these were exceptional cases; but the transgression was of the most flagrant kind (see Neh_13:1).
(23-29) The mixed marriages again.
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 vv23–27 In those days. i.e. "About this same time." Compare…
In those days. i.e. "About this same time." Compare ver. 15. Saw I Jews. Rather, "looked I after the Jews." There is a reference to the first three verses of the present chapter, which had introduced the subject of the mixed marriages. Nehemiah wishes to put on record the part which he had taken in the matter, and begins by observing that it had not escaped him he had had his eye on the transgressors, and had noted their misconduct, and the evils whereto it led. Wives of Ashdod. Philistine wives, of a race always hostile to Israel, and natives of a city which had recently taken part with Nehemiah"s bitter enemies. (Neh_4:7) Of Ammon and of Moab. Compare Ezr_9:1, and Neh_13:1.
Vers. 23-29. Forbidden marriages.
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This chapter might have been written to bring into pointed contrast the promises of the people (ch. 10.) and their subsequent practice. In nearly every particular the covenant so solemnly made was broken. We have recorded in this paragraph
I A GREAT EVIL.
1. Marriages with foreign women. It is probable that the Jews referred to here lived near the territories occupied by the peoples from whom they took wives. Marriage with such was expressly forbidden by the law, (Exo_34:16 Deu_7:3, Deu_7:4) and tended to destroy the distinctive character of the people as "holy to the Lord," and to frustrate the purposes of their national calling. Some of the marriages in this case were specially criminal, since Jewish wives had been divorced that heathens might take their place. (Mal_2:11-16)
2. The effect of these upon the children. They learned the language of their respective mothers, and were ignorant of the Jewish tongue. Or the meaning" may be that they spoke a corrupt dialect compounded of the languages of father and mother.
II THE COURSE TAKEN BY NEHEMIAH TO SUPPRESS IT.
1. He rebuked the offenders, pronouncing a curse upon them.
2. He administered to them an oath not to continue the forbidden practice.
3. He reasoned with them.
a. As to the sinfulness of the practice (ver. 27).
b. As to the peril of it (ver. 26).
This he showed by the example of Solomon, who, although so great and so beloved of God, was led into idolatry by his foreign wives. Enlightenment and conviction on these points would be more effectual in putting a stop to the practice than chastisement, or even the oath forced on them.
III NEHEMIAH"S SPECIAL TREATMENT OF AN OFFENDING PRIEST (vers. 28, 29). Although he was grandson to the high priest, yet because he had married a daughter of Sanballat, who was not only a foreigner, but a bitter enemy of Israel
1. He banished him from his presence, perhaps from Jerusalem, or even the Jewish community.
2. He appealed to God to punish him and his supporters or companions in sin. The tone of this appeal seems to favour the view that, owing to his high connections, or perhaps because the civil governor did not think it expedient to interfere with the internal discipline of the priesthood, Nehemiah felt he could only forbid the offender"s presence near himself, leaving his due punishment, and that of his favourers, to God. That they merited severer punishment than others who had similarly broken the law, Nehemiah intimates when he says, "They have defiled the priesthood," etc.
Lessons:
1. The evil of marriages between such as are and such as are not God"s people.
(1) They are contrary to the Christian law. (1Co_7:39 2Co_6:14)
(2) They are incompatible with the closest union and communion. Difference in some respects may promote union; but serious difference on a matter so vital and all-pervading as religion must constantly hinder fellowship of heart and unity of purpose.
(3) They are dangerous to the soul (ver. 26). The influence of wedded life in making the two like each other will more probably operate to injure piety in the one than to implant it in the other. The words of Tennyson are likely in this sense to be fulfilled in whichever of the parties is the better at first:"Thou shalt lower to his level day by day, What is fine within thee growing coarse to sympathise with clay As the husband is, the wife is: thou art mated with a clown, And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down.
(4) They prevent consistent family government.
(5) They operate to the serious injury of the children (ver. 24), and thus frustrate one Divinely-ordained end of matrimony. (see Mal_2:15)
(6) On these and other accounts they prevent the highest and purest happiness of married life.
1. The use to be made of the falls of others (ver. 26). Some quote the sins of such men as David, Solomon, Peter, etc. as excusing or palliating their own. The very opposite is the fact. With such beacons our guilt is increased, if we fall in like manner.
2. The greater guilt of some men"s sins (ver. 29). Professed special consecration to God increases guilt. Sins in ministers of religion are not only more injurious to others, but more wicked in themselves.
3. The certainty of the Divine punishment of sinners, though they escape the human (ver. 29).
4. The worth of those who are zealous in opposing and suppressing sin. They are among the best of patriots and philanthropists. For the perils of states, and the miseries of men in general, arise mainly from sin. How surpassingly worthy then of all praise and love is the Son of God, who "was manifested to take away our sins" and "destroy the works of the devil". (1Jn_3:5, 1Jn_3:8)
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 v26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these…
Neh_13:26
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?
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Solomon
1. It may appear remarkable that one who fell so grievously should contribute at all to the Book of God, nor is there any other instance of the kind; but his sad history adds a peculiar weight of warning to his words; nor are there any books more strongly marked by the finger of God.
2. Solomon was chosen of God, and afterwards rejected as Saul had been; he was full of wisdom and understanding, and what is far more, of holiness and goodness. There is perhaps no one of whom the early promise of good seemed so decisive.
3. It has been said, as by St. Augustine, that Solomon was more injured by prosperity than profited by wisdom. Yet we may observe that his falling away is not attributed in Scripture to his wealth, his power and honour.
4. We cannot conclude that Solomon himself did not at last repent, but this has always been considered by the Church as very doubtful, to say the least. All we know is that Scripture has fully made known to us his falling away from God, but has said nothing of his repentance. The very silence is awful and impressive.
5. What more melancholy than the fall of one so great--so wise! What words could have been spoken to him more powerful than his own! What eloquence could describe his fall with more feeling and beauty than his own words! What could more powerfully paint the loveliness of that holiness from which he fell? what the overpowering sweetness of that Divine love which he has consented to give up to feed on ashes! Who can describe the temptations to those very sins by which he was ensnared in a more searching manner than he has done? It is very awful to think how God may use men as instruments of good that His Spirit may teach them, and through them teach others, and guide them to the fountain of living waters, yet they themselves at last fail of the prize of their high calling. What a warning for fear! (Isaac Williams.)
Solomons restoration
I. The wanderings of an erring spirit. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?
1. That which lay at the bottom of all Solomons transgressions was his intimate partnership with foreigners. Did not Solomon sin by these things?--that is, if we look to the context, marriage with foreign wives. The history of the text is this--Nehemiah discovered that the nobles of Judah, during the captivity, when law and religious customs had been relaxed, had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and then, in his passionate expostulation with them, he reminds them that it was this very transgression which led to the fall of the monarch who had been most distinguished for Gods favour. Exclusiveness was the principle on which Judaism was built. Everything was to be distinct--as distinct as Gods service and the worlds. And it was this principle which Solomon transgressed. The Jewish law, shadowed out an everlasting truth. Gods people are an exclusive nation; Gods Church is for ever separated from the world. This is her charter, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, etc. We are to be separate from the world. Mistake not the meaning of that word. The world changes its complexion in every age. Solomons world was the nations of idolatry lying round Israel. Our world is not that. The world is that collection of men in every age who live only according to the maxims of their time. The world may be a profligate world, or it may be a moral world. All that is a matter of accident. Our world is a moral world. The sons of our world are not idolaters, they are not profligate; they are, it may be, among the most fascinating of mankind. No marvel if a young and ardent heart feels the spell of the fascination. No wonder if it feels a relief in turning away from the dulness and the monotony of home life to the sparkling brilliancy of the worlds society. The brilliant, dazzling, accomplished world--what Christian with a mind polished like Solomons does not own its charms? And yet now, pause. Is it in wise Egypt that our highest blessedness lies? Is it in busy, restless Sidon? Is it in luxurious Moab? No. The Christian must leave the world alone. His blessedness lies in quiet work with the Israel of God.
2. The second step of Solomons wandering was the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure. And a men like Solomon cannot do anything by helves. No man ever more heartily and systematically gave himself up to the pursuit. There are some men who are prudent in their epicuresnism. They put gaiety aside when they begin to get palled with it, and then return to it moderately again. Mere like Solomon cannot do that. No earnest man can. No! if blessedness lies in pleasure, he will drink the cup to the dregs. But let us mark the wanderings of an immortal soul infinite in its vastness. There is a moral to be learnt from the wildest worldliness. When we look on the madness of life, and are marvelling at the terrible career of dissipation, let there be no contempt felt. It is an immortal spirit marring itself. It is an infinite soul, which nothing short of the Infinite can satisfy, plunging down to ruin and disappointment. That unquenched impetuosity within you might have led you up to God. You have chosen instead that your heart shall try to satisfy itself upon husks. There was another form of Solomons worldliness.
3. It was not worldliness in pleasure, but worldliness in occupation. He had entered deeply into commercial speculations. He had alternate fears and hopes about the return of his merchant ships on their perilous three-years voyage to India end to Spain. He had his mind occupied with plans for building. The architecture of the temple, his own palace, the forts and towns of his now magnificent empire, all this filled for a time his soul. He had begun a system of national debt end ruinous taxation. Much of this was not wrong; but all of it was dangerous. It is a strange thing how business dulls the sharpness of the spiritual affections. It is strange how the harass of perpetual occupation shuts God out. There are writers who have said that in this matter Solomon was in advance of his age enlightened beyond the narrowness of Judaism, and that this permission of idolatry was the earliest exhibition of that spirit which in modern times we call religious toleration. But Solomon went far beyond toleration. The truth seems to be, Solomon was getting indifferent about religion. He had got into light and worldly society, and the libertinism of his associations was beginning to make its impression upon him. He was beginning to ask, Is not one religion as good as another, so long as each man believes his own in earnest? There are few signs in a souls state more alarming than that of religious indifference; that is, the spirit of thinking ell religions equally true, the real meaning of which is, that all religions are equally false.
II. Gods loving guidance of Solomon in the midst of all his apostasy. In the darkest, wildest wanderings a man to whom God has shown His love in Christ is conscious still of the better way. In the very gloom of his remorse, there is an instinctive turning back to God. It is enumerated among the gifts that God bestowed upon Solomon that He granted to him largeness of heart. Now that largeness of heart which we call thoughtfulness and sensibility, generosity, high feeling, marks out for the man who has it a peculiar life. You look to the life of Solomon, and there are no outward reverses there to speak of. His reign was a type of a reign of the power of peace. No war, no national disaster, interrupted the even flow of the current of his days. No loss of a child, like Davids, pouring cold desolation into his soul--no pestilences nor famines. Prosperity and riches, and the internal development of the nations life--that was the reign of Solomon. And yet, with all this, was Solomon happy? Is there no way that God has of making the heart grey and old before its time without sending bereavement, or loss, or sickness? Has the Eternal Justice no mode of withering and drying up the inner springs of happiness while all is green, and wild, and fresh outwardly? We look to the history of Solomon for the answer. The first way in which his aberration from God treasured up for him chastisement was by that weariness of existence which breathes through the whole Book of Ecclesiastes. Another part of Solomons chastisement was doubt. Once more turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not. In this you will observe the querulous complaint of a man who has ceased to feel that God is the ruler of this world. A blind chance, or a dark destiny, seems to rule all earthly things. And that is the penalty of leaving Gods narrow path for sins wider and more flowery one. But the love of God brought Solomon through all this to spiritual manhood. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. In this we have the evidence of his victory. Doubt, and imprisonment, and worldliness have passed away, and clear activity, belief, freedom, have taken their place. It was terrible discipline, but God had made that discipline successful. I speak to those who know something about what the world is worth, who have tasted its fruits, and found them like the Dead Sea apples--hollowness and ashes. By those foretastes of coming misery which God has already given you, those lonely feelings of utter wretchedness and disappointment when you have returned home palled and satiated from the gaudy entertainment, and the truth has pressed itself icy cold upon your heart, Vanity of vanities--is this worth living for? By all that, be warned. Be true to your convictions. Be honest with yourselves. Learn from the very greatness of your souls, which have a capacity for infinite agony, that you m in this world for a grander destiny than that of frittering away life in usefulness. Lastly, let us learn from this subject the covenant love of God. There is such a thing as love which rebellion cannot weary, which ingratitude cannot cool (W. F. Robertson, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v23 Intermarriages Forbidden
Intermarriages Forbidden
v. 23. In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Asbdod, women of the Philistines, of Ammon, and of Moab, the reforms of Ezra having been set aside;
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v. 24. and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, a sort of mongrel dialect, with corresponding habits learned from their heathen mothers, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
v. 25. And I contended with them, chiding them not as a private person, but in his capacity as governor of the province, and cursed them and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, attacking them in their bodies for their disregard of the Law, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons or for yourselves.
v. 26. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Cf 1Ki 11:1. Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, 2Sa 12:24, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, even him did outlandish women cause to sin, 1Ki 11:4, the conclusion being that ordinary people would be led into misbelief and idolatry all the sooner.
v. 27. Shall we, then, hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? The inference was, of course, that their bad example would lead others into the same sin.
v. 28. And one of the sans of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, one of the implacable enemies of the Jews; therefore I chased him from me, forcing him to leave Jerusalem, so that he could no longer derive his support from the treasury of the priests.
v. 29. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, Deu 33:8-11; Lev 21:6-8, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites, bringing disgrace upon their office and setting a bad example for others.
v. 30. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, by separating the mixed population from the Jews of pure blood, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business, restoring the ancient worship in all its parts;
v. 31. and for the wood-offering, at times appointed, Neh 10:34, and for the first-fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good! It is the Lord who rewards His faithful servants if they are zealous for His honor and truth and consistently oppose all godless, worldly innovations.
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 vv23, 25 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
These verses introduce the action that follows.
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Jews that had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab
"Jews that had married foreign women." God had forbidden intermarriage. The full meaning of this statement can be made clear. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Ashdod
This is the name of a city. (See: How to Translate Names)
Ammon ... Moab
These are the names of nations. (See: How to Translate Names)
Half of their children
"As a result, half of their children"
translationWords
Jew
Ashdod
Ammon
Moab
children
kingdom of Judah
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 vv23, 25, 26 13:23-24 The earlier marriage reforms (9:2; 10:28; Ezra 9:1–10:44)…
13:23-24 The earlier marriage reforms (9:2; 10:28; Ezra 9:1–10:44) had not lasted. The children’s inability to speak Hebrew (the language of Judah) was disastrous because they could not read or understand the Scriptures.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.