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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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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.
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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.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 13:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 7:3 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.
- Ezra 10:5 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 they swore.
- Nehemiah 10:29-30 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 servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes; and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;
- Nehemiah 13:17 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 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; even may he be shaken out and emptied like this.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise.
- Nehemiah 13:11 Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
- Exodus 34:16 and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.
- Deuteronomy 6:13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
- Deuteronomy 25:2-3 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, according to his wickedness, by number. He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.
- Deuteronomy 27:14-26 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 to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonors his father’s bed.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbor.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 15:12-15 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 would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with cornets. All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found by them. Then Yahweh gave them rest all around.
- Ezra 7:26 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 death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
- Psalms 15:4 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 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them.
- Isaiah 50:6 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.
- Luke 11:45-46 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 burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, I did excommunicate them, and drive them…
That is, I did excommunicate them, and drive them out of the congregation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Neh 13:25 And I contended with them, and cursed…
Neh 13:25 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.
Ver. 25. And cursed them] i.e. I denounced God’s heavy curse and vengeance upon them (according to that themselves had wished and entered into, Neh 10:30), in case they repented not. This is nothing, then, in favour of our cursing men who are cursed men, &c.
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And smote certain of them] So far was his heart enraged with a holy hatred of their sin, that he could not forbear them. So when Charles V had heard that Farnesius (General of the pope’s forces) had ravished certain ladies, he brake out into this speech (and was never in all his life observed to be more angry at anything), Si adesset impurus ille Farnesius, manu mea confoderem: Oh, if I had here that filthy fellow, I would slay him with mine own hand.
And made them swear by God] So they had done before, Neh 10:29-30. But now, alas, they were all gone aside, they were altogether become filthy, they stank above ground, Psa 14:3. He takes therefore another oath of them, &c.
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 Cursed them, i.e. caused them to be excommunicated and…
Cursed them, i.e. caused them to be excommunicated and cast out of the society and privileges of God’s people. This and the following punishments were justly inflicted upon them, because this transgression was contrary both to a very plain and express law of God, and also to their own late solemn covenants and promises, of which see Ezr 10; Ne 10:30.
Smote certain of them, i.e. I caused to be beaten with stripes, according to the law, Deu 25:2, those whose faults were most aggravated by their quality or other circumstances; to whom he added this punishment over and besides the former.
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Plucked off their hair, or, shaved them. The hair was an ornament and ensign of liberty among the eastern nations; and baldness was a disgrace and token of slavery and sorrow. See Isa 3:24; Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Eze 29:18.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And one of the sons of Joiada, the son…
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest,.... A grandson of the high priest; for the high priest here is Eliashib, according to our version, and not Joiada his son, according to Dr. Prideaux (i); the person designed, Josephus (k) makes to be Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest: was
son in law to Sanballat the Horonite; married a daughter of his, who was the avowed enemy of the Jewish nation; and for whom, according to the same writer, Sanballat obtained leave of Alexander to build a temple on Mount Gerizim; but this is to protract the age of Nehemiah and Sanballat to too great a length; besides, Eliashib seems to have been now high priest, and not even his son Joiada, and much less Jaddua, a grandson of Joiada:
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therefore I chased him from me; drove him from his court, suffered him not to minister at the altar; banished him from the city, as Jarchi, and even from the land of Judea.
(i) Connect. par. 1. p. 412. (k) Antiqu. l. 11. c. 8. sect. 2, 4.
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 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 Verse 25. I contended with them] Proved the fact…
Verse 25. I contended with them] Proved the fact against these iniquitous fathers, in a legal assembly.
And cursed them] Denounced the judgments of God and the sentence of the law upon them.
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Smote certain of them] Had them punished by whipping.
And plucked off their hair] Had them shaven, as a mark of the greatest ignominy.
And made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give] Caused them to bind themselves by an oath, that they would make no intermarriages with those who were not of the seed of Israel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Neh 13:25. And I contended with them, &c. —…
Neh 13:25. And I contended with them, &c. — These words, it must be acknowledged as proceeding from Nehemiah’s own mouth, sound somewhat harshly in our translation; but the meaning of them seems to be only as follows: I contended with them — That is, I expostulated the matter with them; I cursed them — That is, excommunicated them, and cast them out of the society of God’s people; in the doing of which, I denounced God’s judgments against them; I smote certain of them — That is, I ordered the officers to beat some of the most notorious offenders with rods or scourges, according to the law, Deu 25:2; and I plucked off their hair — That is, I commanded them to be shaved, thereby to put them to shame, and to make them look like vile slaves; for as the hair was esteemed a great ornament among the eastern nations, so baldness was accounted a great disgrace. And Nehemiah had a sufficient provocation to inflict these several punishments upon them, because, in their marrying with heathen nations, they had acted contrary, not only to the express law of God, but to their own late solemn covenant and promise. See Poole and Dodd.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Curse, or excommunicated them, (Calmet) the guilty parents. (Haydock)…
Curse, or excommunicated them, (Calmet) the guilty parents. (Haydock) --- Shaved. Hebrew and Septuagint, "plucked off their hair," by the roots, for greater torment. Sometimes quicklime was then sprinkled on the head, (Calmet) as adulterers were treated at Athens. Schol. Aristoph.[Aristophanes?] --- King Artaxerxes changed this punishment, and ordered that his officers should be forbidden to wear the tiara instead. Domitian caused the hair and beard of Apollonius to be shaven. (Philost. iii. 14.) (Calmet) --- That they. Hebrew, "Ye shall not," &c.
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 cursed them--that is, pronounced on them an anathema which…
cursed them--that is, pronounced on them an anathema which entailed excommunication.
smote . . . and plucked off their hair--To cut off the hair of offenders seems to be a punishment rather disgraceful than severe; yet it is supposed that pain was added to disgrace, and that they tore off the hair with violence as if they were plucking a bird alive.
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Next: Esther Introduction
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 25. I contended with them — By rebuke and…
25. I contended with them — By rebuke and expostulation, as he had done with the rulers and nobles. Vers. 11, 17.
Cursed them — Comp. Mal_3:9. He went beyond mere expostulation, and pronounced them cursed of God in having thus violated the Divine law.
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Smote certain of them — As governor he had them scourged as public offenders. Compare Deu_25:2-3.
Plucked off their hair — A penalty designed to be both painful and disgraceful. The offence was too great to be allowed to pass without severe treatment.
Made them swear — As Ezra had made the people, guilty of the same offence, do some years before. Ezr_10:5.
Not give your daughters — The principal members of the community had taken the same oath during Nehemiah’s administration, (Neh_10:30;) but, perhaps, the ones now guilty were not among that number.
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 25. I contended] Cf. Neh_13:11; Neh_13:17.
25. I contended] Cf. Neh_13:11; Neh_13:17.
cursed] R.V. marg. ‘Or, reviled’. For the word ‘to curse’ (qalal) cf. Neh_13:2; Mal_3:9; Mal_4:6.
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smote … pluckt off their hair] Nehemiah’s frantic excitement against these countrymen was accompanied with gestures and blows such as may be witnessed in Syria but are almost incredible to our western ideas.
pluckt off their hair] LXX. ἐμαδάρωσα αὐτούς. Vulg. ‘decalvavi eos.’ Commentators suggest that this was done at Nehemiah’s command, and not by his own hand; further that it was a judicial sentence of ‘depilatio.’ But the context quite supports the idea that he personally ill-treated them; so frantic was his indignation. He did not intend, as some suggest, by pulling out their hair to compel them to assume the appearance of penitents. For the action of pulling out the hair cf. Ezr_9:3.
made them swear by God, saying] i.e. he made them swear an oath in God’s name, the words of the oath being given in the clause following.
This is better than the alternative rendering, ‘I adjured them by God’ (cf. 1Ki_18:10; Son_2:7).
Ye shall not] The oath which Nehemiah administered in the 2nd plur. was repeated by the Jews in the first pers.
unto your sons] R.V. for your sons.
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 (25) Cursed them.—Nehemiah simply echoed the covenant sanction on…
(25) Cursed them.—Nehemiah simply echoed the covenant sanction on this very point (Neh_10:29-30).
Certain of them.—Some were selected for special punishment and humiliation. Ezra, on a like occasion, humbled himself by plucking off the hair of his own head (Ezr_9:3). Then they were obliged to repeat the oath of the covenant.
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 I contended with them, and cursed them. Or, "reviled…
I contended with them, and cursed them. Or, "reviled them," as Gesenius and Professor Lee explain. And smote certain of them. i.e. "had some of them beaten." Some understand by this that the offenders underwent the bastinado by sentence of a court; (Deu_25:2) others think Nehemiah had them struck informally by his attendants. This latter explanation "is supported by the following clause, since "plucking out the hair" was never a legal punishment. Made them swear by God. Literally, "swore them by God," i.e. dictated the words, and made them repeat the formula and accept the oath. Saying, Ye shall not give. Literally, "If ye shall give," etc. Nehemiah made them swear that they should intermarry with the heathen the curse of God should fall upon them.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I confronted them
I confronted them
"I spoke directly to them about what they had done"
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I hit some of them
Nehemiah hit some of them with his hands.
I made them swear by God
"I made them say a promise before God"
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of these women?
Nehemiah uses a rhetorical question to scold the men. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that Solomon king of Israel sinned on account of these women." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Should we then listen to you and do all this great evil, and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?
Nehemiah uses a rhetorical question to scold the men. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "We will not listen to you or do this great evil or act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
curse
oath
God
son
Solomon
king
Israel
sin
nation
love
alien
evil
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 13:25 When Nehemiah called down curses on them, it…
13:25 When Nehemiah called down curses on them, it was because the parents avoided Hebrew and did not teach their children the language of the Hebrew Bible. A curse called on God to remove his blessing on people. • I beat some of them and pulled out their hair: Apparently, some of the men did not accept Nehemiah’s rebuke at first, so he made them swear in the name of God not to intermarry with pagans.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.