Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
Parallel Translations
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Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
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Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
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Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 13:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 6:14 “Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.”
- Leviticus 21:1-7 Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people, except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. “ ‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy. “ ‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
- Numbers 16:9-10 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?
- Numbers 25:12-13 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”
- Malachi 2:4-8 You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies. “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies. But you have turned away from the path. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- 1 Samuel 2:30 “Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever.’ But now Yahweh says, ‘Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be cursed.
- Psalms 59:5-13 You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city. Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?” But you, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations. Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower. My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph. Don’t kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield. For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter. Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth.
- Malachi 2:10-12 Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. Yahweh will cut off, to the man who does this, him who wakes and him who answers, out of the tents of Jacob, and him who offers an offering to Yahweh of Armies.
- 2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander, the coppersmith, did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Punish them according to their fault and evil example,…
Punish them according to their fault and evil example, which they have given to the rest of thy people contrary to their vocation.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That covenant made between me and his progenitors for…
That covenant made between me and his progenitors for themselves and their posterity, whereby I promised to give them an everlasting priesthood, Num 25:12,13, and they covenanted with me that they would faithfully and holily execute that sacred function according to the rules which I gave them, whereby, among other things, they were enjoined to keep themselves pure from all unlawful marriages, and from all other things which might pollute them or the priesthood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. Because they have defiled the priesthood] God,…
Verse 29. Because they have defiled the priesthood] God, therefore, will remember their iniquities against them, and punish them for their transgressions. These words of Nehemiah are to be understood declaratively.
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 13:29. Remember them, O my God — Convince…
Neh 13:29. Remember them, O my God — Convince them of sin, and bring them to repentance; 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 it, and punish them according to their deserts. If we consider the words in this light, the prayer is a prediction that God would remember it against them. Because they have defiled the priesthood — God required greater purity in the priests than in other Israelites, and in the high-priest especially, who might marry none but a virgin of his own people, Lev 21:6-14; and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites — There was a covenant with Phinehas (Numbers 25.) of an everlasting priesthood, which they had violated, because the covenant was mutual, binding them to observe the laws of the priesthood, as God engaged himself to preserve them in their office. What covenant was made with the Levites does not appear, but it is likely the meaning is, they dishonoured the whole tribe of Levi, who were set apart for divine ministries.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 29. Remember them — All who were involved in…
29. Remember them — All who were involved in the sin of Joiada’s son.
They… defiled the priesthood — By being parties in the contraction of this marriage with a foreign woman. If it were sinful — a breach of the law — for any Israelite to marry a heathen wife, much more so for a son of the high priest to do it. The law expressly forbade a high priest to marry a widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or harlot, or any but a virgin of his own nation. Lev_21:14. Hence this marriage of the high priest’s son was a breach of the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Compare Mal_2:1-8. For though this apostate son of Joiada were not himself high priest, his marriage with a foreign woman was a stigma on his father’s family.
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 29. Remember them] Here in a bad sense.
29. Remember them] Here in a bad sense.
because they have defiled] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. for the defilings of’. The word so rendered occurs only here. It is from the same root as the word ‘Goel,’ which explains the confusion of the LXX. ἐπὶ ἀγχιστείᾳ τῆς ἱερατείας.
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the priesthood … the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites] Joiada’s son, not being high-priest, did not himself fall under the marriage law of the high-priest, Lev_21:13-15. But as a possible successor to the office, his marriage with Sanballat’s daughter violated the spirit of the Law. ‘The covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites’ seems to mean the peculiar relation of the priests and the Levites as holy, set apart for the special service of God, and as representatives of the whole people. It is possible that Nehemiah’s words relate not to the offence of an individual, but to the shame accruing to the whole priesthood in the fact that renegade priests had founded a rival Jehovah worship on Mt Gerizim, among the hated Samaritans. The expression is very similar to that in Mal_2:8, ‘But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.’ For ‘the covenant of the priesthood,’ cf. Deu_33:8-11, Mal_2:1-8 will form an excellent commentary upon Nehemiah’s earnest denunciation.
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 (29) Remember them.—This priestly violation of law is committed…
(29) Remember them.—This priestly violation of law is committed to God alone for punishment.
And of the Levites.—God chose the tribe of Levi for Himself, specially the house of Aaron, and every priest was to be “holy to the Lord” (Lev_21:6; Lev_21:8). This was “the covenant of the priesthood;” though there may be an undertone of reference to the great covenant in Nehemiah 10.
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 They have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of…
They have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. We look in vain for any distinct "covenant" which the priestly order broke by allying itself with the heathen, or indeed for any special law forbidding the priests to take heathen wives, which was not equally binding upon laymen. But Nehemiah feels that every sin is worse in a priest than in one who is not a priest; that a priest who contracts a pollution "pollutes the priesthood;" and that there is a tacit covenant by which priests and Levites bind themselves to holiness of life more absolutely and definitely than others.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:29 Remember them, O my God: Many would probably…
13:29 Remember them, O my God: Many would probably resent Nehemiah’s aggressive attack on intermarriage in the family of the high priest. So he prayed for God’s judgment to fall on these spiritual leaders who defiled the priesthood.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.