Chapter Thirteen PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS 1. Where have we gotten acquainted with Tobiah before? 2. How many prayers of Nehemiah can you count in this chapter? 3. How did Nehemiah handle the problem of mixed marriages? Is this how Ezra would have handled it? 4. What was Sanballat's last method... [ Continue Reading ]
TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT C. Foreigners are expelled and religious reforms are instituted to purify the nation. 1. Foreigners are expelled. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:1-3 1 On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Amm... [ Continue Reading ]
2. Tobiah is driven out. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:4-9 4 Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, 5 had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
3. Support for the Levites is renewed. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:10-14 10 I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. 11 So I reprimanded the officials and said, Why is th... [ Continue Reading ]
4. Labor and merchandising is forbidden on the Sabbath. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:15-22 15 In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and they brought t... [ Continue Reading ]
5. Nehemiah deals with the problem of mixed marriages. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:23-29 23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but... [ Continue Reading ]
6. Nehemiah summarizes his reforms. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:30-31 30 Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, 31 and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for go... [ Continue Reading ]