Nehemiah 13:30

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

23-31 If either parent be ungodly, corrupt nature will incline the children to take after that one; which is a strong reason why Christians should not be unequally yoked. In the education of children, great care should be taken about the government of their tongues; that they learn not the language of Ashdod, no impious or impure talk, no corrupt communication. Nehemiah showed the evil of these marriages. Some, more obstinate than the rest, he smote, that is, ordered them to be beaten by the officers according to the law, Deuteronomy 25:2; Deuteronomy 25:3. Here are Nehemiah's prayers on this occasion He prays, "Remember them, O my God." Lord, convince and convert them; put them in mind of what they should be and do. The best services to the public have been forgotten by those for whom they were done,...

THE WARDS - Rather, “the offices or observances.” Nehemiah’s arrangement is probably that described in Nehemiah 11:10....

EXPOSITION NEHEMIAH'S EFFORTS FOR THE REFORM OF RELIGION (Nehemiah 13:1). After having exercised the office of governor for twelve years, from B.C. 444 to B.C. 432, Nehemiah had had occasion to visit the Persian court, either to consult Artaxerxes personally on certain matters connected with his province, or for some other reason unknown to us. During his absence various evil practices, to which some reference has been already made in connection with the renewal of the covenant (Nehemiah 10:30-16), acquired so much strength, and came to such a head, that, on Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem at the expiration of a year (verse 6),

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The separation of the mixed multitude (Nehemiah 13:1)_ 2. The unholy alliance repudiated (Nehemiah 13:4) 3. Nehemiah's action in behalf of the Levites and singers (Nehemiah 13:10) 4. Provision for Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13:15) 5. Nehemiah's protest (Nehemiah 13:23) 6. His own testimony as to his work (Nehemiah 13:30)...

SOME DETAILS OF NEHEMIAH'S RULE. This section, taken for the most part from Nehemiah's memoirs, deals with his zeal for the sanctity of the Temple (Nehemiah 13:4), his organisation for the maintenance of the Levites (Nehemiah 13:10), his reform regarding Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13:15), and his measures against those who had contracted marriages with aliens (Nehemiah 13:23). Nehemiah 13:28 f. contains some concluding words of Nehemiah. When it is remembered that for twelve years he had been working among the people, enforc

WARDS OF. charges for. N. B. no Art. here....

Nehemiah Summarizes his Work under the heads of purification and organization _cleansed I them_ i.e. the people of Israel. _all strangers_ R.V. marg. -Or, _every strange thing_". LXX. ἀπὸ πάσης ἀλλοτριώσεως; the foreign element, which threatened to encroach upon the separateness of Israel and become the renewed source of idolatry. Vulg. -ab omnibus alienigenis." _the wards of_ R.V. WARDS FOR. Nehemiah did not originate the duties of the priests and Levites; he only set on foot a more systematic distribution of their work. The word -wards" may here indicate the successive relays or -watches" of priests and Levites (LXX. ἐφημερίας. Vulg. -ordines"); or, in a more general sense, their -duties" and -observances," as in Nehemiah 13:13, which seems to agree best with the following clause: -each one in his work." _in his business_ R.V. in his

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 good. COMMENT These two verses are Nehemiah's summary of his work: note his attention to detail, which is one of the characteristics of the man. How else could he end it but with a prayer? He asks not to be remembered by man, but by God. This is a fitting close for the record of a great man. WORD STUDIES EVER (Nehemiah 13:1: Olam): for ever, everlasting. Basically it means hidden (as in the secret sins of...

13:30 service; (a-22) Lit. 'work.'...