Nehemiah 13 · WEB
Nehemiah's Final Reforms
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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 should not enter into the assembly of God forever,
2because they didn't meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3When they had heard the law, they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,
5had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, the tithes of grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the wave offerings for the priests.
6But during all this time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king, and after some days I asked permission from the king,
7and came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God's house.
8It grieved me severely; therefore I threw all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the room.
9Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms; and I brought back into them the vessels of God's house, with the meal offering and the frankincense.
10I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field.
11Then I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is God's house forsaken?" I gathered them together and set them in their place.
12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.
13I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.
14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don't wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for its observances.
15In those days I saw in Judah some who trod winepresses on the Sabbath, and brought in grain, and loaded donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I testified against them in the day in which they sold food.
16Men of Tyre also lived there who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18Didn't your fathers do the same, and didn't our God bring all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."
19When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.
20So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21Then I testified against them and said to them, "Why are you staying near the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they didn't come on the Sabbath.
22I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me concerning this also, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.
23In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab.
24Their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and couldn't speak in the language of Judah, but according to the language of each people.
25I contended with them and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
26Didn't Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.
27Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?"
28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.
29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30So I cleansed them from everything foreign, and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work,
31and for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
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Summary
Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem after an absence at the Persian court to find three reforms he had established all undone: (1) his enemy Tobiah has been given a room in the temple storerooms; (2) tithes are not being paid, so the Levites have abandoned their work; (3) the Sabbath is being openly violated by trade. And a fourth problem: widespread intermarriage with foreign women, whose children can't even speak Hebrew. Nehemiah physically throws Tobiah's belongings out, restores tithes, locks the gates on Sabbath and threatens merchants who linger, and confronts the intermarriage problem. The book ends with four brief prayers: "Remember me, my God, for good."
Themes
- Reforms require ongoing vigilance — they can be undone quickly
- Personal and corporate accountability must be maintained over time
- Honest prayer that trusts in God's remembrance rather than human approval
Key verses
- Neh 13:18 — “Didn't your fathers do the same, and didn't our God bring all this evil on us?... Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
- Neh 13:31 — “Remember me, my God, for good.”
- Neh 13:8 — “It grieved me severely; therefore I threw all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the room.”
Context & background
Nehemiah's return to Persia (v. 6) was required by his original agreement with Artaxerxes — he had asked for a limited leave of absence. His return to Jerusalem revealed that, in his absence, the community had reverted to the same sins addressed in chapters 5, 10, and 12. Eliashib the high priest was related by marriage to Tobiah (v. 4) — the very enemy who had opposed the wall-building from the start. The Levites fleeing to their fields (v. 10) showed how quickly the tithing covenant of ch. 10 collapsed. The language issue (v. 24) — children who couldn't speak Hebrew — represents a profound threat to covenant identity across generations. Ashdod = modern coastal Israel; Ammon = modern Jordan; Moab = modern Jordan.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:1-8 — Solomon's foreign wives led to idolatry; the cautionary example Nehemiah invokes
- Ezra 9-10 — The same intermarriage crisis addressed by Ezra; persistent problem
- Hebrews 12:1 — "Run with endurance" — Nehemiah's ongoing vigilance models this
- Malachi 2:14-16; 3:8-10 — The prophet contemporary with Nehemiah addressing the same Sabbath and tithe violations
- Nehemiah 10:28-39 — The covenant commitments now being broken