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Nehemiah 13:19

in Nehemiah 13

When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass that, when 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 till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I over the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

KJV

And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

This verse in Nehemiah 13

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
The gates were closed at the sunset of the day before the Sabbath; since the Sabbath was regarded as commencing on the previous evening.

This site's exposition

I ordered that the gates be shut

on Nehemiah 13:19-20

Then comes enforcement: he posts his own servants "so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day" (13:19). Turned away, the merchants "camped outside Jerusalem" once or twice rather than lose the trade.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

Therefore, it happened, when the gates of Jerusalem rested on the Sabbath day, etc. If our conscience, when purified from vices, rejoices in the indwelling of God, it can rightly be called Jerusalem. What are these gates of Jerusalem, but the senses of our body, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Those that came in to worship in the courts of the temple were no doubt admitted to pass and repass, but none that came to sell goods; they were forced to lodge without the city (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Nehemiah took the decisive step of ordering the city gates to be shut, and not to be opened, till the Sabbath was past; and in order to ensure the faithful execution of this order, he stationed some of his own servants as guards, to prevent the introduction of any commodities on that day.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

When the gates - began to be dark - After sunset on Friday evening he caused the gates to be shut, and kept them shut all the Sabbath; and, as he could not trust the ordinary officers, he set some of his own servants to watch the gates, that no person might enter for the purpose of traffic.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֡יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust when

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • צָֽלֲלוּ֩they became dark

    tzalaluH6751 →

  • שַׁעֲרֵ֨י[the] gates of

    shaareiH8179 →374 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִַ֜םJerusalem

    yerushalimH3389 →643 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַשַּׁבָּ֗תthe sabbath

    hashabatH7676 →110 times

  • וָאֹֽמְרָה֙and I said !

    vaomerahH559 →5305 times

  • וַיִּסָּגְר֣וּand they were closed

    vaiyisageruH5462 →

  • הַדְּלָת֔וֹתthe doors

    hadelatotH1817 →88 times

  • וָאֹ֣מְרָ֔הand I said !

    vaomerahH559 →5305 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֙that

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יִפְתָּח֔וּםpeople will open them

    yiftachumH6605 →144 times

  • עַ֖דuntil

    ʾadH5704 →1261 times

  • אַחַ֣רafter

    ʾacharH310 →715 times

  • הַשַּׁבָּ֑תthe sabbath

    hashabatH7676 →110 times

  • וּמִנְּעָרַ֗יand some of servants my

    uminearaiH5288 →239 times

  • הֶֽעֱמַ֙דְתִּי֙I stationed

    heemadtiH5975 →521 times

  • עַל־at

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַשְּׁעָרִ֔יםthe gates

    hashearimH8179 →374 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יָב֥וֹאit will come

    yavo'H935 →2568 times

  • מַשָּׂ֖אa load

    masa'H4853 →

  • בְּי֥וֹםon [the] day of

    beyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃the sabbath

    hashabatH7676 →110 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Leviticus 23:22

    When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 19:9–10

      When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

    • Deuteronomy 24:19–21

      If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that…

    • Isaiah 58:10

      and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

    • Proverbs 11:24–25

      One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

    • 2 Corinthians 9:5–12

      So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you beforehand and make arrangements for the bountiful gift you had promised. This way, your gift will be prepared generously and not begrudgingly.

  • Through

    Leviticus 23:32

    It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 11:28–30

      Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

    • Psalms 35:13

      Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

    • Psalms 69:10–11

      I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).