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Nehemiah 13:16

in Nehemiah 13

Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought in fish, and all manner of wares, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

KJV

There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

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This verse in Nehemiah 13

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Friendly relations subsisted between the Phoenicians and the Jews, after the captivity Ezr 3:7. It was, however, a new fact, and one pregnant with evil consequences, that the Tyrians should have established a permanent colony at Jerusalem. Its influence on the other inhabitants weakened the hold of the Law upon men’s consciences, and caused it to be transgressed continually more and more openly.

This site's exposition

treading winepresses on the Sabbath

on Nehemiah 13:15-16

Nehemiah's next target is Sabbath trade: "people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath." In the city, "men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise," selling on the Sabbath inside the walls. The trade stands in Jerusalem itself, the city of God's house.

This site's exposition

men of Tyre who lived there

Barnes notes the old friendship between Tyre and the returned Jews, who traded with Tyre and Sidon for cedar for the temple (Ezra 3:7). A colony of Tyrians living in Jerusalem was new. Their Sabbath trade drew the people of Judah into the market.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

And the Tyrians lived in it, bringing in fish, etc. Just as the good fish represents pious faith, which when one asks from the Lord, one does not receive the serpent of unbelief; similarly, the wicked fish represents base thoughts, which by their very nature …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Jerusalem - The holy city, where God's house was; and where the great judicatories of the nation were. So this is added as an aggravation of their sin, that it was done with manifest contempt of God and man.
There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

No wonder there was a general decay of religion and corruption of manners among this people when they forsook the sanctuary and profaned the sabbath. Those that are jealous for the honour of God cannot bear to see his sabbath profaned.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

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.

The words behind it

12 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.

  • וְהַצֹּרִים֙and the Tyrians

    vehatzorimH6876 →

  • יָ֣שְׁבוּ[who] they dwelt

    yashevuH3427 →1079 times

  • בָ֔הּin it

    vah

  • מְבִיאִ֥ים[were] bringing

    meviimH935 →2568 times

  • דָּ֖אגfish

    dagH1709 →19 times

  • וְכָל־and every

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • מֶ֑כֶרmerchandise

    mekherH4377 →

  • וּמֹכְרִ֧יםand [were] selling [it]

    umokherimH4376 →80 times

  • בַּשַּׁבָּ֛תon the sabbath

    bashabatH7676 →110 times

  • לִבְנֵ֥יto [the] people of

    livneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יְהוּדָ֖הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וּבִירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃and in Jerusalem

    uvirushalimH3389 →643 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

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

    Deuteronomy 5:14

    but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 4:4

      For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”

    • Genesis 2:2

      And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

    • Exodus 16:29–30

      Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is;…

  • Through

    Exodus 23:12

    For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be…

    it leads to

    • Luke 13:14

      But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on…

    • Exodus 34:21

      Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.

    • Exodus 35:3

      Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

    • Exodus 31:15–16

      For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to…

    • Exodus 20:8–11

      Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Where this verse is studied

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.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 13 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

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