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Nehemiah 13:21

in Nehemiah 13

but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

KJV

Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

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This verse in Nehemiah 13

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The lodging of the merchants with their merchandise just outside Jerusalem during the Sabbath, marked their impatience for the moment when they might bring their wares in. This was thought by Nehemiah to be unseemly, and to have an irreligious tendency.

This site's exposition

Why are you camping in front of the wall

on Nehemiah 13:21-22

Nehemiah warns the merchants, "Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you," and "From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath." He charges the Levites to guard the gates "to keep the Sabbath day holy."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Then I testified against them,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He not only expressed his own dislike of it, but endeavoured to convince them that it was a great sin, and showed them the testimony of the word of God against it.

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

I will lay hands on you - I will imprison every man of you. This had the desired effect; they came no more.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וָאָעִ֣ידָהand I warned !

    vaaidahH5749 →44 times

  • בָהֶ֗ם<in> them

    vahem

  • וָאֹמְרָ֤הand I said !

    vaomerahH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶם֙to them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • מַדּ֜וּעַwhy?

    madua'H4069 →72 times

  • אַתֶּ֤ם[are] you

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • לֵנִים֙passing [the] night

    lenimH3885 →84 times

  • נֶ֣גֶדbefore

    negedH5048 →151 times

  • הַחוֹמָ֔הthe wall

    hachomahH2346 →133 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • תִּשְׁנ֕וּyou will do [it] again

    tishnuH8138 →

  • יָ֖דa hand

    yadH3027 →1618 times

  • אֶשְׁלַ֣חI will stretch out

    ʾeshlachH7971 →845 times

  • בָּכֶ֑םon you

    bakhem

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הָעֵ֣תthe time

    haetH6256 →296 times

  • הַהִ֔יא<the> that

    hahi'H1931 →1879 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • בָ֖אוּthey came

    vauH935 →2568 times

  • בַּשַּׁבָּֽת׃ סon the sabbath

    bashabatH7676 →110 times

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

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Nehemiah 13:15In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.5 worksRomans 13:3–4For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.4 works1 Peter 2:14or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.3 worksEzra 7:26If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.3 worksDeuteronomy 5:14but 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 or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.2 worksJohn 11:53So from that day on they plotted to kill Him.2 works

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

    1 Peter 2:14

    or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.

    it leads to

    • Romans 13:3–4

      For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 13:15

    In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 10:31

      When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year…

    • 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.

    • Isaiah 58:13

      If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor…

    • Exodus 20:8–11

      Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

  • Through

    Ezra 7:26

    If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

    it leads to

    • Ezra 6:11

      I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own…

    • Deuteronomy 13:1–18

      If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

    • Leviticus 20:1–27

      Then the LORD said to Moses,

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.

Read on in Nehemiah 13 →