Nehemiah 13:30
in Nehemiah 13Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus cleansed I them from all foreigners, and appointed charges for the priests and for the Levites, every one in his work;
KJV
Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;
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This verse in Nehemiah 13
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThus cleansed I them from all strangers,.... Both people and priests from strange wives, obliging them to put them away, or flee their country: and appointing the wards of the priests and the Levites, everyone in his business: to do the work of their office in their courses and turns.
This site's exposition
I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign
on Nehemiah 13:30-31
Nehemiah restores the wood offering at its appointed times and the firstfruits. The book's last words are its final refrain, "Remember me, O my God, with favor," the prayer of 13:14 and 13:22. Gill notes that with this prayer the historical narrative of the Hebrew canon ends.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Therefore, I cleansed them from all foreigners, etc. An apt and fitting end in all respects for the edification of the holy city and the temple of the Lord, so that with the citizens cleansed of every stain of foreign and alien pollution from God, …
But in those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, etc. And now in the holy Church they marry foreign wives, whoever tarnishes his conscience with the pleasures of crimes, which properly belong to the pagans. And the children born from …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It was no loss to them to part with one that was the scandal of their cloth; the work would be done better without him. When Judas had gone out Christ said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, John xiii. Here are Nehemiah's prayers on this occasion.
It was the honour of Israel, and the greatest preservation of their holiness, that they were a peculiar people, and were so to keep themselves, and not to mingle with the nations, nor suffer any of them to incorporate with them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The wards - Rather, “the offices or observances.” Nehemiah’s arrangement is probably that described in Neh 11:10-22.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְטִֽהַרְתִּ֖ים | vetihartim | and I purified them | H2891 → | 94 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נֵכָ֑ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | |
| וָאַעֲמִ֧ידָה | vaaamidah | and I assigned ! | H5975 → | 521 times |
| מִשְׁמָר֛וֹת | mishmarot | duties | H4931 → | 78 times |
| לַכֹּהֲנִ֥ים | lakohanim | to the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְלַלְוִיִּ֖ם | velalviyim | and to the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each one | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בִּמְלַאכְתּֽוֹ׃ | bimlakhto | in own work his | H4399 → | 167 times |
וְטִֽהַרְתִּ֖יםand I purified them
vetihartimH2891 →94 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
נֵכָ֑רforeignness
nekharH5236 →
וָאַעֲמִ֧ידָהand I assigned !
vaaamidahH5975 →521 times
מִשְׁמָר֛וֹתduties
mishmarotH4931 →78 times
לַכֹּהֲנִ֥יםto the priests
lakohanimH3548 →750 times
וְלַלְוִיִּ֖םand to the Levites
velalviyimH3881 →291 times
אִ֥ישׁeach one
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בִּמְלַאכְתּֽוֹ׃in own work his
bimlakhtoH4399 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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
Nehemiah 10:30We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:3
Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,
- Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
- Ezra 9:1–3
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like…
- Ezra 10:10–12
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.
- Ezra 9:12–14
Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat…
- Deuteronomy 7:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Nehemiah
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.