Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil ,.... To suffer it to be done, and connive at it, and not punish for it: to transgress against our God ; his law, his mind, and will: in marrying strange wives ? forbidden by him, Deuteronomy 7:1 . read more
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest ,.... A grandson of the high priest; for the high priest here is Eliashib, according to our version, and not Joiada his son, according to Dr. Prideaux F9 Connect. par. 1. p. 412. ; the person designed, Josephus F11 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 8. sect. 2,4. makes to be Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest: was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite ; married a daughter of his, who was the avowed enemy of the... read more
Shall we then hearken unto you - If God spared not Solomon, who was so much beloved of Him, shall we spare you, who by your conduct are bringing down God's judgments upon Israel? read more
One of the sons of Joiada - This was Manasseh, brother of Jaddua, son of Joiada, and grandson of Eliashib the high priest. I chased him from me - Struck him off the list of the priests, and deemed him utterly unworthy of all connection and intercourse with truly religious people. read more
The blessing of God on an active life founded upon his word. I. THE TRUE RELIGIOUS REFORMATION , both negative and positive. 1. Abuses must be vigorously attacked and cleansed away. The house of God has to be purified of strangers. The neglect of discipline a terrible evil. Unfaithful ministers the curse of the Church. The "mixed multitude" is no strength to Jerusalem, but weakness. The observance of the sabbath. To the Jew a typical commandment, which represented... read more
Forbidden marriages. This chapter might have been written to bring into pointed contrast the promises of the people ( Nehemiah 10:1-39 .) and their subsequent practice. In nearly every particular the covenant so solemnly made was broken. We have recorded in this paragraph— I. A GREAT EVIL . 1. Marriages with foreign women. It is probable that the Jews referred to here lived near the territories occupied by the peoples from whom they took wives. Marriage with such was... read more
Unholy alliance (a lesson for the young). Beside the forsaking of the house of the Lord consequent on the neglect to pay tithes, and the disregard of the sabbath, Nehemiah had to lament another grave evil which had grown up during his absence in Persia. In these verses we have— I. A CASE OF ALARMING DEFECTION . "In those days" of his return some of the Jews had married "wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab" (verse 23). Ezra had encountered the same evil, and vehemently and... read more
Shall we then hearken unto you? Shall we give way to you, and adopt the practice which you recommend, thus transgressing against God, and provoking him to destroy us? Surely not. Solomon's example is enough to deter us. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 13:23-31
We have here one instance more of Nehemiah's pious zeal for the purifying of his countrymen as a peculiar people to God; that was the thing he aimed at in the use of his power, not the enriching of himself. See here, I. How they had corrupted themselves by marrying strange wives. This was complained of in Ezra's time, and much done towards a reformation, Ezra 9:1-10:44 But, when the unclean spirit is cast out, if a watchful eye be not kept upon him, he will re-enter; so he did here. Though in... read more