Nehemiah 13


Nehemiah 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, or the 23rd chapter of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, which treats the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah as one book. Jewish tradition states that Ezra is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the Book of Chronicles, but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from the 5th century BCE is the final author of these books. This chapter addresses a series of problems handled by Nehemiah himself, which had arisen during his temporary absence from the land, with some similar issues to those related in Ezra 9–10 and Nehemiah 10.

Text

The original text of this chapter is in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Purification (13:1–3)

The opening verses record the obedience of the people at that period of time to the words of the Mosaic law, that they took "immediate" response ; in this case, by removing all people of foreign descents.

Verse 1

The exclusion of the Ammonites and Moabites from the sanctuary is written in, because of two reasons :
  1. Their failure to provide the Israelites the basic requirements of food and water
  2. The Moabite king Balak had hired Balaam to curse Israel, although God turned these curses into great blessings.

The reforms of Nehemiah (13:4–31)

After 12 years in Jerusalem, Nehemiah returned to the court of Artaxerxes, but during his absence, various abuses sprang up which he had to handle emphatically as recorded in this section. The cause of the offences can be traced to the religious laxity in the community, especially with close relationship of the priests with Tobiah and the family alliance of a grandson of Eliashib, the high priest, with Sanballat the Horonite. Nehemiah took drastic measures to eradicate the ill:
  • Tobiah's "household stuffs" were thrown out of the temple complex, which foreshadows Jesus' action of temple clearance. Tobiah's house within the temple apparently was a base of his operation, by 'using a privileged position in the temple economy to pursue advantageous business arrangement'.
  • The temple was cleansed of everything unholy
  • The Levites, who fled to their "fields", were restored to their positions with the arrangements to receive once again their dues for the service for God
  • Guards were placed on the gates to prevent violation of Sabbath rules by trading and a threat was issues for those who attempted to break the rules
  • Harsh treatment was performed by Nehemiah on those who had married foreign women.
  • The errant grandson of Eliashib was banished.
Nehemiah also reestablished the previous good conditions in chapters 10 and 12 by putting people under oath once more and set up provisions for the regular service of the Temple.

Verse 6

"The thirty-second year of Artaxerxes" corresponds to 433 BC. Thus, Nehemiah was governor of Judah from 445 to 433 BC, then he stayed in Susa for an unknown period of time before returning to Jerusalem. The text does not specify in what capacity he returned, although it was with authorisation from the king: he probably continued to be the governor until 407 BC, when Bigvai became governor.

Verse 31

  • "Remember me": Just as in verses 14, 22, Nehemiah cried out for God to watch over him, during his confrontation with the priests and Levites regarding the defilement of their holy status which made them disqualified to serve.