EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Nehemiah 13:25
25I was angry with them. I asked God to curse them. I hit some of the men. I pulled out the hair of some of them. I told them to make a promise in God's name. I said to them, ‘You must not let your daughters marry the sons of those foreign people. You must not let their daughters marry your sons. You yourselves must not marry foreign women either.
Nehemiah 13:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
- New International Version (NIV)I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.
Context of Nehemiah 13:25
23Also at that time, I discovered that men from Judah had married foreign women. They were women who came from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, or a language of the other foreign nations. They did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I was angry with them. I asked God to curse them. I hit some of the men. I pulled out the hair of some of them. I told them to make a promise in God's name. I said to them, ‘You must not let your daughters marry the sons of those foreign people. You must not let their daughters marry your sons. You yourselves must not marry foreign women either. 26Solomon, king of Israel, did a bad thing when he married foreign women. There was no other king as great as him in any other nation. God loved him. God chose him to be king over all Israel. But Solomon's foreign wives caused him to do bad things, even though he was so great. 27We can never agree to all the evil things that you have done. If we all married foreign women, we would not be faithful to our God.’
Read all of Nehemiah 13Nehemiah 13:25 word by word
וָאָרִ֤יב עִמָּם֙ וָאֲקַֽלְלֵ֔ם וָאַכֶּ֥ה מֵהֶ֛ם אֲנָשִׁ֖ים וָֽאֶמְרְטֵ֑ם וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵ֣ם בֵּֽאלֹהִ֗ים אִם־תִּתְּנ֤וּ בְנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ לִבְנֵיהֶ֔ם וְאִם־תִּשְׂאוּ֙ מִבְּנֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם לִבְנֵיכֶ֖ם וְלָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I contendedרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
- with them, and cursedקָלַלqâlal · to lightenH7043
- them, and smoteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- certainאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
- of them, and plucked off their hairמָרַטmâraţ · to smoothH4803
- and made them swearשָׁבַעshâba‛ · to swearH7650
- by Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- Ye shall not giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: give(marriage)H5414
- your daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- unto their sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- nor takeנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: marryH5375
Cross-references for Nehemiah 13:25
- Nehemiah 13:11I warned the officers. I told them, ‘You have stopped taking care of God's temple!’ Then I told the Levites and the other workers to return to their jobs in the temple.
- Proverbs 28:4People who do not obey the law praise wicked people. But people who obey the law speak against wicked people.
- Nehemiah 5:13I shook my coat so that everything fell out of its pockets. I said, ‘You must all do what you have promised to do. If not, I pray that God will shake you out like that! He will take away your homes and all your things. You will be left with nothing!’ Everyone at the meeting said, ‘Amen, we agree!’ They praised the Lord. All the people did what they had promised to do.
- Deuteronomy 27:14The Levites will shout this with a loud voice to all the Israelites:
- Psalms 15:4He does not respect wicked people, but he does respect people who serve the Lord. When he promises to do something, he always does it.
- Luke 11:45Then a teacher of God's Law spoke out. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘when you say these things, you are also saying bad things about us.’
- Deuteronomy 25:2The judge may decide that his officers should beat the guilty person as punishment. The judge will make him lie down on the ground. Then he will watch as his officers beat the guilty person. They will hit him as many times as he deserves because of his wicked act.
- Ezra 7:26Everyone must obey the laws of your God and also the laws of the king. If they do not obey, they deserve the right punishment. They may have to die. They may have to leave the country. They may have to lose their valuable things. They may have to go to prison.’
- Isaiah 50:6I offered my back to the people who hit me. I offered my face to the people who pulled out my beard. When they insulted me and they spat at me, I did not hide my face from them.
- Nehemiah 10:29All these people joined with their leaders and they promised to obey the agreement. They agreed that God should punish them if they did not obey all of God's Law. That was the Law that God had given to his servant Moses. They promised very strongly to obey all the commands, rules and laws of the Lord, our Lord.
- Deuteronomy 6:13You must respect and obey the Lord your God. Serve only him. If you make a serious promise, only use his name to make it strong.
- 2 Chronicles 15:12They made a serious promise that they would faithfully serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
- Ezra 10:5So Ezra got up. He told the leaders of the priests, the Levites and all Israel's people to make a strong promise. They all promised God that they would do what they had said.
- Exodus 34:16Perhaps you may choose some of their daughters for your sons to marry. Their daughters will continue to worship their gods. Then they will teach your sons to turn away from me and worship their gods.
- Deuteronomy 7:3You must not marry any of these people. Do not let your daughters marry their sons. Do not take their daughters to marry your sons.
Commentaries on Nehemiah 13:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25I contended with them - Proved the fact against these iniquitous fathers, in a legal assembly. And cursed them - Denounced the judgments of God and the sentence of the law upon them. Smote certain of them - Had them punished by whipping. And plucked off their hair - Had them shaven, as a mark of the greatest ignominy. And made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give - Caused them to bind themselves by an oath, that they would make no intermarriages…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23-31Verses 23-31 If either parent be ungodly, corrupt nature will incline the children to take after that one; which is a strong reason why Christians should not be unequally yoked. In the education of children, great care should be taken about the government of their tongues; that they learn not the language of Ashdod, no impious or impure talk, no corrupt communication. Nehemiah showed the evil of these marriages. Some, more obstinate than the rest, he…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25Nehemiah cursed them because the parents avoided Hebrew and did not teach their children the language of the Hebrew Bible. A curse asked God to remove his blessing from people. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair: Some men did not accept Nehemiah’s rebuke at first, so he made them swear in the name of God not to marry pagans.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2525. cursed them--that is, pronounced on them an anathema which entailed excommunication. smote ... and plucked off their hair--To cut off the hair of offenders seems to be a punishment rather disgraceful than severe; yet it is supposed that pain was added to disgrace, and that they tore off the hair with violence as if they were plucking a bird alive.Read the comment
Topics related to Nehemiah 13:25
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nehemiah 13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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