EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Nehemiah 13:3
3When the Israelite people heard this law, they sent away all the people who had foreign ancestors.
Nehemiah 13:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
- New International Version (NIV)When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
- English Standard Version (ESV)As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
Context of Nehemiah 13:3
1On that day, we read the book of Moses aloud to the people. One of the laws said that no descendant of Ammon or Moab should ever join with God's people when they met together. 2This was because they had not given the Israelites food and water. Instead, they had paid Balaam to curse the Israelites. But God did not agree to curse them. He blessed them instead. When the Israelite people heard this law, they sent away all the people who had foreign ancestors. 4Before this happened, I had given Eliashib the priest authority over the temple rooms where they stored special things. Eliashib was a friend of Tobiah. 5Eliashib let Tobiah use one of these rooms in the temple. It was a large room where they had stored the grain offerings, the incense and the special plates and tools that they used in the temple. They also stored the tithes of grain, wine and olive oil in that room. These gifts were for the Levites, the temple singers and guards, and also for the priests.
Read all of Nehemiah 13Nehemiah 13:3 word by word
וַיְהִ֖י כְּשָׁמְעָ֣ם אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֑ה וַיַּבְדִּ֥ילוּ כָל־עֵ֖רֶב מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Nehemiah 13:3
- Psalms 19:7The law of the Lord is perfect. It makes us strong again. We can trust what the Lord teaches us. He helps ordinary people to be wise.
- Psalms 119:9How can a young man live a clean life? He must be careful to obey your message.
- Proverbs 6:23Their commands and their teaching are like a lamp that gives you light. When they warn you that you are doing wrong things, that helps you to live well.
- Romans 3:20God's Law shows people clearly that they have done wrong things. Nobody can become right with God because they obey that Law.
- Nehemiah 9:2The Israelite people made themselves separate from foreign people. They stood up and they told God that they were sorry for their sins. They agreed that their ancestors had also done many bad things.
- Nehemiah 10:28The other people joined their leaders to make the same promise. They were priests, Levites, guards, singers and temple servants. There were also people who had kept themselves separate from their foreign neighbours so that they could obey God's Law. Their wives, sons and daughters also joined with them, as well as children who were old enough to understand.
- Ezra 10:11Now you must agree to obey the Lord, the God that your ancestors worshipped. Turn away from your sins and do the things that please him. Make yourselves separate from the foreign people who live near you. Send away your foreign wives.’
- James 1:27If you want to serve God in a completely good way, do things like this: Help children who have no parents and women who are widows. Help them in their troubles. If you serve God our Father like that, he will be pleased with you. Do not let the bad people in this world make you bad too.
- Exodus 12:38Many other people also travelled with them. They had a very large number of sheep, goats and cows.
- Numbers 11:4Some foreign people were travelling with the Israelites. Those people wanted very much to eat better food. So the Israelites wept again. They said, ‘We want meat to eat!
Commentaries on Nehemiah 13:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3They separated from Israel all the mixed multitude - They excluded all strange women, and all persons, young and old, who had been born of these illegal connections.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3A separation like that made by Ezra, some 20 years previously Ezra 10:15-44, seems to be intended. The pagan wives were divorced and sent back, with their offspring, to their own countries.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3On the same day the temple workers were appointed (Nehemiah 12:44), the text from Deuteronomy 23:3–6 was read. It stated that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God. Nehemiah later discovered (Nehemiah 13:4–14) that people were no longer following these teachings.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-91. On that day--This was not immediately consequent on the dedication of the city wall and gates, but after Nehemiah's return from the Persian court to Jerusalem, his absence having extended over a considerable period. The transaction here described probably took place on one of the periodical occasions for the public readings of the law, when the people's attention was particularly directed to some violations of it which called for immediate correction…Read the comment
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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