God’s Word Translation
Nehemiah 13:27
27Should we follow your example, commit such a serious crime against our God, and be unfaithful to him by marrying non-Israelite women?”
Nehemiah 13:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?
- New International Version (NIV)Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”
Context of Nehemiah 13:27
25So I reprimanded those Jews, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God: “We won’t allow our daughters to marry their sons, and we won’t allow their daughters to marry us or our sons.” 26I said, “Wasn’t it because of marriages like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? There wasn’t a king like him among all nations. God loved him, and God made him king of all Israel. But his non-Israelite wives led him to sin. Should we follow your example, commit such a serious crime against our God, and be unfaithful to him by marrying non-Israelite women?” 28Even one of Joiada’s sons was a son-in-law of Sanballat from Beth Horon. (Joiada was the son of the chief priest Eliashib.) I chased Joiada’s son away from me. 29⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Remember them, my God, because they have contaminated the priestly office and the promise you made to the priests and Levites.”
Read all of Nehemiah 13Nehemiah 13:27 word by word
וְלָכֶ֣ם הֲנִשְׁמַ֗ע לַעֲשֹׂת֙ אֵ֣ת כָּל־הָרָעָ֤ה הַגְּדוֹלָה֙ הַזֹּ֔את לִמְעֹ֖ל בֵּֽאלֹהֵ֑ינוּ לְהֹשִׁ֖יב נָשִׁ֥ים נָכְרִיּֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Shall we then hearkenשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- unto you to doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- all this greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- evilרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: evilH7451
- to transgressמָעַלmâ‛al · be unfaithfulH4603
- against our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- in marryingיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- strangeנׇכְרִיnokrîy · foreignH5237
- wivesאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
Cross-references for Nehemiah 13:27
- 1 Samuel 30:24Besides, who is going to pay attention to what you have to say in this matter? Certainly, the share of those who go into battle must be like the share of those who stay with the supplies. They will all share alike.”
- Ezra 10:2Then Shecaniah, son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, interrupted by saying to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women who came from the people around us. However, there is still hope for Israel.
Commentaries on Nehemiah 13:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27Shall 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 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. 26-27King Solomon led the nation into sin through his foreign wives (1 Kings 11). If intermarriage with non-believers continued, the community would face the same downfall. Nehemiah would not allow that.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-3115-22. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the sabbath--The cessation of the temple services had been necessarily followed by a public profanation of the Sabbath, and this had gone so far that labor was carried on in the fields, and fish brought to the markets on the sacred day. Nehemiah took the decisive step of ordering the city gates to be shut, and not to be opened, till the Sabbath was past; and in order to ensure the faithful…Read the comment
Topics related to Nehemiah 13:27
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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