Neh 13:15-29 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Neh 13:15-31: 13:15-31 Nehemiah instituted two additional reforms to restore proper Sabbath observance (13:15-22 ) and proper marriage practices (13:23-31 ). These two sections have similar structures: Nehemiah discovered a problem, corrected the problem, and asked God for his blessing. Summary for Neh 13:15-16: 13:15-16 Normal work was to cease on the Sabbath in order to keep it holy (Exod 20:8-11 ; 31:14-17 ; 35:2-3 ; Jer 17:19-27 ).

Summary for Neh 13:15-31: 13:15-31 ^a Nehemiah instituted two additional reforms to restore proper Sabbath observance (13:15-22 ^b) and proper marriage practices (13:23-31 ^c). These two sections have similar structures: Nehemiah discovered a problem, corrected the problem, and asked God for his blessing.
Summary for Neh 13:15-16: 13:15-16 ^d Normal work was to cease on the Sabbath in order to keep it holy (Exod 20:8-11 ^e; 31:14-17 ^f; 35:2-3 ^g; Jer 17:19-27 ^h).
13:19 ⁱ The Sabbath began at sunset on Friday evening and lasted until sunset on Saturday evening.
13:22 ^j Have compassion on me: Nehemiah’s prayer implies that he felt the pressure of this unpopular decision. He knew that God’s unfailing love, not his own popularity, would sustain him.
Summary for Neh 13:23-24: 13:23-24 ^k The earlier marriage reforms (9:2 ^l; 10:28 ^m; Ezra 9:1–10:44 ⁿ) had not lasted. The children’s inability to speak Hebrew (the language of Judah) was disastrous because they could not read or understand the Scriptures.
13:25 ^o When Nehemiah called down curses on them, it was because the parents avoided Hebrew and did not teach their children the language of the Hebrew Bible. A curse called on God to remove his blessing on people.

• I beat some of them and pulled out their hair: Apparently, some of the men did not accept Nehemiah’s rebuke at first, so he made them swear in the name of God not to intermarry with pagans.
Summary for Neh 13:26-27: 13:26-27 ^p King Solomon had led the nation into sin by his foreign wives (1 Kgs 11 ^q). If intermarriage with pagans was allowed to continue, the same apostasy would overtake the community. Nehemiah would not let that happen.
13:28 ^r Even the family of the high priest, who were supposed to be Israel’s spiritual leaders, had participated in the sin of intermarriage with unbelieving foreigners (cp. Lev 21:14 ^s). Nehemiah banished the offender, stripping him of status and removing his rights in the Jewish community.
13:29 ^t Remember them, O my God: Many would probably resent Nehemiah’s aggressive attack on intermarriage in the family of the high priest. So he prayed for God’s judgment to fall on these spiritual leaders who defiled the priesthood.