Neh 13:4-14 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Neh 13:4-14: 13:4-14 Eliashib the priest (see 12:10 , 22 ; 13:28 ) had stopped following the practice of excluding the Ammonites and Moabites (13:1 ), and the people quit giving their tithes to the Levites (13:10-12 ). Now, Nehemiah corrected these problems. Summary for Neh 13:4-5: 13:4-5 Eliashib ’s family intermarried with the families of Sanballat (13:28 ) and Tobiah . Both of these men were enemies of the Jewish community (2:10 , 19 ; 4:1 ). Tobiah’s use of the storeroom meant there was less room to store tithes and gifts for the Temple workers (cp. 10:39 ; 13:10-12 ; 2 Chr 31:11 ) and less space for supplies needed to conduct regular worship at the Temple (Lev 2 ).

Summary for Neh 13:4-14: 13:4-14 ^a Eliashib the priest (see 12:10 ^b, 22 ^c; 13:28 ^d) had stopped following the practice of excluding the Ammonites and Moabites (13:1 ^e), and the people quit giving their tithes to the Levites (13:10-12 ^f). Now, Nehemiah corrected these problems.
Summary for Neh 13:4-5: 13:4-5 ^g Eliashib’s family intermarried with the families of Sanballat (13:28 ^h) and Tobiah. Both of these men were enemies of the Jewish community (2:10 ⁱ, 19 ^j; 4:1 ^k). Tobiah’s use of the storeroom meant there was less room to store tithes and gifts for the Temple workers (cp. 10:39 ^l; 13:10-12 ^m; 2 Chr 31:11 ⁿ) and less space for supplies needed to conduct regular worship at the Temple (Lev 2 ^o).
13:6 ^p Nehemiah had returned to Persia after twelve years of service in Jerusalem (445–433 BC). The text does not say how long he stayed there, but it was probably no longer than a year or two. When he arrived back in Jerusalem, he found Tobiah living in the Temple storeroom (13:1-5 ^q).
Summary for Neh 13:8-9: 13:8-9 ^r I became very upset. ... I demanded: When people rejected God’s instructions, Nehemiah refused to be silent.

• Everything associated with the Temple had to be purified and consecrated to God. The clothes that the priests and Levites wore (Exod 29 ^s), the priests themselves (Lev 8–9 ^t), the Temple building and altars (Lev 16:15-33 ^u), and all the holy things (1 Chr 23:28 ^v) were purified (cp. 2 Chr 29:5 ^w, 15-19 ^x).
Summary for Neh 13:10-12: 13:10-12 ^y With Tobiah using the storeroom, there had been no place to store tithes to feed the Levites and Temple singers (Num 18:21-24 ^z; see Neh 12:44 ^aa, 47 ^ab). They had to farm outside of Jerusalem (12:28-29 ^ac) to support themselves and could not serve in the Temple.
13:13 ^ad These men had an excellent reputation: Cp. Acts 6:1-6 ^ae.
13:14 ^af Because he stood up for God, Nehemiah asked God to remember his deeds and not abandon him in his time of need. Perhaps he experienced opposition from those he had corrected. See similar refrains in 13:22 ^ag, 29 ^ah, 31 ^ai.