Nehemiah 13:22

And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
commanded	וָאֹמְרָ֣ה va.'o.me.Rah	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + paragogic he
Levites	לַלְוִיִּ֗ם lal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
cleanse	מִֽטַּהֲרִים֙ mi.ta.ha.Rim	H2891	to be pure (physical sound · verb, hithpael active participle, masculine plural absolute
come	וּבָאִים֙ u.va.'Im	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
keep	שֹׁמְרִ֣ים sho.me.Rim	H8104	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
gates	הַשְּׁעָרִ֔ים ha.she.'a.Rim	H8179	an opening · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
sanctify	לְקַדֵּ֖שׁ le.ka.Desh	H6942	to be (causatively · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
sabbath	הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת ha.sha.Bat	H7676	intermission · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day	י֣וֹם Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Remember	זָכְרָה za.khe.rah-	H2142	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
God	אֱלֹהַ֔י 'e.lo.Hai	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
spare	וְח֥וּסָה ve.Chu.sah	H2347	properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
greatness	כְּרֹ֥ב ke.Ro	H7230	abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
mercy	חַסְדֶּֽךָ chas.De.kha	H2617	kindness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Nehemiah 12:30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof…
Nehemiah 13:31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Deuteronomy 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the…
1 Chronicles 15:12-14 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the…
2 Chronicles 29:4-5 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
2 Chronicles 29:24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:15-22

Here is another instance of that blessed reformation in which Nehemiah was so active. He revived sabbath-sanctification, and maintained the authority of the fourth commandment; and a very good deed this was for the house of God and the offices thereof, for, where holy time is over-looked and made nothing of, it is not strange if all holy duties be neglected. Here is, I. A remonstrance of the abuse. The law of the sabbath was very strict and much insisted one, and with good reason, for religion is never in the throne while sabbaths are trodden under foot. But Nehemiah discovered even in Judah, among those to whom sabbaths were given for a sign, this law wretchedly violated. His own eyes were…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:15

THE VIOLATION OF THE SABBATH. (Neh. 13:15-31) 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 execution of this order, he stationed some of his own servants as guards, to prevent the introduction of any commodities on that day. On the merchants and various dealers finding admission denied them,…

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Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:22

Spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy - By some Nehemiah has been thought to deal with God too much on the principle of merit. That he wished God to remember him for good, is sufficiently evident; and who does not wish the same? But that he expected heaven because of his good deeds, does not appear. Indeed, the concluding clause of this verse proves the contrary, and shows that he expected nothing from God but through the greatness of his mercy. Shame on those who, with this evidence before them, brand this good man with the epithet of workmonger! a man who, in inward holiness, outward usefulness, and genuine love to God and man, was worth ten score of such self-called believers.

The Church Fathers

He also said to the Levites that they should be purified, etc. For it is necessary that they be purified from the daily exercise of good works, who desire to guard the gates of their senses from any incursion of turbulent thoughts. And whoever wishes to sanctify the Sabbath day, that is, to make useful to oneself the leisure of prayers, psalmody, holy reading, and tears, it is necessary to cleanse one's conscience with great diligence, so that one may be able to bring to completion the intent of good action well. This can also be rightly interpreted in an allegorical sense concerning the teachers of the faithful. For whoever desires to guard the gates of the holy Church, that is, the faith and works of their hearers, through which alone one enters the Church, from the contagion of heretics and vice knocking, ought first to purify their own heart and actions from every stain of errors.
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Cities · Entered through gates — Entered through gates
Gates · Guards at — Guards at
Harvest · Sabbath — Sabbath
Sabbath, The · Saints: Observe — Saints: Observe
Traffic · Suspen — Suspen

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Nehemiah 13:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:15-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:15

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 13:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:15-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:15

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Nehemiah 13:22

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 13:15-22

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 13:22

Rashi on Nehemiah 13:21