Nehemiah 13:25

And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
contended	וָאָרִ֤יב va.'a.Riv	H7378	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
cursed	וָאֲקַֽלְלֵ֔ם va.'a.ka.Lem	H7043	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
smote	וָאַכֶּ֥ה va.'a.Keh	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
certain	אֲנָשִׁ֖ים 'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
hair	וָֽאֶמְרְטֵ֑ם va.'em.re.Tem	H4803	to polish · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
swear	וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵ֣ם va.'ash.bi.'Em	H7650	to seven oneself · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
God	בֵּֽאלֹהִ֗ים be.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
give	תִּתְּנ֤וּ ti.te.Nu	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
daughters	בְנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ ve.no.tei.Khem	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
sons	לִבְנֵיהֶ֔ם liv.nei.Hem	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
take	תִּשְׂאוּ֙ tis.'U	H5375	to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
daughters	מִבְּנֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם mi.be.No.tei.Hem	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
sons	לִבְנֵיכֶ֖ם liv.nei.Khem	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

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

Deuteronomy 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Ezra 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swar…
Nehemiah 10:29-30 They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the s…
Nehemiah 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?
Nehemiah 5:13 Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus b…
Nehemiah 13:11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
Exodus 34:16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after thei…
Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:23–end

We have here one instance more of Nehemiah's pious zeal for the purifying of his countrymen as a peculiar people to God; that was the thing he aimed at in the use of his power, not the enriching of himself. See here, I. How they had corrupted themselves by marrying strange wives. This was complained of in Ezra's time, and much done towards a reformation, Ezr 9:1-15 and 10. But, when the unclean spirit is cast out, if a watchful eye be not kept upon him, he will re-enter; so he did here. Though in Ezra's time those that had married strange wives were forced to put them away, which could not but occasion trouble and confusion in families, yet others would not take warning. Nitimur in vetitum -…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:25

cursed them--that is, pronounced on them an anathema which entailed excommunication. smote . . . and plucked off their hair--To cut off the hair of offenders seems to be a punishment rather disgraceful than severe; yet it is supposed that pain was added to disgrace, and that they tore off the hair with violence as if they were plucking a bird alive. Next: Esther Introduction

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:25

I contended with them - Proved the fact against these iniquitous fathers, in a legal assembly. And cursed them - Denounced the judgments of God and the sentence of the law upon them. Smote certain of them - Had them punished by whipping. And plucked off their hair - Had them shaven, as a mark of the greatest ignominy. And made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give - Caused them to bind themselves by an oath, that they would make no intermarriages with those who were not of the seed of Israel.

John Gill on Nehemiah 13:25

And I contended with them,.... Argued with them, faithfully admonished them, and sharply reproved them: and cursed them; assuring them that the curse of God would come upon them, unless they repented. Aben Ezra interprets it of excommunicating them, either with "Cherem" or "Niddui", which were two sorts of excommunication among the Jews; but it is a question whether as yet those were used by them: and smote certain of them; ordered them to be beaten with rods or scourges, as transgressors of the law: and plucked off their hair; or ordered it to be plucked off by the executioner that smote them; which sort of punishment, as it was painful, it was disgraceful and ignominious, see Isaiah 1:6…

Dictionary and topics

Hittites — Palestine and Syria appear to have been originally inhabited by three different tribes. (1.) The Semites, living on the east of the isthmus of Suez. They were nomadic and pastoral tribes. (2.) The…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Persons in authority should denounce — Persons in authority should denounce
Ammonites, The · The Jews reprobated for intermarrying with — The Jews reprobated for intermarrying with
Anger · Justifiable, Exemplified: Nehemiah — Justifiable, Exemplified: Nehemiah
Divorce · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hair, The · Plucking out of, a reproach — Plucking out of, a reproach
Punishments · Secondary kinds of: Plucking out the hair — Secondary kinds of: Plucking out the hair

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 13:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:25

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:25

John Gill on Nehemiah 13:25

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 13:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 13:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 13:25

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 13:25

John Gill on Nehemiah 13:25

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 13:25-27

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 13:25

Rashi on Nehemiah 13:25