Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:nehemiah Chapter 13 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of nehemiah, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Nehemiah 13
New Revised Standard Version
1On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
2because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them — yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. Coda
4Now before this, the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
5prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6While this was taking place I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon I went to the king. After some time I asked leave of the king
7and returned to Jerusalem. I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.
8And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room.
9Then I gave orders and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who had conducted the service, had gone back to their fields.
11So I remonstrated with the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.
13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful; and their duty was to distribute to their associates.
14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.
15In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food.
16Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day?
18Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath."
19When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day.
20Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath.
22And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. Intermarriage problems
23In those days also I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab;
24and half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke the language of various peoples.
25And I contended with them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair; and I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26Did not King Solomon of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.
27Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?" Conclusion: Nehemiah's final calls for remembrance
28And one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I chased him away from me.
29Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priests and the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work;
31and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. ESTHER
941ESTHER Introduction The book of Esther tells the story of how two wise and courageous Jews, Mordecai and Queen Esther, aided by the providential hand of fate, foil the genocidal schemes of Haman, the "enemy of the Jews." The ensuing victory celebration of the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month of Adar (February-March) becomes the occasion for inaugurating a new Jewish festival, Purim. On both the evening and morning of Purim, Jews have traditionally read aloud the entire book of Esther, the last of the five festal scrolls (Megillot) in the Hebrew Bible. Despite the setting and the author's familiarity with Persian customs, vocabulary, and names, Esther is not a work of history but a historical novella, that is, a fictional story within a historical framework. Its purpose is to entertain, but also to demonstrate the inevitability of retributive justice and, paradoxically, the need for the oppressed to act shrewdly and boldly for that justice to prevail. The seemingly historical presentation also serves to legitimate the festival of Purim, which was probably a Babylonian or Persian holiday adopted by Diaspora Jews, and which was not authorized by the law of Moses. The version of Esther found in the Hebrew Bible was probably composed in the early Hellenistic period (late fourth-third century BCE) before Jewish antagonism toward Gentiles was exacerbated by the struggles of the Maccabean periods (167-135 BCE). Later in the Hellenistic period the translation of Esther made for Greek-speaking Jews lengthened the book by the addition of
107verses and extra phrases intended to make it a more conventionally religious book. The King James Version (1611) included these Greek "Additions to the Book of Esther" (which are not accepted as canonical by Jews or Protestant Christians) among the books of the Apocrypha. A translation of the full ESTHER
942Greek text of Esther, including these additions, is included among the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical Books of the New Revised Standard Version translation. No other book of the Hebrew Bible has received such mixed reviews from Jews and Christians alike. Not until the third century CE was Esther fully accepted into the Jewish canon of scripture, and the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) wished it had never been written. Some have criticized the book for what it contains; others, for what it lacks. The Persian king, for instance, is mentioned
190times, but the God of Israel not once; nor are such basic Jewish practices and concerns as the Law, covenant, prayer, dietary regulations, or Jerusalem. Because fate is an acknowledged factor in the story, some readers suggest that God, though hidden, is arranging the events. Others see fate as impersonal and the heroes' triumph as a measure of their individual resolve and quick-wittedness. Jews and Christians have also been deeply troubled by the story's uncritically enthusiastic account of the violence of the Jewish community's response to their enemies, which involves not only selfdefense but also the slaughter of women and children, including the sons of Haman (8.11-12; 9.9-10). The bloodthirsty language, however, derives from the story's symmetric pattern of reversals, not from any historical reality. Furthermore, the Hebrew version of Esther, in contrast to the Greek version, does not view Gentiles as a whole in a negative light. The author-editor of Hebrew Esther may have been a Persian Jew determined to live a full Jewish life within the Diaspora. This perspective could account for the story's neglect of Jewish themes as it focuses instead on an innovative Diaspora tradition, Purim. Esther herself, as a woman, represents the marginal and sometimes precarious status of Diaspora Jew who were obliged to accommodate their lives to an alien environment. The point of view, therefore, differs markedly from the outlook of Diaspora Jews like Ezra and Nehemiah. ESTHER
943Having acknowledged what makes Esther unusual in the Jewish canon of scripture, it should be noted that the book is steeped in the literary traditions of ancient Israel. In this way Esther resembles such later Jewish compositions as Daniel and Judith. Most notable are the allusions to the Joseph story (Gen 37-50), but either obliquely or directly, the author also alludes to the exodus story (Ex 1-15), to the conquest of Canaan (Josh 1-12) by the principles of holy war as found in Deuteronomy (Deut 20), to the career of King Saul (1 Sam 15), and to the story of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). Esther contains quotations from the prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Third Isaiah, and Zechariah. Moreover, Esther contains vivid practical demonstrations of maxims found in Israel's wisdom tradition; Proverbs, for example, cautions against anger and boastfulness, distinguishes between true and false joy, and advises the proper treatment of superiors, especially kings. In Esther one encounters a surprisingly modern tension between comedy (satire, irony, farce) and tragedy. These the author has adroitly bound together and balanced within the narrative by complex patterns of symmetries, reversals, foreshadowing, and recurring motifs. For example, the story begins and ends with feats, while additional banquets punctuate the narrative at key moments. Royal edicts similarly mark the course of the action, but they are also highly ironic, particularly in relation to each other. At different points in the story, the leading characters variously resemble each other directly or in reverse; the disobedient queen Vashti is deposed, but Esther, the new queen who replaces her, triumphantly defies the law. Esther successfully begs the king for the lives of her people whom Haman has doomed; Haman in vain supplicate Esther for his own life. The most cleverly constructed moment of the story occurs in ch
6when Haman suddenly finds himself in the humiliating position of presenting the royal reward he expected himself to his hated nemesis, Mordecai, instead. While the main characters in Esther are essentially familiar stereotypes without distinctive personalities, one character does change over the course of the story. Esther begins as a passive figure notable only for the beauty that gains her entry into the royal citadel and for her obedient nature. Once in the royal harem, Esther's charm wins her ESTHER
944special advantages. After Mordecai's challenge to Esther in 4.13-14, Esther seems to embrace her Jewishness anew; with this selfrecognition, Esther becomes the decisive actor in the story, risking her life, issuing orders to Mordecai and later, to the king himself. Ultimately it is on Esther's authority, albeit in concert with Mordecai, that Purim is established, making Esther the only woman to authorize a Jewish religious tradition.