Nehemiah 10:28

Neh 10:28 And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;

Ver. 28. That had separated themselves] In St Paul’s sense, 2Co 6:17, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate," &c., from such stand off; stand up from the dead; save yourselves from this untoward generation, shun their sins, lest ye share in their plagues. These holy separates, or proselytes, sealed the covenant, and became free denizens of the commonwealth of Israel; having right to all God’s ordinances, Exo 12:48. Such were Araunah, the Jebusite, 2Sa 24:18-25; Jether, the Ishmaelite, 1Ch 7:17, with 2Sa 17:25; those, Act 2:10; the Jews called them Advenas Iustitiae. Newcomers of justice. Diodati interpreteth this text of such Jews as were come again out of Babylon, to serve the Lord, according to his law. Others of such as had separated themselves from their heathen wives and children.

Their wives, their sons, and their daughters] These also were then, and still may be, covenanters, as partakers of the benefit, 1Ti 6:2 and heirs together of the grace of life, 1Pe 3:7.

Every one having knowledge] Of their own misery by sin, and of the great mystery of godliness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh_10:28-30

And all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God.

A genuine revival

1. The crucial test of any revival is the extent to which it actually purifies and reforms the lives of those who come under its influence.

2. This is the kind of revival which ever and again we all need. For we are constantly liable to fall below the level of our Christian privileges. We are also apt to grow blind to out own defects, and to under-estimate the extent of our own shortcomings. We have need to bring our lives into the light of Gods holy law, and into the light of the life of Christ, that our consciences may be awakened to a truer and deeper penitence.

3. A repentance which is the fruit of A true revival of the religious life naturally goes into the details of conduct. (T. Campbell Finlayson.)

And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land.

Marriage and purity

Wherever I find a purely savage life, which means life eaten up by impure sin, there I also find no capacity in the life to advance and grow. You have an instance in the case of Africa, the life of which has not moved for a couple of thousand years, simply because it is soaked with impurity. Turning to the earliest efforts of civilisation, as recorded in the Bible, I find men making effort after effort, getting a little way, and then each effort vanishing in a sink of impure sin. Life ought to grow if natural, but if impurity is natural, it is natural to stagnate, never to grow, to fall to pieces, and for civilisations to be swept out by weakness and impotence. The history of our European civilisation is the history of the gradual rise in the idea of marriage and purity. (Canon Scott-Holland.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 10:28. And the rest of the people, &c. — Those that did not subscribe and seal, because there were too many, yet gave their consent to what the fore-named persons did. And not only the men, but their wives and their children, who were arrived at years of discretion, engaged themselves to abide by what their brethren the nobles had done. And all that had separated themselves — All those of the heathen who had abjured idolatry and joined themselves to the worship of the Jews.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

OATH OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP THE LAW, Neh_10:28-31.

28. The rest of the people — Those represented by the heads of the nation who had sealed the covenant. While their chiefs sealed the covenant the people bound themselves, by a most solemn oath, to observe all that the covenant contemplated — to observe all the law.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:28 separated themselves from the pagan people: See 9:2; cp. Ezra 9–10.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Read Ezra 2:43.

Which being idolaters forsook their wickedness, and gave themselves to serve God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 28. And the rest of the people] All had, in one or other of the classes which sealed, their representatives; and by their sealing they considered themselves bound.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) All they that had separated themselves.—If these meant proselytes from heathenism, this verse would be a perfect description of the constituents of the people. But we have no record as yet of a recognised body of such proselytes; and the word “separated” is the same as we find, with another meaning, in Neh_9:2. Moreover, the following verses show that the covenant bears specially in mind the danger to God’s law arising out of commerce with the heathen.

Having understanding.—Children who could intelligently take the oath were included.

(28-39) The points of the covenant.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. And the rest of the people] This may be understood in two different ways: (a) according to some it denotes the mass of the laity, as distinguished from their princes and elders, like ‘the people’ (Neh_10:35), ‘the residue of Israel’ (Neh_11:20), and ‘Israel’ (1Ch_9:2); (b) according to others under this head are included the various classes of the community mentioned in the present verse, but distinct from the representative names which have occupied the previous lists. It is not another group, but stands at the head of the verse in apposition to the groups to be mentioned. ‘The priests’ are the individual members of the great houses whose representatives had taken part ‘in the sealing.’ So also the subordinate religious orders, who are here divided into their classes of (a) Levites proper, (b) porters, (c) singers, (d) Nethinim. With the last name we should also probably associate ‘the servants of Solomon,’ Neh_7:57; Ezr_2:43-54.

Nethinims] R.V. Nethinim.

all they that had separated themselves] See note on Ezr_6:21. By this class are probably intended Jews who had not gone into exile, but, having either in foreign lands or in Palestine been faithless to their religion, had since separated themselves from idolatry. Another explanation, which has some support from the words ‘from the peoples of the lands,’ understands by this expression ‘proselytes who had attached themselves to the Jewish faith.’

from the people (R.V. peoples) of the lands unto the law of God] The antithesis is striking. Not ‘from the peoples of the lands to the people of Israel,’ but ‘from the peoples of the land,’ who were identified with abomination and filthiness (Ezr_6:21), to ‘the law of God,’ which was the one standard of the claim to be a true Israelite.

having knowledge, and having understanding] R.V. that had knowledge and understanding. See note on Neh_8:2-3; i.e. all of age and intelligence to know and understand the law. Vulg. ‘omnes qui poterant sapere.’

their brethren, their nobles] i.e. the representatives of the great families who subscribed to the sealing of the Covenant. The people warmly supported them.

a curse … an oath] The ‘curse’ is the penalty which they invoked if they were faithless to the Covenant; the ‘oath’ is the solemn obligation of a duty which they vowed to perform.

For the phrase ‘enter into an oath,’ cf. Deu_29:12 ‘that thou shouldest enter into the Covenant of the Lord thy God and into his oath.’

to walk in God’s law, &c.] Compare the similar terms of the Covenant in Josiah’s reign, 2Ki_23:3.

the Lord our Lord] i.e. Jahveh (= Jehovah) our Lord.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the rest of the people,.... That did not sign and seal:

the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims; the porters and singers were Levites; but those so called were such as waited upon the priests, as the Nethinims were persons that waited on them:

and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God; proselytes, who had renounced Heathenism, and embraced the true religion, had received the law of God, and professed to walk according to it:

their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone having knowledge, and having understanding; of the nature of the covenant, and the things contained in it, of what was required of them, and of what they promised, of the nature of an oath they entered into, and of the sin of perjury.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lands. Idolaters, (Haydock) namely, the proselytes. (Menochius) --- Daughters. These did not all subscribe in person, but by the hands of the intelligent, and chief men, (ver. 29.) or, (Calmet) as the Septuagint seem to understand, these went through the different ranks of the people, and received their oaths. (Estius) (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The rest of the people; those who did not write and seal with their own hands, but only by their deputies above-mentioned.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The rest of the people. i.e. those who had not appended their seals, whether others had sealed for them or no. The writer makes no exception, and thereby indicates a very general, if not a universal, concurrence on the part of the nation. His enumeration of classes is the same as Ezra"s. (Ezr_2:70) All they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God. Such proselytes from the heathen as had joined themselves to the Jewish people since their return from the captivity. (comp. Ezr_6:21) Every one having knowledge, and having understanding. All who were of age to understand the nature of the covenant and what was meant by sealing to it not a specially "intelligent" or "learned" class, as Ewald supposes ("Hist. of Israel," vol. 5. p. 144, note 4).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Provisions of the Covenant

v. 28. And the rest of the people, those who had not personally subscribed the covenant and yet were in hearty accord with all its provisions, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the Law of God, by repudiating both mixed marriages and all other intercourse which might lead to indifference and carelessness toward the pure religion, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge and having understanding, those who had the correct idea regarding the will of the Lord and were ready to uphold the right understanding in their entire lives,

v. 29. they gave to their brethren, standing upon the side of those who had sealed the covenant, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath to walk in God’s Law which warn given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord, our Lord, and His judgments and His statutes, calling down the curse of God upon themselves if they would violate their promise;

v. 30. and that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons, thus doing away with the evil of mixed marriages entirely;

v. 31. and if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath-day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath or on the holy-day, on any festival-day fixed by the ordinance of God; and that we would leave the seventh year, that is, leave the land fallow each seventh year, Exo 23:11, and the exaction of every debt, remitting in the seventh year the debt of every person, as the Law required, Deu 15:2.

v. 32. Also we made ordinances for us to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel (about 21 cents) for the service of the house of our God, this sum being afterwards raised to a halt-shekel, Mat 17:24,

v. 33. for the showbread, that for the Holy Place, which was renewed every Sabbath, Lev 24:5, and for the continual meat-offering, and for the continual burnt offering, Numbers 28, 29, the regular sacrifices, both for week-days and for the holidays, of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make an atonement for Israel, on the annual Day of Atonement, and for all the work of the house of our God. All these expenses were met with the annual tax of the Sanctuary which the people here imposed upon themselves.

v. 34. And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people for the wood-offering, for large quantities of wood were used for the sacrifices of the Temple, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, in a certain rotation, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord, our God, as it is written in the Law, Lev 6:12; the small number of returned Nethinim making this burden too heavy for them, the work was distributed in this manner and the Feast of Wood-offering thus instituted, which was celebrated on the 14th of Ab (August);

v. 35. and to bring the first-fruits of our ground and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the Lord, Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; Lev 19:23; Deu 26:2;

v. 36. also the first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, Exo 13:2 to Exo 12:13, a special offering being brought for the release of the first-born sons, Num 18:15-16, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God;

v. 37. and that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough, of groats, or ground barley, and our offerings, the voluntary gifts, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine, and of oil unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God, where there were cells with special receptacles for storing such offerings, and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, Lev 27:30; Num 18:21, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

v. 38. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes, the dignity of the priest insuring a peaceful and honest delivery of the tithes, both by the people to the Levites and by the Levites to the Temple; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes, the tenth part of their income being given to the priests, Num 18:26-28, unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house, for in one of the buildings of the Temple area the treasury of the Temple was kept.

v. 39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, as just produced from the grapes of the year, and the oil, the olive-oil, as it came from the presses, unto the chambers where are the vessels of the Sanctuary, the Temple goods, and the priests that minister, and the porters, in charge of the Temple gates, and the singers, in charge of the liturgical part of the Temple worship; and we will not forsake the house of our God. It was a vow inspired by ardent devotion and made in all sincerity. The believers of the New Testament, in exercising their Christian liberty, pledge themselves to support the needs of the Church at home and abroad, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

gatekeepers

This refers to the people assigned to each gate, responsible to control access to the city or temple, as well as to open and close the gates at times and for reasons set by the administrator. See how you translated this in Nehemiah 7:1.

singers

You may need to make explicit that these are those who sang in the temple. AT: "temple singers"

all who have knowledge and understanding

This phrase can be made explicit. AT: "all who were old enough to understand what promising to obey God meant" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

their brothers, their nobles

"their fellow brothers the nobles" or "their brothers the leaders." These phrases refer to the same people.

bound themselves with both a curse and an oath

This speaks of the people taking an oath and a curse as if the oath and the curse were a rope that physically bound them. AT: "swore themselves to an oath and a curse" or "they took an oath and called for a curse to come on themselves if they failed to keep it" (See: Metaphor)

to walk in God's law

This is an idiom. AT: "to live by God's law" or "to obey God's law" (See: Idiom)

which was given by Moses the servant of God

This can be stated in active form. AT: "which Moses the servant of God had given to Israel" (See: Active or Passive)

to observe

"to follow"

translationWords

priest

Levi

temple

servant

neighbor

pledge

law

son

know

brother

curse

oath

walk

Moses

obey

command

Lord Yahweh

decree

statute

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.