Nehemiah 12:30

Neh 12:30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.

Ver. 30. Purified themselves, and purified the people] But first themselves; because whoso would reform others must begin with himself, as Lyra here notes.

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_12:30

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people.

Beginning at the right place

I. A pure church may make a sound commonwealth. They purified themselves. Like priest, like people. Cleric and laie act and react on each other. Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. Elis sons. Uzzah may not sustain the ark.

II. To a pure people all things are pure. They purified the people and the gates and the wall. Citizens and city; sanctuary and house; Gods work and their own.

All things are sacred;

The eye of God is on them all,

And hallows all.

Jesus revealed God in the minutest. Peters vision. The present preparatory. I think our fathers had a better, grander, a diviner idea even of common life than we have when they spoke of the trades and professions of men as being their calling. There is a great thought in this word. It makes all the men, streets, shops, and warehouses to me as I walk along Divine objects. I feel that I am in a Divine place when I think of the men about me as following their calling. I feel that there is a God above men; that there is a God in human society; a God in the shops and counting-houses of London, touching and teaching every human being; and that every man is occupying the place, and putting his hand to the work to which God has called him. Sometimes you may see a man at a certain calling which is but preparatory. He is meant for something else. Providence opens the way, and he goes up higher and does another thing. God has given us a spiritual vocation--a Divine calling in Christ Jesus--and we are to walk worthy of that vocation here, doing all worldly things in a spiritual manner, preparatory to a higher calling which shall come one day, when we shall enter upon other forms of duty and service, to which the present inferior forms of duty and service faithfully fulfilled shall gradually prepare and fit us. (T. Binney.)

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

12:30 The dedication ceremony required that the priests and Levites be purified and ready to enter the Temple area (see Exod 19:10; Num 8:5-7).

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

Verse 30. The priests and the Levites purified themselves] This consisted in washings, abstinence from wine, and other matters, which, on all other occasions, were lawful. And as to the purifying of the gates and the walls, nothing was requisite but to remove all filth from the former, and all rubbish that might have been laid against the latter.

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

(30) Purified themselves.—Before consecration to God there must be purification from defilement. It is made emphatic that both priests and Levites purified themselves, that is, by offerings and ablutions (comp. 2Ch_29:15; Ezr_6:20): the gates and the wall by being sprinkled.

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

30. purified themselves] Cf. Ezr_6:20. The description of the sacrifices offered by Hezekiah on the occasion of a national purification should be compared, 2Ch_29:20-24.

the people … the gates … the walls] i.e. the people were purified in order that they might engage in the solemn dedication of their city walls without violation of the laws of purity. ‘The gates and walls’ were probably sprinkled, both as a sign of the dedication and to remove defilement from the path of the sacred procession.

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 after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah. The other half of them, with Hoshaiah at the head of them.

And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah. The other half of them, with Hoshaiah at the head of them.

Nehemiah 12:33

neh 12:33

neh 12:33

neh 12:33And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam. Not Ezra the priest and the scribe, for he has another place assigned him in this procession, Neh 12:36, but this seems to be one of the princes.

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

Were purified first, that they might purify the rest. (Haydock) --- Priests were obliged to abstain from wine, and from their wives, while they were on duty. See 2 Paralipomenon xxix. 34., and xxxv. 2., &c. Levites were to wash their garments, Leviticus viii. 21. All lepers, &c., required a certain purification, ibid. v. 2. 6.[Leviticus viii. 2, 6.?] and Numbers xix. 16. Care was taken that no dead body was found on the walls. These were probably sprinkled with water, &c., like the tabernacle, Leviticus viii. 11.

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).

Partly by sprinkling the water of purification upon them, by which the tabernacle and sacred utensils were purified, Num 8; and partly by solemn prayers and sacrifices.

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

30. Purified themselves… people… gates… wall — This was probably done by the sprinkling of water, (Num_19:18,) and the offering of sacrifices. Compare 2Ch_29:21.

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

The priests and the Levites purified themselves. On this occasion there is no preference of the Levites over the priests, as in 2Ch_29:34 and Ezr_6:20. Both classes were, it would seem, equally zealous, and equally forward to purify themselves. And the gates and wall. Inanimate things might contract legal defilement. (Deu_23:14 Lev_14:34-53) In case either the wall or the gates should be in any such way unclean, they were made to undergo a legal purification before the ceremony of the dedication began.

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

Purified themselves - They that would be instrumental to sanctify others, must sanctify themselves, and set themselves apart for God, with purity of mind and sincerity of intention.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

purified themselves First they purified themselves, and afterwards they purified the others.

and the gates and the wall that there should be no uncleanliness in the city.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.