Nehemiah 13:8

Neh 13:8 And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.

Ver. 8. And it grieved me sore] Such was his zeal for God that he could not bear it; no more could Phineas those two naughty packs, nor Paul the idolatry of Athens, Act 17:16, his spirit was moved, he was in a fit, yea, almost besides himself, as the word παοωξυνετο signifieth. This the mad world counteth madness, 2Co 5:13, but madness in this case is better than mopishness, and the true zealot may answer his adversaries as David did Michal, 2Sa 6:21, or as Basil did the threatening prefect, who told him that he was mad, Opto me in aeternum sic delirare, I wish I may be so mad to my life’s end.

Therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah] As a profane thing, not fit to be in so holy a place. True zeal, as fire, is active, and saith, Shall I budge, stop, or step back, because hoc Ithacus velit? remit my diligence for fear of a frown, loss, or mischief? Out of doors with this bondwoman and her son; down with this piece of grass, let Adonijah die, though Bathsheba intercede for him, &c.

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 13:8. It grieved me sore — That so sacred a place should be polluted by one who, on many accounts, ought not to have come there, being no priest, a stranger, an Ammonite, and one of the worst of that people; and that all this should be done by the permission and order of the high-priest.

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

13:8-9 I became very upset. . . . I demanded: When people rejected God’s instructions, Nehemiah refused to be silent. • Everything associated with the Temple had to be purified and consecrated to God. The clothes that the priests and Levites wore (Exod 29), the priests themselves (Lev 8–9), the Temple building and altars (Lev 16:15-33), and all the holy things (1 Chr 23:28) were purified (cp. 2 Chr 29:5, 15-19).

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

Verse 8. I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah] He acted as Jesus Christ did when he found the courts of the Lord's house profaned: He overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who sold doves.

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

(8) It grieved me sore.—The second time we read of Nehemiah’s deep emotion: first, because of the utter dissoluteness of which this was a token; and secondly, because it was a priestly desecration.

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

8. it grieved me sore] Cf. Neh_2:10, ‘it grieved them exceedingly.’

all the household stuff] Literally, ‘all the vessels of the house.’ ‘Stuff’ = the furniture, an old English word. For ‘stuff’ in this sense cf. Gen_31:37; Gen_45:20; 1Sa_10:22. Aldis Wright (Bible Word-Book, ed, 1, p. 463) cites, in illustration of this word, Hall (Hen. IV. fol. 26 b), ‘Sir Thomas Rampston knight the kynges vice-chamberlain with all his chamber stuffe, And apparell;’ and Shakespeare (Com. of Errors IV. 4), ‘Therefore away to get our stuffe aboard.’

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.

Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers,.... By which it appears there were more than one, or that several were thrown into one; which was done not only by washing them, but as this was a ceremonial uncleanness, contracted by the habitation of an Heathen in them, their purification might be by the water of separation, Num 19:9

and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense; replaced them where they were before.

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

And I. Nehemias acted as governor, and performed the duty which the high priest neglected. (Calmet)

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).

It grieved me sore, that so sacred a place should be polluted by one who in many respects ought not to have come there, being no priest, a stranger, an Ammonite, and one of the worst of that people; and that all this should be done by the permission and order of the high priest, who by his office should have punished and reformed these things in others.

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

8. I cast forth all the household stuff — The violence of the act was expressive of his indignation and grief. The mention of household stuff shows that Tobiah had used the chamber for his residence while at Jerusalem.

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

Therefore cast I forth all the household stuff. Tobiah had furnished his "chamber" as a dwelling-house, filling it with "household stuff" of various kinds. Nehemiah, of his own authority, had the whole of it turned out of doors.

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

Grieved me - That so sacred a place should be polluted by one who in many respects ought not to come there, being no priest, a stranger, an Ammonite, and one of the worst of that people; and that all this should be done by the permission and order of the high-priest.

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

This so greatly displeased him, that he cast out all the household stuff of Tobiah, and commanded the chamber to be purified, and the vessels of the house of God, the meat-offering and the frankincense, and probably the tenths and heave-offerings also, the enumeration being here only abbreviated, to be again brought into it. From the words household stuff, it appears that Tobiah used the chamber as a dwelling when he came from time to time to Jerusalem.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

translationWords

anger

household

pure

house of God

grain offering

incense

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