Commentaria in II Esdrae (Nehemiam)
Chapter 13. Synopsis of the Chapter
Nehemias, returning to Jerusalem in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, corrects various abuses which had crept in during his absence, and Esdras being now dead: namely, first, the admission of Moabites and Ammonites to the offices of the magistracy of Israel, verse 1; second, he restores to the uses of the temple the treasury given to Tobias, verse 4; third, he recalls the Levites who had fled because their stipends were denied, verse 10; fourth, he cuts off the profanation of the Sabbath by servile works, verse 15; fifth, he removes marriages with foreigners, and the sons who spoke Azotic as a result, verse 23.
1. And on that day they read in the book of Moses, in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it, that the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come into the church of God for ever: 2. because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them: and our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3. And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel. 4. And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who had been set over the storehouse of the house of our God, and was near of kin to Tobias. 5. So he made him a great storehouse, where before him they laid up the gifts, and the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithe of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singers, and of the porters, and the firstfruits of the priests. 6. But in all these things I was not at Jerusalem, for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I came to the king, and at the end of the days I asked leave of the king. 7. And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib had done for Tobias, in making him a storehouse in the courts of the house of God. 8. And it seemed to me exceeding evil. And I cast the vessels of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse: 9. and I commanded, and they cleansed the storehouses: and I brought back thither the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense. 10. And I understood that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and that the Levites and the singers, and they that ministered, were fled away every one to his own country: 11. and I pleaded the cause against the magistrates, and said: Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them together, and made them stand in their places. 12. And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and of the wine, and of the oil, into the storehouses. 13. And we appointed over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and Sadoc the scribe, and Phadaia of the Levites, and next to them Hanan the son of Zachur, the son of Mathanias: because they were approved as faithful, and the portions of their brethren were committed to them. 14. Remember me, O my God, for this, and wipe not out my mercies, which I have done for the house of my God, and for his ceremonies. 15. In those days I saw in Juda some treading the winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all burdens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should sell on the day on which it was lawful to sell. 16. And there were men of Tyre dwelling there, who brought fish, and all things to sell: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem; 17. and I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you do, profaning the sabbath day? 18. Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you add wrath upon Israel, by violating the sabbath. 19. And it came to pass, when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath day, I said: and they shut the doors, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that no burden might be brought in on the sabbath day. 20. And the merchants, and they that sold all kind of wares, stayed without Jerusalem once or twice. 21. And I charged them, and said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. From that time therefore they came no more on the sabbath. 22. And I said to the Levites that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: and for this also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy mercies. 23. But in those days also I saw Jews that married wives of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab. 24. And their children spoke half in the language of Azotus, and they could not speak Jewish, and they spoke according to the language of this people and that people. 25. And I chid them, and cursed them. And I beat certain of them, and shaved them, and made them swear by God, that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for their sons, or for themselves, saying: 26. Did not Solomon the king of Israel sin in these things? and surely among many nations there was no king like to him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: yet him also, strange women drew into sin. 27. Shall we also be disobedient, and do all this great evil, to transgress against our God, and take strange wives? 28. And of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high priest, one was son-in-law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I chased him from me. 29. Remember, O Lord my God, against them that defile the priesthood, and the priestly and Levitical right. 30. So I cleansed them from all strangers, and appointed orders of the priests and of the Levites, every one in his ministry. Remember me, O my God, for good. Amen.
1. And it was found written therein, that the Ammonites and Moabites should not come into the church of God.—This law is written in Deuteronomy 23:3, where I explained it, and taught what is to be understood by the church of God:
namely understand the dignity, eminence and magistracy in the assembly of the Israelite people: for to this the Ammonites and Moabites could not be admitted; yet the same could become proselytes, and so enter the temple with the Jews and take part in the sacred rites, as Ruth the Moabitess did and married Booz the Israelite. So too among the Spaniards the Moors can become Christians, but are not admitted to magistracies.
4. And over this was Eliasib the priest (as if to say: Over the guardianship of the law already cited in verse 1, Eliasib the Pontiff had been appointed, whose duty it was to see that no Ammonite was admitted to public offices in Israel; but he so far neglected this that he made Tobias the Ammonite his kinsman, and therefore set him over the treasury. Hence follows:) who