Nehemiah 10

Nehemiah 10 is the tenth chapter of the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible,[1] or the 20th chapter of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, which treats the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah as one book.[2] Jewish tradition states that Ezra is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the Book of Chronicles,[3] but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from the 5th century BCE (the so-called "Chronicler") is the final author of these books.[4] The chapter contains the list of signatories to the people’s pledge and the later part deals with intermarriage with the non-Jews among the “people of the land” (parallel to Ezra 10) punctuated with the pledge to separate from “foreigners”.[5]

Nehemiah 10
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Discussing the issue of intermarriage. Illustration of Book of Ezra/Nehemiah. Biblical illustrations by Jim Padgett
Book	Book of Nehemiah
Category	Ketuvim
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	16

Text

The original text of this chapter is in Hebrew language. In English Bible texts this chapter is divided into 39 verses, but 40 verses in Hebrew Bible, due to a different verse numbering as follows:[6]

English texts	Hebrew texts
9:38	10:1
10:1–39	10:2–40

This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7][lower-alpha 1]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century).[9]

The leaders set their seal to the pledge (10:1–27)

After the first seal from Nehemiah the governor (verse 1a), the record is carefully ordered with three lists of signatories: the priests (10:1b–8), the Levites (10:9–13) and the chiefs of the people (10:14–27).[10] Ezra the priest, who has played a leading part in the narrative on chapters 8 and 9, is not mentioned in this chapter.

Verse 1

Now those who placed their seal on the document were:

Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and

Zedekiah,[11]

• "Governor": Hebrew: Tirshatha.[12] Nehemiah was the governor of Yehud Medinata, or the province of Judah, within the Persian Achaemenid Empire.

Stipulations of the pledge (10:28–39)

The pledge contains the general affirmation involving the whole community (verses 28–29; cf. Ezra 9–10)) and particular obligations 'which they lay upon themselves' (verses 30–39), in relation to intermarriage (verse 30), to the Sabbath and sabbatical year (verse 31), and to the provision for the upkeep of the Temple and clergy (verses 32–39).[13] The wording can be traced to the Book of Deuteronomy, such as "to walk in God's law" (cf. Deuteronomy 8:6) and "to observe and do all the commandments" (cf. Deuteronomy 28:15). [14]

Verse 29

These joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes.[15]

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: the oath recalls the wording of Deuteronomy 29:12, enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today.[16]

Verse 32

Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;[17]

• "Made ordinances for us": Hebrew "cause to stand on us," NET Bible: "accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands".[18]
• "To charge ourselves": Hebrew MT reads "to give upon us", but the term עָלֵינוּ (ʿalenu, "upon us") is not found in a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate; NET Bible: "to give".[19]
• "Shekel": was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams.[20]
• "House" (as in Hebrew): refers to the "temple" (also in verses 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39).[21]

See also

• Jerusalem
• Tithe

• Related Bible parts: Deuteronomy 28, Ezra 9, Ezra 10

Notes

1. Since the anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo in 1947, the whole book of Ezra-Nehemiah has been missing from the text of the Aleppo Codex.[8]

References

1. Halley 1965, p. 236.
2. Grabbe 2003, p. 313.
3. Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 15a, apud Fensham 1982, p. 2
4. Fensham 1982, pp. 2–4.
5. Grabbe 2003, p. 325.
6. Note [a] on Nehemiah 9:38 in NET Bible
7. Würthwein 1995, pp. 36-37.
8. P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362
9. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73-74.
10. Throntveit 1992, p. 107. sfn error: no target: CITEREFThrontveit1992 (help)
11. Nehemiah 10:1: NKJV
12. Note [a] on Nehemiah 10:1 in NKJV
13. McConville 1985, pp. 130–132.
14. Throntveit 1992, p. 108. sfn error: no target: CITEREFThrontveit1992 (help)
15. Nehemiah 10:29
16. Ryle, H. E., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Nehemiah 10, accessed 14 September 2020
17. Nehemiah 10:32 KJV
18. Note [a] on Nehemiah 10:32 in NET Bible
19. Note [b] on Nehemiah 10:32 in NET Bible
20. Note [a] on Nehemiah 10:32 in ESV
21. Note [c] on Nehemiah 10:32 in NET Bible

Sources

• Fensham, F. Charles (1982). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. New international commentary on the Old Testament (illustrated ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0802825278. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
• Grabbe, Lester L. (2003). "Nehemiah". In Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (illustrated ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 320–328. ISBN 978-0802837110. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
• Halley, Henry H. (1965). Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary (24th (revised) ed.). Zondervan Publishing House. ISBN 0-310-25720-4.
• Larson, Knute; Dahlen, Kathy; Anders, Max E. (2005). Anders, Max E. (ed.). Holman Old Testament Commentary - Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Holman Old Testament commentary. Volume 9 (illustrated ed.). B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0805494693. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
• Levering, Matthew (2007). Ezra & Nehemiah. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Brazos Press. ISBN 978-1587431616. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
• McConville, J. G. (1985). Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The daily study Bible : Old Testament. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0664245832. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
• Smith-Christopher, Daniel L. (2007). "15. Ezra-Nehemiah". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 308–324. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
• Throntveit, Mark A. (1992) "Ezra-Nehemiah". John Knox Press
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

Further reading

• Blenkinsopp, Joseph, "Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary" (Eerdmans, 1988)
• Blenkinsopp, Joseph, "Judaism, the first phase" (Eerdmans, 2009)
• Coggins, R.J., "The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah" (Cambridge University Press, 1976)
• Ecker, Ronald L., "Ezra and Nehemiah", Ecker's Biblical Web Pages, 2007.
• Grabbe, L.L., "Ezra-Nehemiah" (Routledge, 1998)
• Grabbe, L.L., "A history of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 1" (T&T Clark, 2004)

External links

• Jewish translations:
  • Nechemiah - Nehemiah - Chapter 10 (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
• Christian translations:
  • Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
  • Book of Nehemiah Chapter 10. Bible Gateway