Verse 25. I contended with them] Proved the fact against these iniquitous fathers, in a legal assembly.

And cursed them] Denounced the judgments of God and the sentence of the law upon them.

Smote certain of them] Had them punished by whipping.

And plucked off their hair] Had them shaven, as a mark of the greatest ignominy.

And made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give] Caused them to bind themselves by an oath, that they would make no intermarriages with those who were not of the seed of Israel.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Cursed them, i.e. caused them to be excommunicated and cast out of the society and privileges of Gods people. This and the following punishments were justly inflicted upon them, because this transgression was contrary both to a very plain and express law of God, and also to their own late solemn covenants and promises, of which see Ezr 10; Ne 10:30.

Smote certain of them, i.e. I caused to be beaten with stripes, according to the law, Deu 25:2, those whose faults were most aggravated by their quality or other circumstances; to whom he added this punishment over and besides the former.

Plucked off their hair, or, shaved them. The hair was an ornament and ensign of liberty among the eastern nations; and baldness was a disgrace and token of slavery and sorrow. See Isa 3:24; Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Eze 29:18.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

25. cursed themthat is,pronounced on them an anathema which entailed excommunication.

smote . . . and plucked offtheir hairTo cut off the hair of offenders seems to be apunishment rather disgraceful than severe; yet it is supposed thatpain was added to disgrace, and that they tore off the hair withviolence as if they were plucking a bird alive.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And I contended with them,…. Argued with them, faithfully admonished them, and sharply reproved them:

and cursed them; assuring them that the curse of God would come upon them, unless they repented. Aben Ezra interprets it of excommunicating them, either with “Cherem” or “Niddui”, which were two sorts of excommunication among the Jews; but it is a question whether as yet those were used by them:

and smote certain of them; ordered them to be beaten with rods or scourges, as transgressors of the law:

and plucked off their hair; or ordered it to be plucked off by the executioner that smote them; which sort of punishment, as it was painful, it was disgraceful and ignominious, see Isa 1:6,

and made them swear by God, saying, ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves; not intermarry with them; this they had sworn to before,

Ne 10:29.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

With these people also Nehemiah contended ( like Neh 13:11 and Neh 13:17), cursed them, smote certain of their men, and plucked off their hair ( , see rem. on Ezr 9:3), and made them swear by God: Ye shall not give your daughters, etc.; comp. Neh 10:31. On the recurrence of such marriages after the separations effected by Ezra of those existing at his arrival at Jerusalem. Nehemiah did not insist on the immediate dissolution of these marriages, but caused the men to swear that they would desist from such connections, setting before them, in Neh 13:26, how grievous a sin they were committing. “Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin on account of these?” ( , on account of strange wives). And among many nations there was no king like him (comp. 1Ki 3:12., 2Ch 1:12); and he was beloved of his God (alluding to 2Sa 12:24), and God made him king over all Israel ( 1Ki 4:1); and even him did foreign women cause to sin (comp. 1Ki 11:1-3). “And of you is it heard to do (that ye do) all this great evil, to transgress against our God, and to marry strange wives?” Bertheau thus rightly understands the sentence: “If the powerful King Solomon was powerless to resist the influence of foreign wives, and if he, the beloved God, found in his relation to God no defence against the sin to which they seduced him, is it not unheard of for you to commit so great an evil?” He also rightly explains according to Deu 9:23; while Gesenius in his Thes. still takes it, like Rambach, as the first person imperf.: nobisne morem geramus faciendo ; or: Should we obey you to do so great an evil? (de Wette); which meaning – apart from the consideration that no obedience, but only toleration of the illegal act, is here in question – greatly weakens, if it does not quite destroy, the contrast between Solomon and .

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(25) Cursed them.Nehemiah simply echoed the covenant sanction on this very point (Neh. 10:29-30).

Certain of them.Some were selected for special punishment and humiliation. Ezra, on a like occasion, humbled himself by plucking off the hair of his own head (Ezr. 9:3). Then they were obliged to repeat the oath of the covenant.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

25. I contended with them By rebuke and expostulation, as he had done with the rulers and nobles. Vers. 11, 17.

Cursed them Comp. Mal 3:9. He went beyond mere expostulation, and pronounced them cursed of God in having thus violated the Divine law.

Smote certain of them As governor he had them scourged as public offenders. Compare Deu 25:2-3.

Plucked off their hair A penalty designed to be both painful and disgraceful. The offence was too great to be allowed to pass without severe treatment.

Made them swear As Ezra had made the people, guilty of the same offence, do some years before. Ezr 10:5.

Not give your daughters The principal members of the community had taken the same oath during Nehemiah’s administration, (Neh 10:30😉 but, perhaps, the ones now guilty were not among that number.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 13:25. And I contended with them, &c. These words, it must be acknowledged, as proceeding from Nehemiah’s own month, sound somewhat harshly in our translation; but the meaning of them is no more than this, “I contended with them, 1:e. I expostulated the matter with them; I cursed them, 1:e. excommunicated them; in the doing of which I denounced God’s judgments against them; I smote certain of them, 1:e. ordered the officers to beat some of the most notorious offenders either with rods or scourges, according to Deu 25:2 and I plucked off their hair. 1:e. I commanded them to be shaved, thereby to put them to shame, and to make them look like vile slaves; for, as the hair was esteemed a great ornament among the eastern nations, so baldness was accounted a great disgrace. And Nehemiah had a sufficient provocation to inflict these several punishments upon them, because in their marrying with heathen nations, they had acted contrary not only to the express law of God, but to their own late solemn covenant and promise, Ezr 10:19.” See Poole, and the note on Ezr 10:3.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Neh 13:25 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, [saying], Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

Ver. 25. And cursed them ] i.e. I denounced God’s heavy curse and vengeance upon them (according to that themselves had wished and entered into, Neh 10:30 ), in case they repented not. This is nothing, then, in favour of our cursing men who are cursed men, &c.

And smote certain of them ] So far was his heart enraged with a holy hatred of their sin, that he could not forbear them. So when Charles V had heard that Farnesius (General of the pope’s forces) had ravished certain ladies, he brake out into this speech (and was never in all his life observed to be more angry at anything), Si adesset impurus ille Farnesius, manu mea confoderem: Oh, if I had here that filthy fellow, I would slay him with mine own hand.

And made them swear by God ] So they had done before, Neh 10:29-30 . But now, alas, they were all gone aside, they were altogether become filthy, they stank above ground, Psa 14:3 . He takes therefore another oath of them, &c.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

cursed: i.e. caused them to be cursed. Hebrew idiom. Hebrew. kalal, as in Neh 13:2.

smote. Hebrew idiom = caused them to be smitten (as in Mat 27:26. Mar 15:15. Joh 19:1).

certain = men. Hebrew. ‘enosh. App-14.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

I contended: Neh 13:11, Neh 13:17, Pro 28:4

cursed: or, reviled, Neh 5:13, Deu 27:14-26, Psa 15:4, Luk 11:45, Luk 11:46

smote: Deu 25:2, Deu 25:3, Ezr 7:26

plucked: Isa 50:6

made them: Neh 10:29, Neh 10:30, Deu 6:13, 2Ch 15:12-15, Ezr 10:5

Ye shall not: Exo 34:16, Deu 7:3

Reciprocal: Gen 24:3 – swear Jdg 17:2 – cursedst 1Sa 9:17 – reign over 2Ki 8:18 – his wife 2Ch 21:6 – he had Ezr 9:3 – off Neh 5:6 – General Neh 5:12 – I called Neh 13:28 – I chased Pro 24:25 – them 2Co 7:11 – indignation Gal 1:8 – let

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Neh 13:25. And I contended with them, &c. These words, it must be acknowledged as proceeding from Nehemiahs own mouth, sound somewhat harshly in our translation; but the meaning of them seems to be only as follows: I contended with them That is, I expostulated the matter with them; I cursed them That is, excommunicated them, and cast them out of the society of Gods people; in the doing of which, I denounced Gods judgments against them; I smote certain of them That is, I ordered the officers to beat some of the most notorious offenders with rods or scourges, according to the law, Deu 25:2; and I plucked off their hair That is, I commanded them to be shaved, thereby to put them to shame, and to make them look like vile slaves; for as the hair was esteemed a great ornament among the eastern nations, so baldness was accounted a great disgrace. And Nehemiah had a sufficient provocation to inflict these several punishments upon them, because, in their marrying with heathen nations, they had acted contrary, not only to the express law of God, but to their own late solemn covenant and promise. See Poole and Dodd.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

13:25 And I contended with them, and {m} cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, [saying], Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

(m) That is, I excommunicated them and drove them out of the congregation.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes