Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 13:29
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
29. Remember them ] Here in a bad sense.
because they have defiled ] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. for the defilings of ’. The word so rendered occurs only here. It is from the same root as the word ‘Goel,’ which explains the confusion of the LXX. .
the priesthood the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites ] Joiada’s son, not being high-priest, did not himself fall under the marriage law of the high-priest, Lev 21:13-15. But as a possible successor to the office, his marriage with Sanballat’s daughter violated the spirit of the Law. ‘The covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites’ seems to mean the peculiar relation of the priests and the Levites as holy, set apart for the special service of God, and as representatives of the whole people. It is possible that Nehemiah’s words relate not to the offence of an individual, but to the shame accruing to the whole priesthood in the fact that renegade priests had founded a rival Jehovah worship on Mt Gerizim, among the hated Samaritans. The expression is very similar to that in Mal 2:8, ‘But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.’ For ‘the covenant of the priesthood,’ cf. Deu 33:8-11, Mal 2:1-8 will form an excellent commentary upon Nehemiah’s earnest denunciation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 29. Because they have defiled the priesthood] God, therefore, will remember their iniquities against them, and punish them for their transgressions. These words of Nehemiah are to be understood declaratively.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That covenant made between me and his progenitors for themselves and their posterity, whereby I promised to give them an everlasting priesthood, Num 25:12,13, and they covenanted with me that they would faithfully and holily execute that sacred function according to the rules which I gave them, whereby, among other things, they were enjoined to keep themselves pure from all unlawful marriages, and from all other things which might pollute them or the priesthood.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Remember them, O my God,…. The priests, and punish them: because they have defiled the priesthood; by marrying strange wives, and rendering themselves unfit to officiate in it:
and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites; made with Levi, Aaron, and Phinehas, see Nu 24:11, of the corruption of which, complaint is made, Mal 2:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(29) Remember them.This priestly violation of law is committed to God alone for punishment.
And of the Levites.God chose the tribe of Levi for Himself, specially the house of Aaron, and every priest was to be holy to the Lord (Lev. 21:6; Lev. 21:8). This was the covenant of the priesthood; though there may be an undertone of reference to the great covenant in Nehemiah 10.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. Remember them All who were involved in the sin of Joiada’s son.
They defiled the priesthood By being parties in the contraction of this marriage with a foreign woman. If it were sinful a breach of the law for any Israelite to marry a heathen wife, much more so for a son of the high priest to do it. The law expressly forbade a high priest to marry a widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or harlot, or any but a virgin of his own nation. Lev 21:14. Hence this marriage of the high priest’s son was a breach of the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Compare Mal 2:1-8. For though this apostate son of Joiada were not himself high priest, his marriage with a foreign woman was a stigma on his father’s family.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
they have defiled. Compare Mal 2:1-8. Hebrew. ga’al, a Homonym. See note on Ezr 2:62.
covenant. Compare Neh 9:38.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Remember: Neh 6:14, Psa 59:5-13, 2Ti 4:14
because they have defiled: Heb. for the defilings of, Lev 21:1-7
the covenant: Num 16:9, Num 16:10, Num 25:12, Num 25:13, 1Sa 2:30, Mal 2:4-8, Mal 2:10-12
Reciprocal: Gen 8:1 – God remembered Neh 7:64 – as polluted Mal 2:8 – ye have corrupted Mal 2:12 – the master and the scholar Rom 9:4 – covenants
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 13:29. Remember them, O my God Convince them of sin, and bring them to repentance; put them in mind of what they should be and do, that they may come to themselves. Or, remember them to reckon with them for it, and punish them according to their deserts. If we consider the words in this light, the prayer is a prediction that God would remember it against them. Because they have defiled the priesthood God required greater purity in the priests than in other Israelites, and in the high-priest especially, who might marry none but a virgin of his own people, Lev 21:6-14; and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites There was a covenant with Phinehas (Numbers 25.) of an everlasting priesthood, which they had violated, because the covenant was mutual, binding them to observe the laws of the priesthood, as God engaged himself to preserve them in their office. What covenant was made with the Levites does not appear, but it is likely the meaning is, they dishonoured the whole tribe of Levi, who were set apart for divine ministries.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:29 Remember them, O my God, because they have {n} defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
(n) Punish them according to their sin and the evil example they have given to the rest of the people contrary to their calling.