Nehemiah 13:15

13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions.

Nehemiah 8:2

8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ¹  and the army of Samaria ²  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ³  Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

Nehemiah 8:18

8:18 Ezra ⁴  read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. ⁵  They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly ⁶  as was required. ⁷ 

Nehemiah 10:31

10:31 We will not buy ⁸  on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan. ⁹ 

Nehemiah 12:43-44

12:43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

12:44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from ¹⁰  the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah ¹¹  took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. ¹² 

Nehemiah 13:1

Further Reforms by Nehemiah

13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing ¹³  of the people. They found ¹⁴  written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,

Nehemiah 13:19

13:19 When the evening shadows ¹⁵  began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered ¹⁶  the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned ¹⁷  some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

² map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

³ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”

¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ezra) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “the last day.”

³ tn Heb “on the eighth day an assembly.” The words “they held” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “according to the judgment.”

¹ tn Heb “take.”

² tn Heb “debt of every hand,” an idiom referring to the hand that holds legally binding contractual agreements.

¹ tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).

² tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.

³ tn Heb “standing.”

¹ tn Heb “ears.”

² tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.

¹ tn Heb “the gates of Jerusalem grew dark.”

² tn Heb “said” (so also in v. 22).

³ tn Heb “caused to stand.”