Nehemiah 13:23-24

13:23 Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod (or the language of one of the other peoples mentioned ¹ ) and were unable to speak the language of Judah.

Nehemiah 13:1

Further Reforms by Nehemiah

13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing ²  of the people. They found ³  written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God,

Nehemiah 5:1-2

Nehemiah Intervenes on behalf of the Oppressed

5:1 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ⁴  5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ⁵  grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Nehemiah 5:2

5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ⁶  grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Nehemiah 1:6-8

1:6 may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ⁷  against you – both I myself and my family ⁸  have sinned. 1:7 We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses. 1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 25:20

25:20 the foreigners living in Egypt; ¹⁰  all the kings of the land of Uz; ¹¹  all the kings of the land of the Philistines, ¹²  the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod; ¹³ 

Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ¹⁴  the ruler ¹⁵  from Ashdod, ¹⁶ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ¹⁷ 

I will strike Ekron ¹⁸  with my hand; ¹⁹ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ²⁰ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 3:9

Samaria Will Fall

3:9 Make this announcement in ²¹  the fortresses of Ashdod

and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.

Say this:

“Gather on the hills around Samaria! ²² 

Observe the many acts of violence ²³  taking place within the city, ²⁴ 

the oppressive deeds ²⁵  occurring in it.” ²⁶ 

Zechariah 9:5-6

9:5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up. ²⁷  Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited. 9:6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod, for I will greatly humiliate the Philistines.

[13:24]  ¹ tn Heb “people and people.”

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “ears.”

[13:1]  ³ tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “their brothers the Jews.”

[5:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the house of my father.”

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “peoples.”

[25:20]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of this term and its connection with the preceding is somewhat uncertain. This word is used of the mixture of foreign people who accompanied Israel out of Egypt (Exod 12:38) and of the foreigners that the Israelites were to separate out of their midst in the time of Nehemiah (Neh 13:3). Most commentators interpret it here of the foreign people who were living in Egypt. (See BDB 786 s.v. I עֶרֶב and KBL 733 s.v. II עֶרֶב.)

[25:20]  ¹¹ sn The land of Uz was Job’s homeland (Job 1:1). The exact location is unknown but its position here between Egypt and the Philistine cities suggests it is south of Judah, probably in the Arabian peninsula. Lam 4:21 suggests that it was near Edom.

[25:20]  ¹² sn See further Jer 47:1-7 for the judgment against the Philistines. The Philistine cities were west of Judah.

[25:20]  ¹³ sn The Greek historian Herodotus reports that Ashdod had been destroyed under the Pharaoh who preceded Necho, Psammetichus.

[1:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:8]  ¹⁶ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁷ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁸ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

[1:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”

[3:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).

[3:9]  ²² sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.

[3:9]  ²³ tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”

[3:9]  ²⁵ tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).

[3:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “within her.”

[9:5]  ²⁷ tn The present translation presupposes a Hiphil perfect of יָבֵשׁ (yavesh, “be dry”; cf. NRSV “are withered”) rather than the usually accepted Hiphil of בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “be ashamed”; cf. KJV, ASV), a sense that is less suitable with the removal of hope.