And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons ,.... Intermarry with them as they had done, and were prone to do, and even did after this, Nehemiah 13:23 . read more
Not give our daughters - Make no affinity with the people of the land. read more
1. The prohibition of intermarriage with the neighbouring idolatrous nations (verse 30); 2. The command to hallow the sabbath; 3. The law concerning the sabbatical year (verse 31); 4. The law of firstfruits (verses 35-37); 5. The obligation to pay tithes to the sacerdotal order (verses 37, 38). Finally, they undertook certain new obligations, not expressly contained in the law, but perhaps regarded as flowing from it by way of natural consequence, or else as desirable... read more
A solemn covenant. The public confession and recital of God's dealings with Israel, recorded in the previous chapter, concluded with a declaration of the making of "a sure covenant," written and sealed. This chapter contains a particular account of the transaction. I. WHY THE COVENANT WAS MADE . 1. For the reasons contained in the previous confession. "Because of all this" ( Nehemiah 9:38 ). 2. In the hope that so solemn an engagement would greatly aid in insuring... read more
Entering into covenant. Nehemiah and Ezra, and those who acted with them, showed true insight into character when they provided— I. THAT STRONG RELIGIOUS FEELING SHOULD TAKE DEFINITE FORM . "Because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, set their seal unto it" ( Nehemiah 9:38 ). And Nehemiah and Zidkijah (Zadok), and many others, priests, Levites, and heads of families, formally signed and sealed a solemn covenant,... read more
Solemn engagement to maintain the house of God. I. ALL SHOULD PLEDGE THEMSELVES "not to forsake the house of our God." Those who are first in position, influence, capability should be leaders in caring, for God's house. Distinction of rank is lost in the unity of dedication. The service of God will call to itself all the variety of human faculty. Where there is the heart "to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God," there will be found an office or a post for each... read more
That we would not give our daughters , etc. On the recurrence of the mixed marriages so soon after the reformation of Ezra, see the comment on Nehemiah 13:23 . read more
Nehemiah 10:30. And that we would not give our daughters Namely, in marriage. Having sworn obedience to God’s laws in the general, they now specify some particular instances, wherein they had lately transgressed, or were most prone to transgress. In our covenants with God, we should engage particularly against those sins that we have been most frequently overtaken in and injured by. read more
Israel’s confession and oath (9:1-10:39)Two days after the end of the Feast of Tabernacles (which lasted from the fifteenth day to the twenty-second day of the month; see 8:18; Leviticus 23:34), the people reassembled for another reading of the law. After this came a time of confession and worship led by the Levites (9:1-5).The prayer began by exalting God as the great Creator, and by praising him for choosing Abraham and making his covenant with him (6-8). God was faithful to his people... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 10:1-31
When Israel was first brought into covenant with God it was done by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood, Exod. 24:1-8 But here it was done by the more natural and common way of sealing and subscribing the written articles of the covenant, which bound them to no more than was already their duty. Now here we have, I. The names of those public persons who, as the representatives and heads of the congregation, set their hands and seals to this covenant, because it would have been an endless... read more