Nehemiah 13:10 - Exposition

I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites … were fled . What Nehemiah saw was that the Levites were absent, and "the house of God forsaken" (verse 11). On inquiry, he found that the reason of their absence was the non-payment of the tithes. That did the work . i.e. whose business it was to do the work of the house, or, in other words, conduct Divine service. Every one to his field . Every Levite had a plot of ground, which he cultivated when not engaged in the work of the temple (see Numbers 35:2 ; Joshua 21:3 ).