Nehemiah 13:4

“And before this, etc.] Before the above law was read, and observed and acted upon: Eliashib the priest; whom some take to be a common priest; so Bishop Usher f81; but he seems rather to be the high priest, by comparing it with (<161328>Nehemiah 13:28), having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God; which has led some to the notion of his being a common priest; but chamber may be put for chambers, and those for the whole house or temple, which the high priest had the greatest concern in, and oversight of: was allied to Tobiah; the servant and Ammonite, an inveterate enemy of the Jews, (<160210>Nehemiah 2:10,20), having married a daughter of Shecaniah, and his son a daughter of…”

“before this--The practice of these mixed marriages, in open neglect or violation of the law, had become so common, that even the pontifical house, which ought to have set a better example, was polluted by such an impure mixture. Eliashib the priest . . . was allied unto Tobiah--This person was the high priest (Neh 13:28; also Neh 3:1), who, by virtue of his dignified office, had the superintendence and control of the apartments attached to the temple. The laxity of his principles, as well as of his practice, is sufficiently apparent from his contracting a family connection with so notorious an enemy of Israel as Tobiah. But his obsequious attentions had carried him much farther; for to…”

“The relations of Eliashib, the high priest Nehemiah 3:1, with Tobiah and Sanballat will account for the absence of any reference to him either in Neh. 8–10, or in Nehemiah 12:27-47. The chamber - The entire outbuilding, or “lean-to,” which surrounded the temple on three sides 1 Kings 6:5-10. Allied - i. e, “connected by marriage.” Tobiah was married to a Jewess Nehemiah 6:18, who may have been a relation of Eliashib; and his son Johanan was married to another Nehemiah 6:18, of whom the same may be said. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Eliashib - The high - priest. Chamber - Of the chambers, the high - priest having the chief power over the house of God, and all the chambers belonging to it. Tobiah - The Ammonite, and a violent enemy to God's people. Nehemiah 13:5”

“13:4-14 Eliashib the priest (see 12:10, 22; 13:28) had stopped following the practice of excluding the Ammonites and Moabites (13:1), and the people quit giving their tithes to the Levites (13:10-12). Now, Nehemiah corrected these problems. 13:4-5 Eliashib’s family intermarried with the families of Sanballat (13:28) and Tobiah. Both of these men were enemies of the Jewish community (2:10, 19; 4:1). Tobiah’s use of the storeroom meant there was less room to store tithes and gifts for the Temple workers (cp. 10:39; 13:10-12; 2 Chr 31:11) and less space for supplies needed to conduct regular worship at the Temple (Lev 2).”

“Eliashib: Neh 13:7; Neh 12:10 having the oversight of: Heb. being set over, Neh 12:44 allied: Neh 13:28, Neh 6:17, Neh 6:18 Nehemiah 13:5”

“Nehemiah, on his return to Jerusalem, reforms the irregularities that had broken out during his absence. - Neh 13:4-9. While Nehemiah was at Babylon with King Artaxerxes, Eliashib the high priest had given up to his relative, Tobiah the Ammonite ( Neh 2:10; Neh 4:3, and elsewhere), a large chamber in the temple, i.e., in the fore-court of the temple (v. 7), probably for his use as a dwelling when he visited Jerusalem (see rem. on v. 8). On his return, Nehemiah immediately cast all the furniture of Tobiah out of this chamber, purified the chambers, and restored them to their proper use as a magazine for the temple stores. מזּה לפני, before this (comp. Ewald, 315, c), refers to the…”