The Pulpit Commentary — Nehemiah — Section 134

the word tnmsle.ted " allied " means "a N ehernie.h had it purified, e.nd so reconse- relation," either by blood or 'me.rrie.ge. In crat.ed. He then ordered the restoration to the present CIIBe the relationship must have their former place of the various stores which been by means of a marriage. had been removed to make room forTobie.h's Ver. 6.-Re had prepared for him a great furniture. chamber. He (Eliashib) had prepared (or Ver. 10.-1 perceived that the portions of made) for him (Tobiah) a great chamber- the Levites had not been given them : for the probably by throwing into one several of the Levites .... were 11.ed. What N ehernie.h saw old store-chambers. The meat offerings. was that the Levites were absent, and" the The minchah consist.ed of fine flour seasoned house of God forsaken" (ver. 11). On in- with salt, and mixed with oil and frankin- quiry, ha found that the reason of their cense. It was made into a sort of cake, but absence was the non-payment of the tithes. without leaven, and formed part of the de.ily That did the work. I. e. whose business it morning and evening sacrifice, the Sabbath was to do the work of the house, or, in other offerings, and most others. The frankin- words, conduct Divine service. Every one cense. Frankincense was a necessary in- to his 11.eld. Every Levite ha,l a plot of gredient in the incense which was offered ground, which ha cultivated when not en• twice a day on the "altar of incense " in gaged in the work of the temple (see Num. the holy place (Exod. xxx. 34). As a rare xxxv. 2; Josh. x.xi. 3). foreign product, it had necessarily to be kept Ver. 11. -Then contended I with the in store. The vessels. Sacred vessels, rulers. While the guilt of profaning the basins, and the like, not needed except on t.emple lay especially with the priestly class, occasion of great gatherings. The offerings that of withholding the tithes was ma.inly of the priests. The portion of the offerings chargeable on the "rulers," or "nobles." which belonged to the priests-" the tithe These persons, as wealthy landowners, had of the tithes." of course e. pecunie.ry int.erest in keeping Yer. 6.-In all this time. Literally, back the tithe. When they felt the control ., during all this "-while all this was being of a strong hand they made the payments done. The reference seems to be solely to regularly enough (eh. xii 47; xiii. 12) ; but the affair of Eliashib and Tobiah. Arta- no sooner was this control removed by Nehe- xerxes, king of :Babylon. The title " king miah's departure than they relapsed into tho of Babylon," which was certainly borne by covetous he.bits in which they bad indulged Cyrus, Ca.m.byses, and Darins Hyst.aspis, before he was ma.de governor (eh. x. 37). mav have continued in nse down to the time The Church in all ages has suffered wrong of Nehemia.h, or even !at.er. If he visit,ed from tb& cupidity of wealthy men among its Artaxerxes at Babylon, the conrt happening members. Why is the house of God for- to be there at the time, he would naturally saken t Why, contrarily to the distinct think and speak of him as "king of Baby- pledge given at the time of the renewe.l of lon." After certain days. Lit.erally, "at the covenant (eh. L 39), have you suffered the end of days," which is thought to mean the house of God to become e. solitude, "at the expiration of a year." I obtained driving the Levites a.way from it by depriving leave of the king. Gesenins and Professor them of their legal sustenance 1 I gathered Lee render, " I w;ked leave of the king ; " them together. Nehemiah brought the Houbigant, Ramba.ch, and others, "I was Levites back to the t.emple from their country asked for from the king," i. e. " the Jews residences, and re-established them in their asked to have me sent back to govern proper offices. them." Ver. 13. -And I me.de treasurers. It Ver. 7 -A chamber in the courts of the was perhaps now for the first time the.t hoUBe of God. It would seem by this ex- special treasurers were provided to he.ve the ~ression that the chamber made over to charge of the temple store-che.mbers, these Tobiah was not part of the main building of having hitherto been under the superintend- the t.emple, but a. portion of some detached ence of the high priest (ver. 4). The e.p- building belonging to the " courts." Thls, pointment mentioned in eh. xii. 44 is pro- no doubt, made the desecration less fla.gra.nt, bably the same with this ; and the entire but was far from justifying it. duty of the treasurers is to be learnt by Ver. 8.-Therefore ca1t I forth all the combining that passage with the present. hoUBehold 1tu1[ Tobiah had furnished his They were to be both the collectors e.nd the " chamber" as a dwelling-house, filling it dispensers of the tithes. Of the four trea- with "household stuff" of various kinds. surers, one was a priest, one e. Levite, one a Nehemiah, of his own authority, had the layman of rank (sea eh. x. 22), and one a whole of it turned out of doors. professional scribe. This la.at, Zadok, is Ver. 9.-1 commanded, and they clee.nsed perhaps to be identified with the "Zidkije.h" the che.mben. &ga.rding the sacred place of eh. x. I, who appears to have been Nehe- 1111 polluted by its convel'Bion to secular uses, miah's prive.te secretary (sec ihe comment CH. xm. 1-31.) THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 141