The Meaning of Nehemiah 13:21 Explained

Nehemiah 13:21

KJV: Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

YLT: and I testify against them, and say unto them, 'Wherefore are ye lodging over-against the wall? if ye repeat it, a hand I put forth upon you;' from that time they have not come in on the sabbath.

Darby: And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath.

ASV: Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then I testified  against them, and said  unto them, Why lodge  ye about  the wall?  if ye do [so] again,  I will lay  hands  on you. From that time  forth came  they no [more] on the sabbath. 

What does Nehemiah 13:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Nehemiah 13:15-31 - A Disobedient And Gainsaying People
Let us remember to keep perpetual Sabbath in the heart, whatever be our outward life. In this life there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God, Hebrews 4:9, but we must labor to enter into it, and must set God's angel of peace to keep the door against all intruders, Philippians 4:7. Twenty years before, Ezra had dismissed the strange wives, but the evil had risen again. Alas, how sadly do children expose the inconsistencies of their parents, and betray the evil of unequal marriages! We see plenty of this around us; and where there is such a union, the balance is almost certain to turn in favor of the world and against vital godliness, Deuteronomy 7:4; 2 Corinthians 6:14. Nehemiah did not hesitate to add strong acts to strong words. Josephus says that this expelled priest was Manasseh, and that he went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, who built for him a temple on Mount Gerizim like that at Jerusalem, and that this was the origin of the religious rivalry and hatred between Samaritans and Jews, John 4:20. The faithful servant and the dying thief join in the same petition, Nehemiah 13:31. To be remembered by Jesus Christ is enough reward for any of us [source]

Chapter Summary: Nehemiah 13

1  Upon the reading of the law, separation is made from the mixed multitude
4  Nehemiah, at his return, causes the chambers to be cleansed
10  He reforms the offices in the house of God;
15  the violation of the Sabbath;
23  and the marriages with the strange wives

What do the individual words in Nehemiah 13:21 mean?

And I warned them and said to them why you do spend the night around the wall if you do [so] again hands I will lay on you from time on that no [more] came they on the Sabbath -
וָאָעִ֣ידָה בָהֶ֗ם וָאֹמְרָ֤ה אֲלֵיהֶם֙ מַדּ֜וּעַ אַתֶּ֤ם לֵנִים֙ נֶ֣גֶד ؟ הַחוֹמָ֔ה אִם־ תִּשְׁנ֕וּ יָ֖ד אֶשְׁלַ֣ח בָּכֶ֑ם מִן־ הָעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔יא לֹא־ בָ֖אוּ בַּשַּׁבָּֽת ס

וָאָעִ֣ידָה  And  I  warned 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular, third person feminine singular
Root: עוּד 
Sense: to return, repeat, go about, do again.
וָאֹמְרָ֤ה  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲלֵיהֶם֙  to  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
מַדּ֜וּעַ  why 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מַדּוּעַ  
Sense: why?, on what account?, wherefore?.
לֵנִים֙  do  spend  the  night 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: לוּן 
Sense: to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide.
נֶ֣גֶד  around 
Parse: Preposition
Root: נֶגֶד  
Sense: what is conspicuous, what is in front of adv.
؟ הַחוֹמָ֔ה  the  wall 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֹומָה  
Sense: wall.
תִּשְׁנ֕וּ  you  do  [so]  again 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: to repeat, do again, change, alter.
יָ֖ד  hands 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
אֶשְׁלַ֣ח  I  will  lay 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
בָּכֶ֑ם  on  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
הָעֵ֣ת  time  on 
Parse: Article, Noun, common singular
Root: עֵת  
Sense: time.
הַהִ֔יא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
לֹא־  no  [more] 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
בָ֖אוּ  came  they 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
בַּשַּׁבָּֽת  on  the  Sabbath 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: שַׁבָּת  
Sense: Sabbath.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation

What are the major concepts related to Nehemiah 13:21?

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