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Nehemiah 10

KJV · Chapter 10/13

1Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,

2Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,

3Pashur, Amariah, Malchijah,

4Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,

5Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

6Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,

7Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

8Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah: these were the priests.

9And the Levites: both Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel;

10And their brethren, Shebaniah, Hodijah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

11Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,

12Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,

13Hodijah, Bani, Beninu.

14The chief of the people; Parosh, Pahath–moab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani,

15Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,

16Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,

17Ater, Hizkijah, Azzur,

18Hodijah, Hashum, Bezai,

19Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,

20Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

21Meshezabeel, Zadok, Jaddua,

22Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,

23Hoshea, Hananiah, Hashub,

24Hallohesh, Pileha, Shobek,

25Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

26And Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,

27Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

28And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;

29They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;

30And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons:

31And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.

32Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;

33For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

34And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law:

35And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the Lord:

36Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God:

37And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

38And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

39For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The leaders of the people sign a formal document, committing to obey God's law: not to intermarry with idolatrous foreigners, to keep the Sabbath, and to financially support the temple and its services.

Explanation

After the emotional confession of the previous chapter, the people turn their repentance into a concrete, written commitment, signed by priests, Levites, and leaders representing the whole nation. The specific points chosen — intermarriage, Sabbath rest, and support for the temple — show areas where the people had historically failed repeatedly, making them priority targets for renewed attention. This kind of written, collectively signed covenant shows how serious spiritual decisions often need clear, measurable commitments, not just vague good intentions.

Fun facts

  • The commitment to contribute a third of a shekel annually for the temple is one of the earliest biblical examples of a fixed, collective system of financial support for the house of God, complementing the law of the tithe.
  • Keeping the Sabbath included even refusing to buy goods from foreign merchants on that day, showing how strict the community wanted to be after years of neglecting this law.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Nehemiah 10:1The chapter lists the names of those who sealed a formal document committing the people to follow the law, beginning with Nehemiah. Sealing a document with one's own name was an act of personal responsibility before a public commitment.
  2. Nehemiah 10:2The list of those who sealed the covenant continues with three more priestly names, part of a sequence of twenty-one priests in all.
  3. Nehemiah 10:3Three more priests sign the commitment, each name representing a family formally pledging to follow the law.
  4. Nehemiah 10:4The list of priests who sealed the covenant continues, each trio of names representing more families formally committed to the law.
  5. Nehemiah 10:5Three more priests sign, among them Meremoth, a name that had also appeared earlier in the rebuilding of the wall in chapter 3.
  6. Nehemiah 10:6The list continues, with no comment beyond the names themselves, each one representing an individual commitment to the covenant.
  7. Nehemiah 10:7Three more priests join the list of those who held to the commitment together with Nehemiah.
  8. Nehemiah 10:8The list of priests closes here, totaling twenty-one names in all, everyone formally committed to the covenant Nehemiah had proposed.
  9. Nehemiah 10:9Now begins the list of Levites who also signed the covenant, including names already familiar from the rebuilding of the wall, such as the family of Henadad.
  10. Nehemiah 10:10Five more Levites complete this part of the list of signers.
  11. Nehemiah 10:11The list of Levites continues, each name reinforcing the collective commitment made that day.
  12. Nehemiah 10:12Three more Levites sign, among them Sherebiah, who had already helped Ezra decades earlier transport the temple treasures.
  13. Nehemiah 10:13The list of Levites closes with three more names, wrapping up this second group of signers of the covenant.
  14. Nehemiah 10:14Now come the heads of the common people, identified by the names of the same families that had already appeared in the original list of returnees from exile.
  15. Nehemiah 10:15Three more leading families sign, names already familiar from the great census in chapter 7.
  16. Nehemiah 10:16The list of the people's leaders continues with three more historic families, repeating names that had already appeared at the return from exile.
  17. Nehemiah 10:17Three more family leaders sign the commitment, including Ater, linked to the name Hezekiah, as in earlier lists.
  18. Nehemiah 10:18The list of the people's leaders continues, each name representing a family committed to the covenant to follow God's law.
  19. Nehemiah 10:19Three more names join the list, including families connected to already familiar towns, such as Anathoth.
  20. Nehemiah 10:20The list of the people's leaders keeps advancing, each trio of names underscoring the scale of the commitment made together.
  21. Nehemiah 10:21Three more leaders sign, including a Zadok, a name common among both priestly and lay families of Israel.
  22. Nehemiah 10:22The list continues without interruption, each name representing one more family that formally committed itself that day.
  23. Nehemiah 10:23Three more heads of families sign the covenant, continuing this extensive list of individual commitments.
  24. Nehemiah 10:24The list of the people's leaders keeps advancing, each name reinforcing the broad reach of this collective commitment.
  25. Nehemiah 10:25Three more names join the list, drawing near the end of the roll of the people's leaders who sealed the covenant.
  26. Nehemiah 10:26The list continues near its end, with three more heads of families signing the commitment.
  27. Nehemiah 10:27The list of the people's leaders closes here, completing a total of forty-four leading families who signed the covenant, along with the priests and Levites.
  28. Nehemiah 10:28Besides the leaders already named, the rest of the people are also included in the covenant: priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Nethinims, and anyone who had separated from the neighboring peoples to follow the law of God, including wives and children.
  29. Nehemiah 10:29After listing who signed, the text explains the content of the oath: everyone promised to follow the law of God given through Moses, under penalty of a curse should they break the commitment.
  30. Nehemiah 10:30Among the commitments made is not to give their children in marriage to the neighboring peoples, returning to the same issue that had already caused the crisis of mixed marriages in Ezra's time. Here it appears as a preventive promise, made before the problem could recur.
  31. Nehemiah 10:31Among the specific commitments is not to trade on the sabbath, even if foreign sellers offered goods, and to observe the seventh year, when debts were to be forgiven.
  32. Nehemiah 10:32The people commit to supporting the temple with a small annual fee and with tithes of grain, wine, and oil, ensuring that worship and the priests had a steady supply. It is essentially a community budget set up to keep the temple running.
  33. Nehemiah 10:33This annual tax covered specific temple expenses: the consecrated bread, the daily offerings, the sacrifices of the sabbaths and the feasts, a detailed list of exactly where the money was to go.
  34. Nehemiah 10:34They even cast lots among the families to decide who would be responsible for bringing wood to keep the altar fire burning on fixed dates throughout the year.
  35. Nehemiah 10:35The commitment included bringing the firstfruits of every harvest to the temple, an old practice of acknowledging that the land belonged to God.
  36. Nehemiah 10:36The firstborn, of both people and animals, were also part of this system of offerings, following instructions that went all the way back to the law of Moses.
  37. Nehemiah 10:37The tithe of agricultural produce was specifically set aside to support the Levites, who received no land of their own to farm as the other tribes of Israel did.
  38. Nehemiah 10:38There was even a system of double-checking: a priest accompanied the Levites as they collected the tithes, and the Levites in turn passed part of it back to the temple.
  39. Nehemiah 10:39The chapter ends with a summary of the whole purpose: making sure the temple was never abandoned or left without resources, something that genuinely concerned this post-exilic generation.

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