23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod , Ammon and Moab . 24 As for their children , half spoke in the language of Ashdod , and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah , but the language of his own people . 25 So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair , and made them swear by God , "You shall not give your daughters to their sons , nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 " Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things ? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God , and God made him king over all Israel ; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin . 27 "Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women ?" 28 Even one of the sons of Joiada , the son of Eliashib the high priest , was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite , so I drove him away from me. 29 Remember them, O my God , because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites . 30 Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites , each in his task , 31 and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits . Remember me, O my God , for good .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nehemiah 13:23-31
Commentary on Nehemiah 13:23-31
(Read Nehemiah 13:23-31)
If either parent be ungodly, corrupt nature will incline the children to take after that one; which is a strong reason why Christians should not be unequally yoked. In the education of children, great care should be taken about the government of their tongues; that they learn not the language of Ashdod, no impious or impure talk, no corrupt communication. Nehemiah showed the evil of these marriages. Some, more obstinate than the rest, he smote, that is, ordered them to be beaten by the officers according to the law, Deuteronomy 25:2,3. Here are Nehemiah's prayers on this occasion He prays, "Remember them, O my God." Lord, convince and convert them; put them in mind of what they should be and do. The best services to the public have been forgotten by those for whom they were done, therefore Nehemiah refers himself to God, to recompense him. This may well be the summary of our petitions; we need no more to make us happy than this; Remember me, O my God, for good. We may humbly hope that the Lord will remember us and our services, although, after lives of unwearied activity and usefulness, we shall still see cause to abhor ourselves and repent in dust and ashes, and to cry out with Nehemiah, Spare me, O my God, according to the greatness of they mercy.