Nehemiah 13:4
New International Version
Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah,

New Living Translation
Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as supervisor of the storerooms of the Temple of our God and who was also a relative of Tobiah,

English Standard Version
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,

Berean Standard Bible
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God

King James Bible
And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:

New King James Version
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.

New American Standard Bible
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

NASB 1995
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

NASB 1977
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

Legacy Standard Bible
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was put in charge over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

Amplified Bible
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and was related to Tobiah [our adversary],

Christian Standard Bible
Now before this, the priest Eliashib had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah

American Standard Version
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being allied unto Tobiah,

Contemporary English Version
The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms.

English Revised Version
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being allied unto Tobiah,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Even before this, the priest Eliashib, who was related to Tobiah and had been put in charge of the storerooms of our God's temple,

Good News Translation
The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah.

International Standard Version
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who supervised the store rooms of the Temple of our God and who was related to Tobiah,

Majority Standard Bible
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God

NET Bible
But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms of the temple of our God.

New Heart English Bible
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,

Webster's Bible Translation
And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied to Tobiah:

World English Bible
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And before this Eliashib the priest, appointed over chambers of the house of our God, [is] a relation of Tobiah,

Young's Literal Translation
And before this Eliashib the priest, appointed over chambers of the house of our God, is a relation of Tobiah,

Smith's Literal Translation
And before this, Eliashib the priest being given over the cells of the house of our God, being near to Tobiah:
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who was set over the treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Eliashib, the priest, was over this task; he had been given charge of the treasury of the house of our God, and he was a close relative of Tobiah.

New American Bible
Before this, the priest Eliashib, who had been placed in charge of the chambers of the house of our God and who was an associate of Tobiah,

New Revised Standard Version
Now before this, the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And before this, Eliasbib the priest had come and built there for himself a large court,

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Elishab the Priest came, and he built himself there one great courtyard.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being allied unto Tobiah,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And before this time Eliasib the priest dwelt in the treasury of the house of our God, connected with Tobias;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Temple Cleansed
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God 5and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.…

Cross References
Nehemiah 2:10
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

Nehemiah 6:17-19
Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them. / For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. / Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

Nehemiah 4:3
Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

Nehemiah 2:19
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

Nehemiah 6:1-2
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates— / Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

Ezra 9:1-2
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. / Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

Malachi 2:11
Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

1 Kings 11:1-8
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. / These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. / He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. ...

2 Chronicles 29:5
“Listen to me, O Levites,” he said. “Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove from the Holy Place every impurity.

2 Chronicles 29:15-16
When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the command of the king by the words of the LORD. / So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.

Matthew 21:12-13
Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. / And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

John 2:14-16
In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. / So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. / To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”

2 Corinthians 6:14-16
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? / What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? / Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. / Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? / If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.


Treasury of Scripture

And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied to Tobiah:

Eliashib.

Nehemiah 13:7
And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

Nehemiah 12:10
And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada,

having the oversight of.

Nehemiah 12:44
And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.

allied.

Nehemiah 13:28
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.

Nehemiah 6:17,18
Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them…

Jump to Previous
Allied Appointed Associated Chamber Chambers Charge Closely Connected Eliashib Eli'ashib House Kinsman Oversight Placed Priest Prior Related Relation Rooms Storerooms Tobiah Tobi'ah
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Allied Appointed Associated Chamber Chambers Charge Closely Connected Eliashib Eli'ashib House Kinsman Oversight Placed Priest Prior Related Relation Rooms Storerooms Tobiah Tobi'ah
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.














Now before this
This phrase sets the temporal context for the events described. It indicates that the actions of Eliashib occurred prior to the reforms Nehemiah was implementing. The Hebrew word for "before" (לִפְנֵי, lifnei) often denotes precedence in time, suggesting that the issues Nehemiah addresses were longstanding. This highlights the ongoing struggle to maintain spiritual purity and adherence to God's laws, a theme prevalent throughout the book of Nehemiah.

Eliashib the priest
Eliashib was a high-ranking religious leader, which underscores the gravity of his actions. The name "Eliashib" means "God restores," which is ironic given his role in compromising the sanctity of the temple. As a priest, Eliashib was expected to uphold the holiness of the temple, yet his actions reveal a failure in leadership. This serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of integrity and faithfulness among those in spiritual authority.

who had been appointed over the chambers of the house of our God
The "chambers" refer to the storerooms in the temple complex, which were used to store offerings, tithes, and other sacred items. Being "appointed" over these chambers was a position of trust and responsibility. The Hebrew root for "appointed" (נָתַן, natan) means "to give" or "to set," indicating that Eliashib was entrusted with a significant duty. This highlights the sacred responsibility of stewardship in God's house, a theme that resonates with the New Testament teachings on faithful service.

and who was related to Tobiah
Tobiah was an Ammonite official and an adversary of Nehemiah, known for opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. The Hebrew word for "related" (קָרוֹב, qarov) can mean "near" or "close," suggesting a familial or close personal relationship. This connection between Eliashib and Tobiah represents a compromise with the enemies of God's people, illustrating the dangers of forming alliances that can lead to spiritual corruption. It serves as a reminder of the need for discernment in relationships, especially those that can influence one's spiritual commitments.

(4-9) The scandal of the high priest.

(4) Eliashib the priest, having the oversight.--Probably the high priest of Nehemiah 3:1, whose office alone would not have given him control over "the chamber:" that is, the series of chambers running round three walls of the Temple. He "was allied unto Tobiah," but in what way is not stated.

Before this.--That is, before the return of Nehemiah; indeed, there is a suspicious absence of Eliashib's name throughout the high religious festivities of the preceding chapters.

Verse 4. - Eliashib the priest. It is questioned whether the high priest of Nehemiah 3:1 is meant, and noted that the expression used - "the priest"- does not always designate "the high priest" (see ver. 13); but the important charge said to have been assigned to him, the alliance with so great a man as Tobiah, and the important step taken, the assignment to a heathen of a residence within the temple precincts, imply a man of high authority, and suit better with the high priest than with any one of lower rank. Moreover, the fact that Eliashib's leanings were towards the enemies of Nehemiah accounts for his disappearance from the history from Nehemiah 3:1 to Nehemiah 13:4. Having the oversight. Literally, "being set over" - perhaps by Nehemiah, who seems to have claimed the appointment to all offices about the temple which were not purely spiritual. (see Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:13). Of the chamber. The word "chamber" (lishkah) is here used in a collective sense of the entire building containing the many "chambers" or "treasuries" of Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:9, 12, 13. Was allied unto Tobiah. Karob, the word translated "allied," means "a relation," either by blood or marriage. In the present case the relationship must have been by means of a marriage.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now before
וְלִפְנֵ֣י (wə·lip̄·nê)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

this,
מִזֶּ֔ה (miz·zeh)
Preposition-m | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

Eliashib
אֶלְיָשִׁיב֙ (’el·yā·šîḇ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 475: Eliashib -- 'God restores', the name of several Israelites

the priest,
הַכֹּהֵ֔ן (hak·kō·hên)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest

a relative
קָר֖וֹב (qā·rō·wḇ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7138: Near

of Tobiah,
לְטוֹבִיָּֽה׃ (lə·ṭō·w·ḇî·yāh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2900: Tobiah -- 'Yah is my good', three Israelites, also an Ammonite

had been put in charge of
נָת֖וּן (nā·ṯūn)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

the storerooms
בְּלִשְׁכַּ֣ת (bə·liš·kaṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3957: Room, chamber, hall, cell

of the house
בֵּית־ (bêṯ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of our God
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ (’ĕ·lō·hê·nū)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT History: Nehemiah 13:4 Now before this Eliashib the priest who (Neh Ne)
Nehemiah 13:3
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