Nehemiah 10 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~444-443 BC, during the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes I
Location
Jerusalem, the small provincial capital of Yehud, a minor district of the Persian empire's western territories
Audience
Jews living in Judah and in the scattered communities after the Babylonian exile, reading a record of how the restored community bound itself again to God's law
Situation
After days of public reading of the law, confession, and fasting, the leaders, priests, Levites, and ordinary heads of households put their names to a written, sealed agreement. The chapter lists the signers and then the specific obligations they take on, including no intermarriage with surrounding peoples, keeping the Sabbath, letting the land rest every seventh year, cancelling debts, and funding the temple.
Key Background
A sealed written pledge was a standard legal instrument in the Persian period, and putting a personal seal or name to a document made a man liable in a way a spoken promise did not. The temple tax of a third of a shekel they commit to is smaller than the half shekel named in Exodus, probably reflecting how poor the community was and how coin weights had shifted under Persian currency. Many of the promises deal with the practical machinery of temple worship, wood for the altar fire, first fruits, firstborn animals, and tithes, because without a king's treasury the sanctuary depended entirely on voluntary household giving.
Those who it were: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
The Levites: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,
and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
The rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to follow the Law of God, along with their wives, their sons, their daughters, and everyone who had knowledge and understanding—
joined with their leaders in a and committed themselves under a curse to walk in God's Law, which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to carefully observe all the commands, rulings, and decrees of Yahweh our Lord.
"We will not in to the of the and we will not take their for sons.
If the peoples of the land bring goods or grain to sell on the day, we will not buy from them on the or on any other day that belongs to God. Every seventh year we will let the land rest and all
We also impose on ourselves the obligation to give a of a yearly for the service of the house of our God:
for the rows of bread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath the new moon the appointed festivals, the for the for made on behalf of Israel, and all the work of the house of our
We — the priests, the Levites, and the people — for the wood offering, to determine when each family would bring wood to the house of our God at set times each year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God, as it is written in the Law.
We commit to bringing the of our soil and the of every tree's harvest to the house of Yahweh every year.
We will also bring the of our sons and our livestock — as it is written in the Law — and the of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who serve there.
We will bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine, and the olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. And we will bring a of our produce to the Levites, since the Levites collect the in all the towns where we work.
A priest of Aaron's line will accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth. The Levites will bring a tenth of the tenth up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.
The people of Israel and the Levites will bring their contributions of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the storerooms that hold the equipment for the for where the priests who serve, the gatekeepers, and the singers are stationed. We will not the of