After dealing with the erring Eliashib and Tobiah, Nehemiah moved with the same determination to right the other wrongs he discovered. These wrongs correspond to the items promised by the people in chapter 10. Nehemiah’s actions in dealing with them constitute his final reforms.
1. The tithe (vv. 10-11). Nehemiah learned that the tithes for the temple service had not been paid and that the Levites and singers responsible for the temple worship had therefore left Jerusalem and gone back to their own fields to earn a living. Probably there was a connection between this problem and the earlier one. If Eliashib the high priest was acting in an unprincipled manner, the people had probably begun to lose confidence in the priestly establishment and it is understandable that the tithes would be neglected. On the other hand, the tithe obligation remained for the people regardless of the spiritual quality of the leadership; the tithe was a biblical command. It is probably true that the people were just neglecting this responsibility.
Nehemiah dealt with this problem through the proper officials, since the responsibility for collecting the tithe was theirs. He rebuked them, reinstated the Levites in their position and re-established the system for collecting tithes.
2. Other provisions for the temple (vv. 12-13). Additional provisions for the temple had also suffered, no doubt for the same reasons as the neglect of the tithe. Nehemiah moved to correct this abuse too. He dismissed the old custodians, who would have been in tight with Eliashib, and installed Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah and Hanan in their places “because these men were considered trustworthy” (v. 13). The mention of Zadok as “the scribe” may be important. There could have been any number of scribes, of course. But since he is called “the scribe” and since no one but Ezra has been called “the scribe” before this, it is reasonable to assume either that Ezra was no longer in the city (perhaps he had returned to Babylon) or was too old to officiate (he had been in Jerusalem even longer than Nehemiah) or had died.
3. The Sabbath (vv. 15-22). The longest single section of Nehemiah 13 deals with the desecration of the Sabbath. Like a trickle through a dike, commercial activity on the Sabbath had probably begun slowly—in the countryside with the farmers harvesting grain and treading grapes. But it had grown steadily stronger. Having harvested their grain and made their wine, the farmers next brought these to the city to be sold—again on the Sabbath. And following quickly on their heels were traders from Tyre, who had fish and “all kinds of merchandise” for the markets.
Nehemiah did four things that were typical of his leadership style. First, he rebuked the nobles who were responsible for the city’s life, warning them that it was for such abuses that the judgment of God had come on the people years before. It was characteristic of Nehemiah to work through those who were officially in charge.
Second, he locked the gates on the Sabbath, placing some of his own men over them. This was a practical device by an eminently practical man. If the gates could not be opened, it was certain that no merchandise would flow into the city through them.
Third, when the merchants (probably the merchants from Tyre) camped outside Jerusalem hoping for a change in the Sabbath regulations or perhaps looking for a way to get around them, Nehemiah threatened them with forceful action if they did not move on. He did not want temptation even to be hanging around the perimeter of the Jewish city.
Finally, Nehemiah instructed the Levites to purify themselves and then take over the task of guarding the city gates on the Sabbath. He wanted this to be their responsibility, and he knew that he and his men would not always be around to do it for them.
After telling what he did to restore the Sabbath, Nehemiah appeals to God in the second of four similar prayers in this chapter: “Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love” (v. 22).
