BABINC HomePage Public Domain Library Pastor Bob's Index
Two of the Gentiles who led the fight against the building of the wall
were Tobiah and Sanballat (see Nehemiah 2:10, 2:19, 4:1-3, 4:7-8 and
6:1-14). Tobiah had married the daughter of Shechaniah, and Tobiah's
son, Johanan, had married the daughter of Meshullam. Shechaniah and
Meshullam were apparently priests, Levites or nobles of the Jews (see
Nehemiah 6:17-19). Many of the Jewish nobles were sworn to Tobiah, and
the high priest had given Tobiah a chamber in the temple in which to
live (Nehemiah 13:4-9). Sanballat's daughter had married the grandson
of the high priest (Nehemiah 13:28). So intermarriage between Jew and
Gentile had taken place at the highest levels as well as among the
common people. Therefore, Nehemiah dealt with this problem (Nehemiah
13:23-27), as he dealt also with the problem of the violation of the
Sabbath day (Nehemiah 13:15-22).
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