Bible Strands
Nehemiah 13:15
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah speaks as governor to the people of Judah and Jerusalem during the post-exilic restoration. He addresses them while inspecting the city gates and observing Sabbath violations shortly after completing the wall.
The words — The text highlights דֹּֽרְכִֽים־ (do.re.khim), meaning "those who tread," and גִּתּ֣וֹת (gi.Tot), meaning "winepresses," describing active agricultural labor. It also notes בַּ/שַּׁבָּ֡ת (ba./sha.Bat), literally "on the Sabbath," marking the specific day where trade and work occur.
The thread — The prohibition against Sabbath commerce and labor echoes the command in Exodus 34:21 to rest during plowing and harvest seasons. Nehemiah’s enforcement aligns with the covenant pledge in Nehemiah 10:31 to refrain from buying merchandise on that day.
Why it lands — The passage demands immediate cessation of commercial and agricultural work on the seventh day. It requires readers to prioritize Sabbath rest over economic activity and to enforce boundaries against profaning the day.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 10:31 When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow and will cancel every debt.
- Exodus 34:21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
- Nehemiah 13:21 but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath.
- Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Isaiah 58:13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
- Jeremiah 17:21 This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
- Exodus 35:2 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.
- Numbers 15:32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
- Deuteronomy 5:12 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
- Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.