Bible Strands
Nehemiah 13:24
Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the returned community in Jerusalem, documenting the immediate results of intermarriage with women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. He records this linguistic failure as factual evidence before delivering his formal rebuke.
The words — חֲצִי (cha.Tzi) means "half," and מַכִּירִים (ma.ki.Rim) literally means "knowing" or "understanding." The phrasing establishes that fifty percent of the children knew neither the Judean tongue nor the language of their fathers.
The thread — This linguistic breakdown stands in direct tension with Zephaniah 3:9, which promises God will restore pure lips to the peoples for unified worship. The text uses the loss of Hebrew to mark the community's departure from that prophetic restoration.
Why it lands — The passage demands acknowledgment that covenant identity requires deliberate linguistic and cultural preservation. It instructs the reader to treat assimilation not as a neutral social shift but as a structural breach of worship and obedience.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
Cross-references
- Zephaniah 3:9 For then I will restore pure lips to the peoples, that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.