Bible Strands
Nehemiah 13:28
Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the returned community immediately after confronting their intermarriage with foreign women and the resulting neglect of temple duties. He speaks as the governor enforcing covenant boundaries during a period of religious restoration.
The words — The text highlights חָתָן (cha.Tan), literally "son-in-law," to mark the familial bond formed between a grandson of the high priest and Sanballat. This kinship term underscores the direct violation of the separation mandated for the priesthood.
The thread — Nehemiah references this alliance against Sanballat the Horonite, who previously opposed the wall rebuilding in Nehemiah 2:10 and 2:19. The high priest Eliashib also appears in Nehemiah 3:1 as a leader in the restoration project, creating a sharp contrast with his grandson's later betrayal.
Why it lands — The text records Nehemiah's expulsion of the priest's grandson to halt a breach of covenant boundaries. A reader must recognize that religious leadership requires strict adherence to separation mandates, and compromise demands immediate corrective action.
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
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
- Nehemiah 2:10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.
- Nehemiah 3:1 At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.
- Nehemiah 6:17 Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them.
- Nehemiah 12:10 Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada,
- Nehemiah 12:22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.
- Nehemiah 13:4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God
- Nehemiah 13:25 I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!
- Psalms 101:8 Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
- Proverbs 20:8 A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.