Teks -- Nehemiah 13:6 (NET)

13:6 During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time I had requested leave of the king,

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Neh 13:6 - But, &c.

_Eliashib took the occasion of my absence to do these things.

Wesley: Neh 13:6 - Came I

From Jerusalem; where he had been once and again.

JFB: Neh 13:6-9 - But in all this was not I at Jerusalem

Eliashib (concluding that, as Nehemiah had departed from Jerusalem, and, on the expiry of his allotted term of absence, had resigned his government, he had gone not to return) began to use great liberties, and, there being none left whose authority or frown he dreaded, allowed himself to do things most unworthy of his sacred office, and which, though in unison with his own irreligious character, he would not have dared to attempt during the residence of the pious governor. Nehemiah resided twelve years as governor of Jerusalem, and having succeeded in repairing and refortifying the city, he at the end of that period returned to his duties in Shushan. How long [Nehemiah] remained there is not expressly said, but "after certain days," which is a Scripture phraseology for a year or a number of years, he obtained leave to resume the government of Jerusalem; to his deep mortification and regret, he found matters in the neglected and disorderly state here described. Such gross irregularities as were practised, such extraordinary corruptions as had crept in, evidently imply the lapse of a considerable time. Besides, they exhibit the character of Eliashib, the high priest, in a most unfavorable light; for while he ought, by his office, to have preserved the inviolable sanctity of the temple and its furniture, his influence had been directly exercised for evil; especially he had given permission and countenance to a most indecent outrage--the appropriation of the best apartments in the sacred building to a heathen governor, one of the worst and most determined enemies of the people and the worship of God. The very first reform Nehemiah on his second visit resolved upon, was the stopping of this gross profanation [by Eliashib]. The chamber which had been polluted by the residence of the idolatrous Ammonite was, after undergoing the process of ritual purification (Num 15:9), restored to its proper use--a storehouse for the sacred vessels.

Clarke: Neh 13:6 - Was not I at Jerusalem

Was not I at Jerusalem - Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and remained there till the thirty-second year, twelve years: then returned to Babylon, and staid one year; got leave to revisit his brethren; and found matters as stated in this chapter.

TSK: Neh 13:6 - But // was // the two // after certain days // obtained I

But : Exo 32:1; 2Ch 24:17, 2Ch 24:18; Mat 13:25

was : Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and remained there till the thirty-second, being twelve years; then returned to Babylon; and probably, after about a year, got leave to revisit his brethren, and found matters as here stated.

the two : Neh 2:1, Neh 5:14

after certain days : Heb. at the end of days, Neh 2:5, Neh 2:6

obtained I : or, I earnestly requested

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Neh 13:6 - All this time was not I at Jerusalem // Came I unto the king // After certain days

All this time was not I at Jerusalem and Eliashib took the occasion of my absence to do these things, supposing that I would no more return thither.

Came I unto the king to wit, from Jerusalem; where he had been once and again.

After certain days Heb. in the end of days , or of a year , as that word oft signifies.

Haydock: Neh 13:6 - Days

Days. Prefixed (chap. ii. 6.) I asked. Hebrew, "was required to attend by the king," for about ten years. After which period, I returned and found such disorders. Some believe that Nehemias had been at Babylon, a long while before the 32d year of the king.

Gill: Neh 13:6 - But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem // for in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto the king from Jerusalem // and after certain days obtained I leave of the king

But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem,.... Nehemiah, who was absent all the while these things were done by Eliashib, or otherwise they would not have been suffered:

for in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto the king from Jerusalem; after he had governed there twelve years, to whom he came to give an account of affairs there; this was not Xerxes, as some ^b have thought, for he reigned but twenty one years; but Darius Hystaspis, who reigned thirty six years, according to Ptolemy's canon, and with which Herodotus ^c agrees; he is called king of Babylon, because that, with the whole empire, was in the hands of the king of Persia, as it had been from the times of Cyrus:

and after certain days obtained I leave of the king; to return to Jerusalem again; not after five years, as Dr. Prideaux ^d thinks; for it is not likely that Nehemiah would stay so long ere he asked leave of the king to return to Jerusalem, which was so much his care, and on whose prosperity his heart was so much set; rather at most it was but a full year he stayed ere he got leave to return, as Vatablus and Piscator interpret it; in which sense the phrase of certain days is used in Lev 25:29, and in other places quoted by the last mentioned interpreter.