I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields.
Parallel translations
- WEB I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field.
- KJV And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.
- NKJV I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field.
- NASB I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field.
- NLT I also discovered that the Levites had not been given their prescribed portions of food, so they and the singers who were to conduct the worship services had all returned to work their fields.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nehemiah learned the Levites' portions had been withheld, forcing the singers and Levites to leave their service for their fields. It matters because neglecting God's ministers caused worship itself to be abandoned.
Overview
The failure to provide the appointed portions drove those who served at the temple back to farming to survive. The collapse of giving led directly to the collapse of worship. This shows how spiritual life suffers when God's servants are neglected, underscoring the duty of God's people to support those who minister His word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Neh 10:37Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.
- Mal 3:8Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Deut 12:19and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
- Neh 12:28–29The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,
- Neh 12:47So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.
- Num 35:2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.
- 1 Tim 5:17–18Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
- Mal 1:6–14“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 13:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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