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.
Parallel translations
- KJV 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.
- BSB 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.
- NKJV And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.
- NASB Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, became a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him away from me.
- NLT One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, so I banished him from my presence.
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
A grandson of the high priest Eliashib had married Sanballat's daughter, so Nehemiah drove him away. It matters because even the highest priestly family had compromised with God's enemies and required correction.
Overview
The marriage tie between the high-priestly line and Sanballat, a leading opponent, defiled the priesthood at its summit. Nehemiah's expulsion of the offender shows that no rank exempts anyone from God's standards. This corruption at the top reveals the need for a perfectly pure High Priest, found only in Christ, undefiled and holy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Neh 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammontite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
- Neh 6:17–19Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
- Neh 3:1Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up its doors. They sanctified it even to the tower of Hammeah, to the tower of Hananel.
- Neh 12:10Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada,
- Neh 2:10When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
- Neh 12:22As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ households; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian.
- Neh 13:25I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
- Neh 13:4–5Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,
- Prov 20:8A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
- Rom 13:3–4For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
- Prov 20:26A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.
- Ps 101:8Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land; to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city.
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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 13:28 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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