Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Parallel translations
- WEB It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
- BSB As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.
- NKJV So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
- NASB So when they heard the Law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.
- NLT When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.
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
Having heard the law, the people separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. It matters because hearing God's Word led to immediate, costly obedience and renewed holiness.
Overview
In response to Scripture, the community removed those of foreign mixture who compromised their covenant identity. The episode shows a people willing to act on God's Word even when it required hard separation. While this reflects Israel's call to holiness, the gospel ultimately reconciles believing Gentiles into one new people in Christ, separated not by ethnicity but by faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Neh 9:2And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
- Exod 12:38And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
- Num 11:4And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
- Neh 10:28And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;
- Jas 1:27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
- Prov 6:23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
- Ps 119:9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
- Ps 119:11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
- Ps 19:7–11The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
- Rom 3:20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
- Ezra 10:11Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.
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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 13:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.