Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, April 11th, 2026
Saturday in Easter Week
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Nehemiah 13:3

When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Thompson Chain Reference - Association-Separation;   Separation;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Eliashib;   Marriage;   Tobiah;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Samaria, samaritans;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Jews, Judaism;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Mixed Multitude;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Tobiah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Mixed Multitude;   Nehemiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mixed Multitude;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Mingled People (Mixed Multitude);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Gentile;   Moab;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.
Hebrew Names Version
It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Yisra'el all the mixed multitude.
King James Version
Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
English Standard Version
As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
New Century Version
When the people heard this teaching, they separated all foreigners from Israel.
New English Translation
When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.
Amplified Bible
When the Jews heard the law, they separated from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
New American Standard Bible
So when they heard the Law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.
World English Bible
It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Now when they had heard the Lawe, they separated from Israel all those that were mixed.
Legacy Standard Bible
So when they heard the law, they separated all foreigners from Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.
Contemporary English Version
Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.
Complete Jewish Bible
On hearing the Torah, they separated from Isra'el everyone of mixed ancestry.
Darby Translation
And it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Easy-to-Read Version
So when the Israelites heard that law, they obeyed it. They separated themselves from the people who were descendants of foreigners.
George Lamsa Translation
Now when they had heard the words of the law, they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Lexham English Bible
So it happened when they heard the law that they separated all of the foreign people from Israel.
Literal Translation
And it happened, when they had heard the Law, they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan they herde the lawe, they separated from Israel euery one that had myxte him selfe therin.
American Standard Version
And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Bible in Basic English
So after hearing the law, they took out of Israel all the mixed people.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nowe when they had hearde the law, they separated from Israel euery one that had mixt him selfe therin.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the alien mixture.
King James Version (1611)
Now it came to passe when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they were separated, even every alien in Israel.
English Revised Version
And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli it was doon, whanne `thei hadden herd the lawe, thei departiden ech alien fro Israel.
Update Bible Version
And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.
New King James Version
So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
New Living Translation
When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.
New Life Bible
When the people heard the Law, they kept out all those of other nations from Israel.
New Revised Standard
When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So it came to pass, when they had heard the law, - that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel.
Revised Standard Version
When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, at their hearing the law, that they separate all the mixed people from Israel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.

Contextual Overview

1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community. 4 The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of grain and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the Temple musicians, and to the Temple guards. 6 While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. 8 I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah's belongings. 9 I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the Temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

when they: Psalms 19:7-11, Psalms 119:9, Psalms 119:11, Proverbs 6:23, Romans 3:20

that they: Nehemiah 9:2, Nehemiah 10:28, Ezra 10:11, James 1:27

the mixed: Exodus 12:38, Numbers 11:4

Reciprocal: Ezra 9:1 - have not separated Ezra 9:2 - mingled Ezra 10:8 - himself separated

Cross-References

Genesis 12:6
Abram traveled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.)
Genesis 13:8
Then Abram said to Lot, "We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling.
Genesis 13:9
So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law,.... Or the law concerning the Ammonite and the Moabite, and which included other nations also, and forbad marriage with them:

that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude; all of these, and other nations, they had contracted affinity with.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A separation like that made by Ezra, some 20 years previously Ezra 10:15-44, seems to be intended. The pagan wives were divorced and sent back, with their offspring, to their own countries.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Nehemiah 13:3. They separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. — They excluded all strange women, and all persons, young and old, who had been born of these illegal connections.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile