Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Nehemiah 13:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse moves backward to Eliashib's oversight of temple chambers and close relationship with Tobiah.
Read It With
- Nehemiah 13:4–13:9
Read Nehemiah 13:4–13:9 together. This verse moves backward to Eliashib's oversight of temple chambers and close relationship with Tobiah. Read Nehemiah 13:4–13:9 as one complete scene: While Nehemiah is away, Eliashib gives Tobiah a chamber that had stored offerings; Nehemiah returns, throws out Tobiah's household goods, orders cleansing, and restores the vessels and offerings.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Eliashib's kinship with Tobiah, conversion of a large storeroom, Nehemiah's absence and return, anger, removal of Tobiah's goods, cleansing, and restoration form one temple-space dispute. Its placement advances the book. The memoir portrays a conflict of interest and forceful institutional recovery, but the relationship, process, and absent parties' perspectives remain incomplete. Within that movement, this verse moves backward to Eliashib's oversight of temple chambers and close relationship with Tobiah.
Read Nehemiah 13:4–9 together
Why these verses belong together: Eliashib's kinship with Tobiah, conversion of a large storeroom, Nehemiah's absence and return, anger, removal of Tobiah's goods, cleansing, and restoration form one temple-space dispute.
Verse 4. 4 And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:
Verse 5. 5 And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.
Verse 6. 6 But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:
Verse 7. 7 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
Verse 8. 8 And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.
Verse 9. 9 Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.
What Remains True
Within Nehemiah 13:4–13:9, Nehemiah 13:4 moves backward to Eliashib's oversight of temple chambers and close relationship with Tobiah. Conflicts of interest and diverted institutional space require correction through evidence, proportionate authority, and accountable procedure.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Nehemiah 13:4, attend to how the verse moves backward to Eliashib's oversight of temple chambers and close relationship with Tobiah. Document the original purpose, the unauthorized change, who approved it, and a lawful restoration plan that safeguards belongings and appeal rights.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Nehemiah 13:4–13:9 — Tobiah's chamber is forcibly clearedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Nehemiah 13:4–13:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nehemiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 13:4–13:9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Nehemiah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed pp. 779–781, translation text and any translator notes printed for 13:4–13:9
Open source ↗