提要
就在奉獻耶路撒冷城牆給上帝的同一天，大會宣讀了聖經中的一段話。出於天意的，剛好讀到亞捫人和摩押人永不可入上帝的會（申23:3~4）。因為上主知道祂子民和外族人太接近時會產生的弊病。
被擄返鄉後，以色列百姓共有三次大規模的與閒雜人等劃清界線（第3節）第一次是由以斯拉在十三年前發起（拉10:19）；但是與異邦人通婚的問題卻很難纏。第二次比較接近現在，發生在尼希米的領導下，重新確立聖約的時候。而這一次則在奉獻城牆的時候，人民重新立志，與外人分離，以便可以無玷污地活在上帝面前（3節）。
此時尼希米已治理猶大國十二年(13:6；5:14）；他必定是覺得所有的改革都已執行，現在可以安全地返回巴比倫，向亞達薛西王報告。尼希米留在巴比倫可能有好幾年；因為在他離開的時間，猶大人民的屬靈情況又消沈了。
尼希米回來之後，發現自己的改革並未執行。他不在，本地就沒有強而有力的領袖。大祭司以利亞實不是個好的屬靈領袖；反之，他還領導人民回到罪中，密切地與外邦人聯繫。以利亞實「與多比雅結親」，而多比雅卻是個亞捫人（2:10）。很難想像，以利亞實竟做出這樣可怕的事，搬走殿中的聖物，為外邦人騰出地方。尤其多比雅當年還是反對尼希米重建計畫的仇敵之一（2:10，19；4:3，7；6:1，14，19）。
撒但實在像孤狸一樣狡猾。如果牠不能直接和你作對，便戴上友誼的假面具，以光明天使的形像使壞。外邦人多比雅的出現，不僅引進罪惡，同時也污染了他在聖殿中所霸佔的房間。尼希米丟出多比雅的東西之後，下令按律法規定潔淨（9節）。他對上帝居所的熱心，和耶穌當年潔淨聖殿的情形，完全相似（太21:12~13）。為了重新恢復正常的敬拜上帝，罪惡必須移走，聖殿（人心）必須潔淨。
猶太人起誓不做的惡事（10:30~39），後來還是做了。他們吝嗇不獻什一、祭物，及初熟的果子給利未人，使他們無以為生，只好離開聖殿的服事，到田間工作。這民把聖安息日世俗化，在聖日與外邦商人做生意，並且與他們通婚。
尼希米的反應是一種義怒，也是一種熱心，急著想看到百姓切實遵守主的命令。他召見社團領袖，責問他們為什麼不負責任，沒有讓聖殿中的崇拜繼續進行﹖接著他恢復了聖殿的服事。他強烈警告外邦的商人，不可在安息日入城進行貿易（21節），並且嚴厲責備那些娶外邦女子的人（25節）。甚至大祭司的兒子，一個應該比較懂事的人，竟然也任意娶外邦女子，破壞了上帝的律法。他娶的是參巴拉的女兒；而參巴拉正是與多比雅同謀，反對重建耶路撒冷的人。祭司家族的血脈是不能褻瀆的（利21:7，14~15）。所以，尼希米以革除聖職來懲罰他。尼希米知道與外族通婚的可怕結果：會拜偶像，並喪失猶太人的特性。已經有許多孩子受了他們外邦母親的影響，不會講希伯來話。這些事使尼希米心膽俱寒（24節）。因此他眼前勢必得採取的行動，便是強力執行與外邦人再一次的分離。
在這些新的改革工作中，尼希米常常到主面前禱告。他知道上帝是審判人心的，祂會報應那些犯罪的人。雖然尼希米記的最後一章，因為人民的犯罪，充滿了失望，但它的結尾語對尼希米卻是希望，因他忠貞地服從上帝。他知道上帝是賜福的一位，所以要求上帝記念他所做的一切善事，使他能得更大的屬靈祝福（14，22下，31節）。主答應了他的祈禱，他被上帝永遠記念，於是感動他寫下本書；這些話直到如今，仍能光照上帝的子民。
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Overview
On the same day the walls of Jerusalem were dedicated to the Lord, a passage from the Holy Scripture was read. Providentially, it was about the exclusion of the Ammonites and Moabites from the congregation of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:3-4), for the Lord knew the weakness of His people in the area of close association with the heathen.
For the third time, there was a large-scale separation from the "mixed multitude" (v. 3). The first separation was initiated by Ezra about thirteen years before (Ezra 10:19), but the problem of intermarriage with the heathen persisted. The second one was more recent, occurring under Nehemiah's leadership at the time of the ratification of the covenant (10:30); and now on the occasion of the wall's dedication, the people once again committed themselves to a separation, that they might live undefiled before the Lord (v. 3).
At this point, after having been governor in Judea for twelve years (13:6; 5:14), Nehemiah must have felt that all his reforms were put into effect and that it was now safe for him to return to Babylon to give a report to King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah must have had an extended stay in Babylon, possibly for several years, since during his time away the spiritual condition of the people in Judea disintegrated.
When Nehemiah returned, he found that his reforms were not being carried out. Without his presence, there was no strong leadership. The high priest, Eliashib, was not a good spiritual leader; rather, he lead the people back into sin by close association with the heathen. Eliashib "was allied with Tobiah" who was an Ammonite (2:10). The Hebrew word translated "allied" can refer to a family tie. It is possible that Eliashib was related to Tobiah through marriage (cf. 6:18). It is hard to imagine how Eliashib could do such an evil thing as removing the sacred articles from the Temple to make room for a heathen, especially since Tobiah was one of the leaders who opposed Nehemiah's rebuilding project (2:10, 19; 4:3, 7; 6:1, 14, 19).
Satan is indeed as sly as a fox. When he could not come against them directly, he put on the mask of friendship and made his way in as an angel of light. The heathen presence of Tobiah not only led to sin within the community but also defiled the rooms of the Temple where he had been staying. After throwing out Tobiah's personal belongings, Nehemiah ordered the rooms to be ceremonially cleansed (v. 9). His zealousness for the House of God is similar to that of Jesus when He cleansed the Temple (Matthew 21:12-13). Sin must be removed and cleansed in order to restore the proper worship of God.
The very things that the Jews had promised by an oath not to do (10:30-39) they were doing. They withheld their tithes, offerings, and firstfruits from the Levites who were then forced to leave the Temple service and work in the fields. The people desecrated the Sabbath by doing business with heathen merchants and intermarrying with the heathen.
Nehemiah's reaction was one of righteous indignation, anger, and tremendous zealousness to ensure that the commands of the Lord were obeyed. He confronted the community leaders with their irresponsibility in not seeing that the worship of the Lord was continued, and he proceeded to restore the Temple service. With violence, he threatened the heathen businessmen to not conduct business on the Sabbath (v. 21), and he dealt drastically with those who had taken foreign wives (v. 25). Even the son of the high priest, one who should know better, had deliberately broken God's Law by taking a heathen wife from the family of Sanballat (who was with Tobiah in opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem). The holy seed was not to be profaned (Leviticus 21:7, 14-15), therefore Nehemiah punished him with excommunication. Nehemiah knew the terrible results of intermarriage: idolatry and eventually the loss of Jewish uniqueness. Already there were many children who could not speak the Hebrew language because of the influence of their foreign mothers, something which appalled Nehemiah (v. 24). His only course of action was to enforce another separation from the heathen.
Throughout these new reforms, Nehemiah often went to the Lord in prayer. He understood that God was the Judge, and he would repay those who had sinned. Although this last chapter of Nehemiah is full of despair because of the sins of the people, it ends on a note of hope for Nehemiah, since he faithfully obeyed the Lord. He knew that God was the One who blessed, so he asked that God remember the good things he had done, that he might be blessed with greater spiritual blessings (vv. 14, 22b, 31). The Lord answered his prayer; he was remembered "for good" by the Lord inspiring Him to write a part of God's Holy Word, which is a blessing to people even today.
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