Nehemiah 10 · a question people ask
Did they keep what they swore?
Chapter 10 doesn't say; it records what was sworn. Chapter 13 comes back to it. There Nehemiah finds that "the portions of the Levites had not been given them" (13:10), and asks, "Why is God’s house forsaken?" (13:11). He tells of men of Tyre who "sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah" (13:16), and he sees "the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab" (13:23). Some things are set right: "Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries" (13:12), and Nehemiah appoints duties "for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits" (13:31). Chapter 10 gives no year, and this study doesn't work out how long after it chapter 13's events came.
The verses
“I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.”
“Some men of Tyre also lived there, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.”
“In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;”
“Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work; and for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.”