MPV Commentary

The Violation of the Sabbath.

In those days, I observed that some people in Judah were working in wine-presses on the Sabbath. The cessation of temple services had led to a public disregard for the Sabbath, with labor being carried out in the fields and fish being brought to market on this sacred day. Nehemiah took decisive action by ordering the city gates to be shut until the Sabbath was over. To ensure compliance, he stationed some of his own servants as guards to prevent any commodities from being introduced on that day.

As a result, merchants and various dealers were denied admission into the city, so they set up booths outside the walls in an attempt to continue trading with the peasants. However, Nehemiah threatened to take violent measures if they continued to do so. To enforce the sanctification of the Sabbath, a group of Levites was stationed as sentinels at the gate, giving them discretionary powers to protect this sacred day.

The people who were trying to trade on the Sabbath spoke in various languages, using dialects imbibed from their mothers and influenced by foreign principles and habits. Nehemiah cursed those who refused to comply with his orders, pronouncing an anathema that would result in excommunication.

Those who continued to disregard the Sabbath were punished by being struck and having their hair plucked off. This punishment was considered disgraceful rather than severe, but it is believed that pain accompanied the shame, as if they were tearing out their own hair with violence.