Nehemiah 13 · Verse 24

Nehemiah 13:24

And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.

Nehemiah 13:24, King James Version

Nehemiah 13:24 in other translations

BSB	Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.
WEB	and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
ASV	and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
YLT	And of their sons, half are speaking Ashdoditish--and are not knowing to speak Jewish--and according to the language of people and people.
DARBY	And their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
BBE	And their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.
Webster	And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people.

What does Nehemiah 13:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

24. could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people--a mongrel dialect imbibed from their mothers, together with foreign principles and habits.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 24 Half in the speech of Ashdod - There were children in the same family by Jewish and Philistine mothers. As the Jewish mother would always speak to her children in Hebrew or Chaldee, so they learnt to speak these languages; and as the Ashdod mother would always speak to her children in the Ashdod language, so they learnt that tongue. Thus there were, in the same family, children who could not understand each other; half, or one part, speaking one language, and the other part another. Children of different wives did not ordinarily mingle together; and the wives had separate apartments. This is a better explanation than that which intimates that the same child spoke a jargon, half Ashdod and half Hebrew.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Nehemiah 13:23-31

If either parent be ungodly, corrupt nature will incline the children to take after that one; which is a strong reason why Christians should not be unequally yoked. In the education of children, great care should be taken about the government of their tongues; that they learn not the language of Ashdod, no impious or impure talk, no corrupt communication. Nehemiah showed the evil of these marriages. Some, more…

Read the full comment on Nehemiah 13:23-31 →

Nehemiah 13:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבְנֵיהֶ֗םu.ve.nei.Hemand children theirH1121

חֲצִי֙cha.TzihalfH2677

מְדַבֵּ֣רme.da.Ber[were] speakingH1696

אַשְׁדּוֹדִ֔ית'ash.do.DitAshdoditeH797

וְאֵינָ֥םve.'ei.Namand not theyH369

מַכִּירִ֖יםma.ki.Rim[were] knowingH5234

לְדַבֵּ֣רle.da.Berto speakH1696

יְהוּדִ֑יתye.hu.Dit[in] JudeanH3066

וְכִלְשׁ֖וֹןve.khil.Shonand according to [the] language ofH3956

עַ֥ם'ampeopleH5971

וָעָֽם\׃va.'Amand peopleH5971

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Nehemiah 13:24

Zephaniah 3:9
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

could not speak. Heb. they discerned not to speak. eachpeople. Heb. people and people.
Zep 3:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Nehemiah 13:23
In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
Nehemiah 13:24
And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
Nehemiah 13:25
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

Read all of Nehemiah 13

Nehemiah 13:24 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y sus hijos la mitad hablaban asdod, y conforme á la lengua de cada pueblo; que no sabían hablar judaico.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et leurs fils parlaient à moitié l’asdodien et ne savaient pas parler le juif, mais selon la langue de l’un ou de l’autre peuple.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und die Hälfte ihrer Kinder redete asdoditisch und wußte nicht jüdisch zu reden, sondern redete nach der Sprache des einen oder anderen Volkes.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et filii eorum ex media parte loquebantur azotice, et nesciebant loqui judaice, et loquebantur juxta linguam populi et populi.