Chapter 34
All foreigners are separated from Israel, and the portions of the Levites and the firstfruits of the priests are placed in the treasury of the house of the Lord.
[Nehemiah 13:3] -- Now it came to pass when they heard the law, etc. Hearing the law about the two enemy nations to be anathematized, the faithful people immediately separated all foreigners from themselves; because it is necessary for us to attend to the hearing of the truth in such a way that when we are prohibited by divine reading from any single vice, we immediately purge not only that particular vice concerning which the discourse may have occurred, but also everything whatsoever of vice we find soiling us, both from our actions and our conscience.
[Nehemiah 13:5] -- He made for himself a large treasury, etc. This statement, where Nehemiah writes that he was not in Jerusalem, does not seem to pertain to the matters narrated above up to this point, but only to the present location; for the previous matters were seen to have been done or spoken at the time when the city was built and dedicated, when Nehemiah was still residing in Jerusalem; with those things diligently completed, he returned to the king, and while he was absent, Eliashib made a large treasury in which were stored those things necessary either for the ministry of the house of the Lord or for the use of the ministers. He was not afraid to place certain unlawful things in the treasury of the house of the Lord; because when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he immediately strove to disrupt those things. For it follows: