Nehemiah 13:25 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And I contended with them, &c. These words, it must be acknowledged as proceeding from Nehemiah's own mouth, sound somewhat harshly in our translation; but the meaning of them seems to be only as follows: I contended with them That is, I expostulated the matter with them; I cursed them That is, excommunicated them, and cast them out of the society of God's people; in the doing of which, I denounced God's judgments against them; I smote certain of them That is, I ordered the officers to beat some of the most notorious offenders with rods or scourges, according to the law, Deuteronomy 25:2; and I plucked off their hair That is, I commanded them to be shaved, thereby to put them to shame, and to make them look like vile slaves; for as the hair was esteemed a great ornament among the eastern nations, so baldness was accounted a great disgrace. And Nehemiah had a sufficient provocation to inflict these several punishments upon them, because, in their marrying with heathen nations, they had acted contrary, not only to the express law of God, but to their own late solemn covenant and promise. See Poole and Dodd.