Nehemiah 13:4 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And before this That is, before this separation was made; Eliashib the priest The high-priest, (Nehemiah 3:1,) or some other priest so called, there being divers persons of this name in or about this time, though the first seems most probable; having the oversight of the chamber Of the chambers, (Nehemiah 13:9,) the high-priest having the chief power over the house of God, and all the chambers belonging to it; was allied unto Tobiah The Ammonite, and a violent enemy to God's people. He had suffered his grandson to marry Sanballat's daughter, who was the fast friend of Tobiah, and the great enemy of the Jews. This is mentioned as a great blot on Eliashib's character, and the cause of his other miscarriages, noticed Nehemiah 13:5. We read also in Ezra 10:18, that several of the priests had married strange wives; and, among the rest, some of the sons of the high-priest.