The intention is to compare the religious activity and strictness of Nehemiah’s time with that which had prevailed under Zerubbabel, as described by Ezra Ezra 6:16, Ezra 6:22. It is implied that the intermediate period had been a time of laxity.
They sanctified holy things ... - i. e, “the people paid their tithes regularly to the Levites, and the Levites paid the tithe of the tithes to the priests.”