Nehemiah made an example of one of the most blatant violations of the prohibition against marrying foreigners. According to the Law, a high priest could not marry a foreign woman (see Lev 21.14). The high priesthood was inherited so the grandson of a high priest could become the high priest. Eliashib was high priest when Nehemiah first came to Jerusalem (Neh 3.1). Jehoiada was high priest after his father (see Neh 12.10-11), but whether he had become high priest by this time is not known. His son had married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite (see Neh 2.10). Jehoiada and “Joiada” (Good News Translation) are alternate spellings for the same name.

Son-in-law: In some cultures this is referred to as the “in-law” relationship (compare Neh 6.18). One of Jehoida’s sons had an “in-law” relationship with Sanballat by having married his daughter, and this was unacceptable according to the prohibition in Lev 21.14.

I chased him from me, which is literally “I caused him to flee away from me,” means that the guilty person was expelled from the Jewish religious community. New Living Translation says “I banished him from my presence,” and Bible en français courant “I expelled him from Jerusalem.” Good News Translation says it in simple language with “I made Joiada leave Jerusalem.”

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .