What Does Nehemiah 13:9 Mean in the King James?
Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Cleansing here is not an empty ending: cleared chambers make room for the vessels and offerings to return.
THE MEANING
A space taken over can be cleared, and what belongs there can be brought back. Cleansing restores the chambers to their purpose of holding the vessels, grain offering, and frankincense of God’s house.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that misuse makes sacred space irrecoverable: the chambers can be cleansed and their contents restored.
THE ROOT
וַיְטַהֲרוּ
vayṭahărû
GROWS FROM
ט־ה־ר
ṭ-h-r
Be clean or pure; make clean or purify.
“cleansed” in this verse is vayṭahărû. The root links the act of cleansing with the condition of being clean or pure. Here, the chambers are not merely emptied; they are made fit again to receive the vessels and offerings.
ALSO GROWS
tāhôr: Clean, pure.
טָהוֹר
This adjective names the condition the cleansing brings about: the chambers are ready again for what belongs in them.
ṭohŏrāh: Cleanness, purification.
טָהֳרָה
This noun names the restored condition, showing that cleansing opens the way for the chambers’ use to be renewed.
THE PATTERN
When what occupies sacred space is cleared, its intended use can be restored.
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.THE THREAD
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.The same Hebrew root, טהר (ṭ-h-r), connects cleansing with becoming clean or pure. This verse pairs that cleansing directly with the vessels, echoing Nehemiah’s sequence: the space is cleansed, and its vessels and offerings return.
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