Politics · 12 · Nehemiah
Marrying out to marry up
Nehemiah's criticism of intermarriage targets Judah's elites, including priests, who married into powerful families in Samaria and Transjordan.
Elite alliances can weaken a community's cohesion.
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His chief rivals were Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and Tobiah, a Transjordanian leader with family ties to Jerusalem's upper class. Nehemiah even chased off a high priest's son who had married Sanballat's daughter.
Bible reference: Nehemiah 13:28
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 198–199
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