Nehemiah 13:24
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
American Standard Version (ASV)
and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.
Webster's Revision
And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people.
World English Bible
and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
English Revised Version (ERV)
and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
Clarke's Nehemiah 13:24 Bible Commentary
Half in the speech of Ashdod - There were children in the same family by Jewish and Philistine mothers. As the Jewish mother would always speak to her children in Hebrew or Chaldee, so they learnt to speak these languages; and as the Ashdod mother would always speak to her children in the Ashdod language, so they learnt that tongue. Thus there were, in the same family, children who could not understand each other; half, or one part, speaking one language, and the other part another. Children of different wives did not ordinarily mingle together; and the wives had separate apartments. This is a better explanation than that which intimates that the same child spoke a jargon, half Ashdod and half Hebrew.
Barnes's Nehemiah 13:24 Bible Commentary
The speech of Ashdod - The Philistine language, which was akin to that of Egypt.
According to the language of each people - The children spoke a mixed dialect - half-Philistine, half-Hebrew.
