And before this,.... Before the above law was read, and observed and acted upon:Eliashib the priest; whom some take to be a common priest; so Bishop Usher ; but he seems rather to be the high priest, by comparing it with Ne 13:28,having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God; which has led some to the notion of his being a common priest; but chamber may be put for chambers, and those for the whole house or temple, which the high priest had the greatest concern in, and oversight of:was allied to Tobiah; the servant and Ammonite, an inveterate enemy of the Jews, Ne 2:10, having married a daughter of Shecaniah, and his son a daughter of Meshullam, who were both priests, and so as it seems related to Eliashib, Ne 6:18.
Annal. Vet. Test. p.