Charles Ellicott Commentary Nehemiah 13:4

"Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being allied unto Tobiah," — Nehemiah 13:4 (ASV)

Eliashib the priest, having the oversight. —Probably the high priest of Nehemiah 3:1, whose office alone would not have given him control over “the chamber”: that is, the series of chambers running around three walls of the Temple. He “was allied unto Tobiah,” but in what way is not stated.

Before this. —That is, before the return of Nehemiah; indeed, there is a suspicious absence of Eliashib’s name throughout the high religious festivities of the preceding chapters.