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Nehemiah
Chapter Nine
New King James Version
(NKJV)
Nehemiah 9:1.
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel
were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.[a]
YLT And in the twenty and
fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting,
and with sackcloth, and earth upon them;
Now in the
twenty fourth day of this month,....
The seventh month, the
month Tisri or September, two days after the feast of tabernacles was ended:
the children of
Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them;
which were all outward
tokens of mourning and humiliation, see Joel 1:8 which they
could not show during the festival; but that being over, they return to it, see
Nehemiah 8:9.
Nehemiah 9:2.
Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all
foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their
fathers.
YLT and the seed of Israel
are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning
their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,
And the seed of
Israel separated themselves from all strangers,....
Such as were genuine
Israelites, of the seed of Abraham, who had married wives of the Gentiles,
strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, either before the reformation by Ezra,
not being then discovered, or had fallen into this evil since; but now, on the
reading of the law, were convinced of it, and so separated themselves from such
wives, which was a proof of the truth of their repentance:
and stood and
confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers:
particularly their taking
of strange wives, which their fathers had also done, and set them a bad
example, which they had followed; of standing and confessing, see Luke 18:13.
Nehemiah 9:3.
And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law
of the Lord
their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they
confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
YLT and rise up on their
station, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth of the
day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to Jehovah their
God.
And they stood
up in their place,....
In the outward court of
the temple, where men used to stand when they prayed and confessed their sins:
and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God; that they might the
better know the mind and will of God, and do their duty: this they did
one fourth part
of the day;
the space of three hours,
from sun rising, or six o'clock in the morning, to the time of the morning
sacrifice, which was about nine o'clock:
and another
fourth part they confessed;
the goodness of God to
them, and the sins they had been guilty of:
and worshipped
the Lord their God;
bowed down before him in
prayer and supplication, and so spent three hours more, which reached to noon
or twelve o'clock; and from thence to three o'clock, about the time of the
evening sacrifice, and from thence to sun setting, or six o'clock, and so spent
the whole day in the above exercises alternately.
Nehemiah 9:4.
Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and
Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to
the Lord
their God.
YLT And there stand up on
the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni,
Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, and they cry with a loud voice unto Jehovah their
God.
Then stood up
upon the stairs of the Levites,....
On an ascent; an elevated
place where the Levites used to stand when they sang at the time of sacrifice,
and where they might be seen and heard by the people:
Jeshua and
Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani;
who seem to be all
Levites, see Nehemiah 8:7,
and cried with
a loud voice unto the Lord their God;
praying with great
fervency, and making bitter lamentation for the sins of the people and their
own.
Nehemiah 9:5.
And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah,
Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God Forever
and ever! “Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing
and praise!
YLT And the Levites say, [even] Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah,
Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, `Rise, bless Jehovah your God, from
the age unto the age, and they bless the name of Thine honour that [is] exalted
above all blessing and praise.
Then the Levites,
Jeshua,....
Or, then the Levites, even
Jeshua:
and Kadmiel,
Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah;
the same as before, with a
little variation of their names, and perhaps some of them might have two names:
and said;
to the men that stood and
confessed their sins, Nehemiah 9:2
stand up;
for though they are before
said to stand, yet, through shame and confusion of face, and awe of the Divine
Majesty, might be fallen on their faces to the ground:
and bless the
Lord your God for ever and ever;
for all the great and good
things he had done for them, notwithstanding their sins; and particularly for
his pardoning grace and mercy they had reason to hope for:
and blessed be
thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise:
the glory of which name,
nature, and perfections of his, cannot be set forth by the highest praises of
men, and the largest ascriptions of blessing and honour to him.
Nehemiah 9:6.
You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The
heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas
and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.
YLT Thou [art] He, O
Jehovah, Thyself -- Thou hast made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and
all their host, the earth and all that [are] on it, the seas and all that [are]
in them, and Thou art keeping all of them alive, and the host of the heavens to
Thee are bowing themselves.
Thou, even thou
art Lord alone,....
Whose name alone is
Jehovah, the one only true and living God:
thou hast made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host;
the airy and starry
heavens, and the sun, moon, and stars in them, and the third heaven, the seat
of God, angels, and saints:
the earth, and
all things that are therein;
men, beasts, trees,
metals, minerals, &c.
the seas, and
all that is therein;
fishes, sea plants,
&c. see Acts 4:24,
and thou
preservest them all;
they consist in thee, and
are upheld in their being by thee, Hebrews 1:3
and the host of
heaven worshipped thee;
not the sun, moon, and
stars, only in their way, Psalm 148:2 but the
angels chiefly, Hebrews 1:6.
Nehemiah 9:7.
“You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur
of the Chaldeans, And
gave him the name Abraham;
YLT `Thou [art] He, O
Jehovah God, who didst fix on Abraham, and didst bring him out from Ur of the
Chaldeans, and didst make his name Abraham,
Thou art the
Lord the God, who didst choose Abram,....
From among the Chaldeans,
and out of his father's family:
and broughtest
him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees;
by calling him from
thence, of which see Genesis 11:28, to
which may be added what AmamaF24Anti-barbar. Biblic. l. 3. p. 652.
on that place observes; that some think that the sacred fire, which the
Chaldeans worshipped, was kept in this city, from whence it was called Ur, that
being worshipped by them and by the Assyrians under the name of UrF25Fortunati
Schaech. Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. 1. c. 9. col. 44. :
and gavest him
the name of Abraham;
which was changed when the
covenant of circumcision was given him, Genesis 17:5.
Nehemiah 9:8.
You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with
him To give the
land of the Canaanites, The
Hittites, the Amorites, The
Perizzites, the Jebusites, And
the Girgashites—To give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are
righteous.
YLT and didst find his heart
stedfast before Thee, so as to make with him the covenant, to give the land of
the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite,
and the Girgashite, to give [it] to his seed. `And Thou dost establish Thy
words, for Thou [art] righteous,
And foundest
his heart faithful before thee,....
A true believer in his
word and promises, Genesis 15:6 and
closely attached to the fear of him, and observance of his commands, as
abundantly appeared in the trial of him, in offering up his son, Genesis 22:1,
and madest a
covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give
it, I say, to his seed;
not to him personally, but
to his posterity, at least including and chiefly designing them; of which
covenant see Genesis 15:18,
and hast
performed thy words,
for thou art righteous; in
all his ways and works, faithful to his promise, a covenant keeping God, and
who kept and fulfilled this covenant, assisting Joshua to conquer the land of
Canaan, and put Israel into the possession of it.
Nehemiah 9:9.
“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the
Red Sea.
YLT and dost see the
affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry hast heard by the sea of
Suph,
And didst see
the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,....
The hard bondage in which
their lives were made bitter; and was not a mere spectator of it, but looked
upon them in it with pity and compassion, and sent them a deliverer, Exodus 2:23
and heardest
their cry by the Red sea;
which was before them, and
the rocks on both sides of them, and the host of Pharaoh behind, pressing upon
them, when he heard them, and wrought salvation for them, Exodus 14:10.
Nehemiah 9:10.
You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against
all his servants, And against all
the people of his land. For You knew
that they acted proudly against them. So
You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
YLT and dost give signs and
wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land,
for Thou hast known that they have acted proudly against them, and Thou makest
to Thee a name as [at] this day.
And shewedst
signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people
of his land,....
By inflicting the ten
plagues upon them:
for thou
knowest that they dealt proudly against them;
behaved haughtily to them,
and despised them, see Exodus 18:11
so didst thou
get thee a name, as it is this day;
displayed his power on
Pharaoh, and his goodness to Israel, the fame of which reached all over the
world, and continued to that day, see Exodus 9:16.
Nehemiah 9:11.
And You divided the sea before them, So
that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And
their persecutors You threw into the deep, As
a stone into the mighty waters.
YLT And the sea Thou hast
cleaved before them, and they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry
land, and their pursuers Thou hast cast into the depths, as a stone, into the
strong waters.
And thou didst
divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on
dry land,....
That is, the Israelites,
see Exodus 14:21,
and their
persecutors thou threwest into the deeps;
with great ease, and with
indignation, meaning the Egyptians, that pursued hotly after them, and were
thrown into the sea:
as a stone into
the mighty waters;
where they sunk and
perished, see Exodus 15:4.
Nehemiah 9:12.
Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar
of fire, To
give them light on the road Which
they should travel.
YLT And by a pillar of cloud
Thou hast led them by day, and by a pillar of fire by night, to lighten to them
the way in which they go.
Moreover, thou
leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar,....
The Israelites, to shelter
them from the heat of the sun in a dry and barren wilderness:
and in the
night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go;
through a trackless
desert, see Exodus 13:21.
Nehemiah 9:13.
“You came down also on Mount Sinai, And
spoke with them from heaven, And gave them
just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes
and commandments.
YLT `And on mount Sinai Thou
hast come down, even to speak with them from the heavens, and Thou dost give to
them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commands.
Thou camest
down also upon Mount Sinai,....
By some visible tokens of
his presence, as a cloud, fire, smoke, &c. which must be understood
consistent with his omniscience, see Exodus 19:18,
and spakest
with them from heaven;
the decalogue or ten
commandments, Exodus 20:1,
and gavest them
right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments;
both judicial and
ceremonial, which were of excellent use to them in their civil and
ecclesiastical polity; these were not spoken to Israel, but given to Moses on
the mount, to be delivered to them.
Nehemiah 9:14.
You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And
commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By
the hand of Moses Your servant.
YLT And Thy holy sabbath
Thou hast made known to them, and commands, and statutes, and law, Thou hast
commanded for them, by the hand of Moses Thy servant;
And madest
known unto them thy holy sabbath,....
Which was not made known
to others, and was peculiar to the Jewish nation, and a privilege granted to
them, to have rest corporeal and spiritual, typical of the rest in Christ:
and commandedst
them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant;
moral, ceremonial, and
judicial, such as other nations had not, Deuteronomy 4:8.
Nehemiah 9:15.
You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out
of the rock for their thirst, And
told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them.
YLT and bread from the
heavens Thou hast given to them for their hunger, and water from a rock hast
brought out to them for their thirst, and dost say to them to go in to possess
the land that Thou hast lifted up Thy hand to give to them.
And gavest them
bread from heaven for their hunger,....
To satisfy that, meaning
the manna, Exodus 16:3
and broughtest
forth water for them out of the rock, for their thirst;
to quench it; this was
done both quickly after they came out of the land of Egypt, and a little before
their entrance into the land of Canaan, see Exodus 17:6
and promisedst
them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give
them;
which oath was made to
them and to their fathers also, see Numbers 14:30.
Nehemiah 9:16.
“But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened
their necks, And did not heed Your
commandments.
YLT `And they and our
fathers have acted proudly, and harden their neck, and have not hearkened unto
Thy commands,
But they and
our fathers dealt proudly,....
Behaved in a haughty
manner towards God, their kind benefactor:
and hardened
their necks;
refused to take the yoke
of his law, as refractory oxen, that withdraw their necks from the yoke:
and hearkened
not to thy commandments;
to do them, though they
promised they would, Exodus 24:7.
Nehemiah 9:17.
They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their
necks, And in their
rebellion[b] They appointed a leader To return to their
bondage. But
You are God, Ready
to pardon, Gracious
and merciful, Slow
to anger, Abundant
in kindness, And
did not forsake them.
YLT
yea, they refuse to
hearken, and have not remembered Thy wonders that Thou hast done with them, and
harden their neck and appoint a head, to turn back to their service, in their
rebellion; and Thou [art] a God of pardons, gracious, and merciful,
long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and hast not forsaken them.
And refused to
obey,....
Though exhorted,
admonished, and threatened, such was their obstinacy:
neither were
mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them;
in delivering them at the
Red sea, in raining manna about them, and giving them water out of the rock:
but hardened
their necks;
see the preceding verse:
and in their
rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage;
they not only proposed it,
but determined upon it, which is reckoned the same as if they had done it, see Numbers 14:4,
but thou art a
God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness;
as he had proclaimed his
name before Moses, and as the whole of his conduct towards the people of Israel
abundantly shewed, see Exodus 34:6
and forsookest
them not;
when in the wilderness,
where otherwise they must have perished, but still fed and protected them,
notwithstanding their provocations.
Nehemiah 9:18.
“Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And
said, ‘This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,’ And
worked great provocations,
YLT `Also, when they have
made to themselves a molten calf, and say, this [is] thy god that brought thee
up out of Egypt, and do great despisings,
Yea, when they
had made them a molten calf,....
In imitation of the Apis,
or ox of the Egyptians:
and said, this
is thy god that brought thee out of Egypt;
or the image of thy god,
as the Arabic version, see Exodus 32:4,
and had wrought
great provocations;
of all which nothing was
greater than idolatry.
Nehemiah 9:19.
Yet in Your manifold mercies You
did not forsake them in the wilderness. The
pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, To
lead them on the road; Nor the pillar
of fire by night, To show them
light, And the way they should
go.
YLT and Thou, in Thine abundant
mercies, hast not forsaken them in the wilderness -- the pillar of the cloud
hath not turned aside from off them by day, to lead them in the way, and the
pillar of the fire by night, to give light to them and the way in which they
go.
Yet thou in thy
manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness,....
Where no supply could be
had, if he had cast them off, see Nehemiah 9:17,
the pillar of
the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way;
which, if it had, they
would have been scorched by the heat of the sun:
neither the
pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go;
or otherwise they would
have lost their way, and not have known which way to have gone.
Nehemiah 9:20.
You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your
manna from their mouth, And
gave them water for their thirst.
YLT `And Thy good Spirit
Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not
withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,
Thou gavest
also thy good spirit to instruct them,....
In the knowledge of the
laws delivered to them; the spirit of prophecy, according to Ben Melech, and
which Aben Ezra interprets of the spirit put upon the seventy elders, Numbers 11:17,
and withheldest
not thy manna from their mouth;
all the while they were in
the wilderness, until they came to Canaan's land; called the Lord's manna,
because prepared by him, and given by him to them; a part or portion and gift
from the Lord, as Ben Melech, from whence it had its name, see Exodus 16:15
and gavest them
water for their thirst;
which seems to have
respect to the last rock stricken for them, after their many provocations in
the wilderness, Numbers 20:11.
Nehemiah 9:21.
Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear
out[c] And their feet did not
swell.
YLT and forty years Thou
hast nourished them in a wilderness; they have not lacked; their garments have
not worn out, and their feet have not swelled.
Yea, forty
years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing,....
As not for food, so
neither for raiment, as follows:
their clothes
waxed not old, and their feet swelled not;
of which see Deuteronomy 8:4.
Nehemiah 9:22.
“Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, And divided them into
districts.[d] So they took possession of
the land of Sihon, The
land of[e] the king
of Heshbon, And
the land of Og king of Bashan.
YLT `And Thou givest to them
kingdoms, and peoples, and dost apportion them to the corner, and they possess
the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king
of Bashan.
Moreover, thou
gavest them kingdoms and nations,....
The two kingdoms of Sihon
and Og, and the seven nations of Canaan:
and didst
divide them into corners;
or "corner";
into every corner of the land of Canaan, so that they possessed the whole of
it, a few cities excepted; Jarchi interprets it of one corner, that they might
not be mixed with the people of the land, but be all together in one place; but
Aben Ezra understands it of the Canaanites, of their being divided and
scattered into corners, when they fled from the Israelites; but the former
sense seems best:
so they
possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon;
or "eren", or
"namely"F26So Piscator, Patrick, Rambachius. , "the
land of the king of Heshbon"; for Sihon was king of Heshbon, and so the
land the same:
and the land of
Og king of Bashan;
those lands both lay on
the other side Jordan, and were possessed by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and
the half tribe of Manasseh.
Nehemiah 9:23.
You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the
land Which You had
told their fathers To
go in and possess.
YLT And their sons Thou hast
multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and bringest them in unto the land that
Thou hast said to their fathers to go in to possess.
Their children
also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven,....
Fulfilling the promise
made to Abraham, Genesis 15:5 their
number when they came out of Egypt, and just before they entered into the land
of Canaan, being upwards of 600,000 men, besides women and children, Exodus 12:37
and broughtest
them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that
they should go in to possess it;
the land of Canaan,
promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed, into which the Lord
brought them by Joshua; he was the instrument, but the thing was of God.
Nehemiah 9:24.
So the people went in And possessed the land; You subdued before them
the inhabitants of the land, The
Canaanites, And
gave them into their hands, With
their kings And
the people of the land, That
they might do with them as they wished.
YLT `And the sons come in,
and possess the land, and Thou humblest before them the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites, and givest them into their hand, and their kings, and the
peoples of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure.
So the children
went in and possessed the land,....
Not the fathers of the
Israelites that came out of Egypt, they died in the wilderness, all excepting
two, but their children, which seems to be the reason of this manner of
expression, see Numbers 14:30
and thou
subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites;
by means of Joshua, the
general of the armies of Israel; there is an elegant paronomania in the word
for "subdue", and the Canaanites, which cannot be expressed in our
language:
and gavest them
into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might
do with them as they would;
no less than thirty one
kings, see Joshua 12:9.
Nehemiah 9:25.
And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full
of all goods, Cisterns
already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were
filled and grew fat, And
delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
YLT And they capture fenced
cities, and fat ground, and possess houses full of all good, digged-wells,
vineyards, and olive-yards, and fruit-trees in abundance, and they eat, and are
satisfied, and become fat, and delight themselves in Thy great goodness.
And they took
strong cities,....
Such as, in an hyperbolical
way, are said to be walled up to heaven, Deuteronomy 1:28
and a fat land;
of a good and fruitful
soil, abounding with all good things, Deuteronomy 8:7
and possessed
houses full of all goods;
ready built and furnished
for them, both with good provisions and good furniture:
wells digged;
to supply them with water:
vineyards, and
olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance;
which they planted not:
and they did
eat, and were filled, and became fat;
in body, though in mind
became wanton and wicked; they made their hearts fat, or stupid, as Aben Ezra
interprets it, see Deuteronomy 32:15
and delighted
themselves in thy great goodness;
not in praising the Lord
for it, and using it to his honour and glory, but indulged themselves to luxury
and intemperance; though it may be understood of a lawful pleasure in the
enjoyment of the great affluence they were brought into, which last agrees with
what follows.
Nehemiah 9:26.
“Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their
backs And killed Your
prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great
provocations.
YLT `And they are
disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and
Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back
unto Thee, and they do great despisings,
Nevertheless,
they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee,....
Notwithstanding all these
favours and mercies bestowed upon them, which was great ingratitude:
and cast thy
law behind their backs;
as of no account, and
unworthy of their regard; that which they should have had continually before
their eyes, as the rule and guide of their actions, they cast behind them, not
caring to look into it, and read it:
and slew thy
prophets, which testified against them to turn them to thee;
the prophets that bore a
testimony against their sins, admonished them of them, called heaven and earth
to record against them should they continue in them, and all to turn them from
them by repentance to the Lord; those they were so wroth with on this account
as to slay them, see Matthew 23:37,
and they
wrought great provocations;
serving Baalim and
Ashtaroth, and other gods of the nations, than which nothing was more provoking
to the Lord.
Nehemiah 9:27.
Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their
trouble, When
they cried to You, You
heard from heaven; And
according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their
enemies.
YLT and Thou givest them
into the hand of their adversaries, and they distress them, and in the time of
their distress they cry unto Thee, and Thou, from the heavens, dost hear, and,
according to Thine abundant mercies, dost give to them saviours, and they save
them out of the hand of their adversaries.
Therefore thou
deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them,....
As the kings of
Mesopotamia, Moab, Canaan, and others:
and in the time
of their trouble, when they cried unto thee;
as they usually did, Judges 3:9,
thou heardest them
from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours,
who saved them out of the hands of their enemies;
such were judges, Othniel,
Ehud, Barak, Gideon, &c. and this was, done for them, not on account of
their merits, but the abundant unmerited mercy of the Lord towards them.
Nehemiah 9:28.
“But after they had rest, They again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in
the hand of their enemies, So
that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And many times You
delivered them according to Your mercies,
YLT `And when they have
rest, they turn back to do evil before Thee, and Thou dost leave them in the
hand of their enemies, and they rule over them; and they turn back, and call
Thee, and Thou from the heavens dost hear, and dost deliver them, according to
Thy mercies, many times,
But after they
had rest,....
From their enemies,
enjoyed their liberty, and were in prosperity:
they did evil
again before thee;
relapsed into idolatry:
therefore
leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion
over them;
as the Philistines had for
the space of forty years, Judges 13:1,
yet when they
returned and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven, and many times
didst thou deliver them, according to thy mercies;
this was their case
frequently in the times of the judges; they sinned and fell into the hands of
their enemies, then they repented, and cried to God for help, and he had
compassion upon them, and saved them.
Nehemiah 9:29.
And testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, And did not heed Your
commandments, But
sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which
if a man does, he shall live by them.’[f] And they shrugged their
shoulders, Stiffened
their necks, And
would not hear.
YLT and dost testify against
them, to bring them back unto Thy law; and they -- they have acted proudly, and
have not hearkened to Thy commands, and against Thy judgments have sinned, --
which man doth and hath lived in them -- and they give a refractory shoulder,
and their neck have hardened, and have not hearkened.
And testifiedst
against them,....
By sending prophets to
them, to admonish them of their sins, and remind them of their duty:
that thou
mightest bring them again unto thy law;
to regard it, and walk
according it:
yet they dealt
proudly; with an haughty air rejected the counsel of God:
and hearkened
not unto thy commandments; yielded not obedience to them:
but sinned
against thy judgments;
transgressed his laws,
which were so just, righteous, reasonable, and equitable:
which if a man
do, he shall live in them; or by them, in the land of Canaan, see Leviticus 18:5,
and withdrew
the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear;
like oxen, that wriggle
and struggle, and draw back, and will not admit the yoke upon them.
Nehemiah 9:30.
Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them
by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them
into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
YLT `And Thou drawest over
them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy
prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of
peoples of the lands,
Yet many years
didst thou forbear them,....
Throughout the reigns of
several kings, such was God's longsuffering towards them: or, "thou didst
draw upon them"; that is, his mercy, as Jarchi interprets it; he drew it
out of his heart, and prolonged it towards them:
and testifiedst
against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets;
who reproved and
admonished them, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God in them, who
spoke in his name, and what he suggested to them:
yet they would
not give ear; to what the prophets said, and the Spirit of God in them:
therefore
gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands:
people that were lords of
many countries, as the Assyrians and Chaldeans.
Nehemiah 9:31.
Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake
them; For You are
God, gracious and merciful.
YLT and in Thine abundant
mercies Thou hast not made them a consumption, nor hast forsaken them; for a
God, gracious and merciful, [art] Thou.
Nevertheless,
for thy great mercies' sake,
For the displaying of that,
and the glorifying of it, which is so large and exceeding abundant:
thou didst not
utterly consume them, nor forsake them;
some were left in the
land, and those that were carried captive found favour in the eyes of those
that carried them away, and were suffered to live, and many of them now had
returned to their own land:
for thou art a
gracious and merciful God;
of which they had abundant
proof and evidence.
Nehemiah 9:32.
“Now therefore, our God, The great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and
mercy: Do not let all
the trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our
prophets, Our
fathers and on all Your people, From
the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
YLT `And now, O our God --
God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the
kindness -- let not all the travail that hath found us be little before Thee,
for our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and
for our fathers, and for all Thy people, from the days of the kings of Asshur
unto this day;
Now therefore,
our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and
mercy,....
The same titles Nehemiah
gives to the Lord, Nehemiah 1:5 and it
may be reasonably thought the whole prayer is his composure, which was delivered
by him to the Levites:
let not all the
trouble seem little before thee;
as if it was not enough;
let it be judged sufficient, and no more be added, but mercy shown; Aben Ezra
thinks the word "little" is not to be connected with
"trouble", but with the nearest antecedent "mercy", and so
GussetiusF26Ebr. Comment. p. 937. ; as if the sense was, let not thy
mercy be small with thee, but let it be largely extended along with all the
trouble, or at the time when trouble of every kind
comes upon us,
on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on
our fathers, and on all thy people, since the times of the kings of Assyria
unto this day;
but this sense is not
clear, and makes it have respect to times to come; whereas it relates to time
past, and to all the trouble and affliction they had met with from the Assyrian
kings, from the time they invaded their land, and carried them captive, until
this very time.
Nehemiah 9:33.
However You are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt
faithfully, But
we have done wickedly.
YLT and Thou [art] righteous
concerning all that hath come upon us, for truth Thou hast done, and we have done
wickedly;
Howbeit, thou
art just in all that is brought upon us,....
They own the justice of
God, could not complain of any wrong done them; and had he shown them no mercy
at all, it was but what they deserved:
for thou hast
done right, but we have done wickedly;
he had done according to
the truth of his word of promise, he had faithfully kept it, but they had
transgressed his righteous law.
Nehemiah 9:34.
Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your
commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them.
YLT and our kings, our
heads, our priests, and our fathers, have not done Thy law, nor attended unto
Thy commands, and to Thy testimonies, that Thou hast testified against them;
Neither have
our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law,....
All ranks of men, from the
highest to the lowest, had shown no regard, nor yielded obedience to the holy
law of God:
nor hearkened
unto thy commandments, and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify
against them;
moral and ceremonial,
which were a testification of the will of God to them, and a testimony against
them if they observed them not.
Nehemiah 9:35.
For they have not served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things
that You gave them, Or
in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from
their wicked works.
YLT and they, in their
kingdom, and in Thine abundant goodness, that Thou hast given to them, and in
the land, the large and the fat, that Thou hast set before them, have not served
Thee, nor turned back from their evil doings.
For they have
not served thee in their kingdom,....
When in it, whether of
Israel or of Judah, and when in the most flourishing circumstances:
and in thy
great goodness that thou gavest them;
amidst all the prosperity
and affluence of good things they enjoyed, which was an obligation upon them to
serve the Lord:
and in the
large and fat land which thou gavest before them;
the land of Canaan, a land
flowing with milk, which lay open for them, their enemies being driven out
before them, see Nehemiah 9:25,
neither turned
they from their wicked works;
their idolatries more
especially.
Nehemiah 9:36.
“Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave
to our fathers, To
eat its fruit and its bounty, Here
we are, servants in it!
YLT `Lo, we -- to-day --
[are] servants, and the land that Thou hast given to our fathers, to eat its
fruit and its good -- lo, we [are] servants on it,
Behold, we are
servants this day,....
For though they had leave
to return to their land, and rebuild their city and temple, yet they were still
in subjection to the kings of Persia:
and for the
land thou gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof, and the good
thereof, behold, we are servants in it;
though the rightful owners
and proprietors of it by the gift of God to their ancestors, to hold it and
enjoy the good of it, and yet were obliged to pay tribute for it to the kings
of Persia, all excepting priests and Levites; see Ezra 6:8.
Nehemiah 9:37.
And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion
over our bodies and our cattle At
their pleasure; And
we are in great distress.
YLT and its increase it is
multiplying to the kings whom Thou hast set over us in our sins; and over our
bodies they are ruling, and over our cattle, according to their pleasure, and
we [are] in great distress.
And it yieldeth
much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, because of our sins,....
Though a very fruitful
land, and brought forth much, yet not for them, but for foreign kings, that had
the sovereignty over them, and enacted much toll, tribute, and custom from
them, which greatly lessened the profit of the earth to them:
also they have
dominion over our bodies;
and could oblige them to
work for them, and do any service they should command:
and over our
cattle, at their pleasure;
to carry burdens for them,
or ride post with them:
and we are in
great distress;
being servants and
tributaries to a foreign power.
Nehemiah 9:38.
“And because of all this, We make a sure covenant and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and
our priests seal it.”
YLT And for all this we are
making a stedfast covenant, and are writing, and over him who is sealed [are]
our heads, our Levites, our priests.'
And because of all
this,....
Of all this distress, and
that it might be removed, and be clear of it; or "in all this distress and
evil", as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, in the midst of it all:
we make a sure
covenant;
or faithfully promise to
observe the law of God, and particularly put away strange wives, and not
intermarry with the people of the land:
and write it;
that it may remain and be
a testimony against them should they break it, being their own handwriting:
and our
princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it;
as witnesses of it, and
thereby binding themselves to observe the same things; their names that sealed
are given in the next chapter.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)
a.
Nehemiah 9:1
Literally earth on them
b.
Nehemiah 9:17
Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint reads in Egypt.
c.Nehemiah 9:21
Compare Deuteronomy 29:5
d.
Nehemiah 9:22
Literally corners
e.
Nehemiah 9:22
Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint omits The land of.
f.
Nehemiah 9:29 Leviticus 18:5