Bible Commentaries

The day of general fasting and prayer. - On the twenty-fourth day of themonth, i.e., two days after the termination of the feast of tabernacles, thechildren of Israel re-assembled in the temple to humble themselves beforeGod with mourning and fasting, and, after the reading of the law, toconfess their own sins and the sins of their fathers (Nehemiah 9:1-3). After the Leviteshad invited them to praise God (Nehemiah 9:4, Nehemiah 9:5), a general confession was made, inwhich the congregation was reminded of all the grace and favour shown byGod to His people, from the days of Abraham down to the time thenpresent; and all the departures of the people from their God, all theirrebellions against Him, were acknowledged, to show that the bondage andoppression to which Israel was not subjected were the well-deservedpunishment of their sins (vv. 6-37). This confession of sin much resembles theconfession of the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of Israel in thePsalm 106:1, both in its plan and details, but differs from this “HallelujahPsalm” in the circumstance that it does not rise to the praise of God, to thehallelujah, but stops at the confession that God is righteous and true in allthat He has done, and that Israel has done wickedly, without definitelyuttering a request for pardon and deliverance from oppression.

On the twenty-second of Tishri was the Hazereth of the feastof tabernacles; on the twenty-fourth the congregation re-assembled in thetemple, “with fasting and with sackcloths (penitential garments made ofhair; see rem. Joel 1:8) and earth upon them,” i.e., spread upon their heads(1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2; Job 2:12), - the external marks of deep mourning andheaviness of heart.

Nehemiah 9:2

“And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers,and stood and confessed all their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.”This separation from strangers does not specially relate to the dissolutionof the marriages contracted with heathen women, nor to any measurestaken that only Israelites should be admitted to this assembly (Bertheau). It was rather a voluntary renunciation of connection with the heathen, andof heathen customs.

Nehemiah 9:3

And they stood up (i.e., remained standing) in their place (comp. Nehemiah 8:7), and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, i.e.,listened to the reading of the law, a fourth part of the day (about threehours), and a fourth part (the next three hours) they confessed (made aconfession of their sins), and worshipped the Lord their God. Thisconfession and worship is more nearly described vv. 4-37.

There stood upon the scaffold of the Levites, i.e., upon the platformerected for the Levites (comp. Nehemiah 8:4), Jeshua and seven other Leviteswhose names are given, and they cried with a loud voice to God, and saidto the assembled congregation, “Stand up, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! and blessed be the name of Thy glory, which is exaltedabove all blessing and praise.” The repetition of the names of the Levitesin Nehemiah 9:5 shows that this invitation to praise God is distinct from the cryingto God with a loud voice of Nehemiah 9:4, and seems to say that the Levites firstcried to God, i.e., addressed to Him their confessions and supplications,and after having done so, called upon the congregation to worship God. Eight names of Levites being given in both verses, and five of these - Jeshua,Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, and Sherebiah - being identical, the difference ofthe three others in the two verses - Bunni, Bani, and Chenani (Nehemiah 9:4), andHashabniah, Hodijah, and Pethahiah (Nehemiah 9:5) - seems to have arisen from aclerical error, - an appearance favoured also by the circumstance that Banioccurs twice in Nehemiah 9:4. Of the other names in question, Hodijah occurs Nehemiah 10:14, and PethahiahEzra 10:23, as names of Levites, but כּנני and חשׁבניה nowhere else. Hence Bunni, Bani, and Chenani (Nehemiah 9:4), andHashabniah (Nehemiah 9:5), may be assigned to a clerical error; but we have nomeans for restoring the correct names. With regard to the matter of theseverses, Ramb. remarks on Nehemiah 9:4: constitisse opinor omnes simul, ita tamen ut unus tantum eodem tempore fuerit precatus, ceteris ipsi adstantibus atque sua etiam vice Deum orantibus, hence that the eight Levites prayedto God successively; while Bertheau thinks that these Levites entreatedGod, in penitential and supplicatory psalms, to have mercy on His sinfulbut penitent people. In this case we must also regard their address to thecongregation in Nehemiah 9:5 as a liturgical hymn, to which the congregationresponded by praising God in chorus. To this view may be objected the circumstance, that no allusion is made inthe narrative to the singing of penitential or other songs. Besides, aconfession of sins follows in vv. 6-37, which may fitly be called a cryingunto God, without its being stated by whom it was uttered. “Thissection,” says Bertheau, “whether we regard its form or contents, cannothave been sung either by the Levites or the congregation. We recognise in itthe speech of an individual, and hence accept the view that the statementof the lxx, that after the singing of the Levites, Nehemiah 9:4, and the praising ofGod in Nehemiah 9:5, Ezra came forward and spoke the words following, is correct,and that the words καὶ εἶπεν Ἔσδρας , which it inserts before Nehemiah 9:6,originally stood in the Hebrew text.” But if Psalms, such as Ps 105-106,and 107, were evidently appointed to be sung to the praise of God by theLevites or by the congregation, there can be no reason why the prayer vv. 6-37 should not be adapted both in form and matter for this purpose. This prayer by no means bears the impress of being the address of anindividual, but is throughout the confession of the whole congregation. Theprayer speaks of our fathers (Nehemiah 9:9, Nehemiah 9:16), of what is come upon us (Nehemiah 9:33),addresses Jahve as our God, and says we have sinned. Of course Ezramight have uttered it in the name of the congregation; but that the additionof the lxx, καὶ εἶπεν Ἔσδρας , is of no critical value, and is a mereconjecture of the translators, is evident from the circumstance that theprayer does not begin with the words יהוה הוּא אתּה of v. 6, but passes into the form of direct address to God in the lastclause of v. 5: Blessed be the name of Thy glory. By these words theprayer which follows is evidently declared to be the confession of thosewho are to praise the glory of the Lord; and the addition, “and Ezra said,”characterized as an unskilful interpolation.

According to what has now been said, the summons, יהוה את בּרכוּ קוּמוּ, Nehemiah 9:5, like the introductions tomay Hodu and Hallelujah Psalms (e.g., Psalm 105:1; Psalm 106:1), is to be regardedas only an exhortation to the congregation to praise God, i.e., to join in thepraises following, and to unite heartily in the confession of sin. This viewof the connection of Nehemiah 9:5 and Nehemiah 9:6 explains the reason why it is not statedeither in Nehemiah 9:6, or at the close of this prayer in Nehemiah 9:37, that the assembledcongregation blessed God agreeably to the summons thus addressed tothem. They did so by silently and heartily praying to, and praising Godwith the Levites, who were reciting aloud the confession of sin. Onויברכוּ R. Sal. already remarks: nunc incipiunt loqui Levitae versus Shechinam s. ad ipsum Deum. The invitation to praise Godinsensibly passes into the action of praising. If, moreover, vv. 6-37 are related in the manner above stated to Nehemiah 9:5, then itis not probable that the crying to God with a loud voice (Nehemiah 9:4) wasanything else than the utterance of the prayer subsequently given, vv. 6-37. The repetition of the names in Nehemiah 9:5 is not enough to confirm this view,but must be explained by the breadth of the representation here given, andis rescued from the charge of mere tautology by the fact that in Nehemiah 9:4 theoffice of the individuals in question is not named, which it is by the wordהלויּם in Nehemiah 9:5. For הלויּם in Nehemiah 9:4 belongs as genitive toמעלה, and both priests and laymen might have stood on theplatform of the Levites. For this reason it is subsequently stated in Nehemiah 9:5,that Jeshua, etc., were Levites; and in doing this the names are againenumerated. In the exhortation, Stand up and bless, etc., Bertheau seeks toseparate “for ever and ever” from the imp. בּרכוּ, and to take itas a further qualification of אלהיכם. This is, however,unnatural and arbitrary; comp. 1 Chronicles 16:26. Still more arbitrary is it tosupply “One day all people” to ויברכוּ, “shall bless Thyname,” etc. וגו וּמרומם adds a second predicate to שׁם: and which is exalted above all blessing and praise, i.e., sublimius est quam ut pro dignitate laudari possit (R. Sal.).

In Nehemiah 9:6 this praising of God begins with the acknowledgment that Jahve,the Creator of heaven and earth, chose Abram and made a covenant withhim to give the land of Canaan to his seed, and had performed this word(Nehemiah 9:6-8). These verses form the theme of that blessing the name of Hisglory, to which the Levites exhorted. This theme is then elucidated byfacts from Israel's history, in four strophes. a. When God saw theaffliction of His people in Egypt, He delivered them by great signs andwonders from the power of Pharaoh, gave them laws and judgments onSinai, miraculously provided them with food and water in the wilderness,and commanded them to take possession of the promised land (Nehemiah 9:9-15). b. Although their fathers rebelled against Him, even in the wilderness, Goddid not withdraw His mercy from them, but sustained them forty years,so that they lacked nothing; and subdued kings before them, so that theywere able to conquer and possess the land (Nehemiah 9:16-25). c. After they weresettled in the land they rebelled again, and God delivered them into thehand of their oppressors; but as often as they cried unto Him, He helpedthem again, till at length, because of their continued opposition, He gavethem into the power of the people of the lands, yet of His great mercy didnot wholly cast them off (Nehemiah 9:26-31). d. May He now too look upon theaffliction of His people, as the God that keepeth covenant and mercy,although they have deserved by their sins the troubles they are suffering(Nehemiah 9:32-37).

Nehemiah 9:6

“Thou art Jahve alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven ofheavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is thereon, the sea and alltherein; and Thou givest life to them all, and the host of heavenworshippeth Thee. Nehemiah 9:7 Thou art Jahve, the God who didst chooseAbram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavesthim the name of Abraham: Nehemiah 9:8 And foundest his heart faithful beforeThee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites,the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and theGirgashites, to give to his seed, and hast performed Thy word; for Thouart righteous.” Jahve alone is God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and ofall creatures in heaven and on earth. In order duly to exalt the almightinessof God, the notion of heaven is enhanced by the addition “heaven ofheavens,” as in Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; and that of earth by the addition”the sea and all therein;” comp. Psalm 146:6. כּל־צבאם, Genesis 2:1, hererefers only to heaven. מחיּה, to cause to live = to give andpreserve life. כּלּם relates to all creatures in heaven and earth. The host of heaven who worshipped God are the angels, as in Psalm 148:2; Psalm 103:21. This only God chose Abram; comp. Genesis 12:1 with Genesis 11:31 andGenesis 15:7; Genesis 17:5, where God bestowed upon the patriarch Abram the name ofAbraham. The words, “Thou foundest his heart faithful,” refer to בּיהוה האמין there mentioned. The making of a covenant alludes to Genesis 17:5.;the enumeration of six Canaanitish nations to Deuteronomy 7:1; Exodus 3:8; comp. withGenesis 15:20. This His word God performed (fulfilled), for He is righteous. God is called צדּיק, inasmuch as with Him word and deedcorrespond with each other; comp. Deuteronomy 32:4.

The fulfilment of this word by thedeliverance of Israel from Egypt, and their guidance through thewilderness to Canaan.

Nehemiah 9:9-11

“And Thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, andheardest their cry by the Red Sea: Nehemiah 9:10 And showedst signs and wondersupon Pharaoh and all his servants, and on all the people of his land,because Thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and madestThyself a name, as this day. Nehemiah 9:11 And Thou dividedst the sea beforethem, and they went through the midst of the sea on dry land; and theirpersecutors Thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mightywaters.” In Nehemiah 9:9 are comprised two subjects, which are carried out in Nehemiah 9:10, Nehemiah 9:11: (1) the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt, which God saw (comp. Exodus 3:7), and out of which He delivered them by the signs and wonders Heshowed upon Pharaoh (Nehemiah 9:10); (2) the crying for help at the Red Sea, whenthe Israelites perceived Pharaoh with his horsemen and chariots in pursuit(Exodus 14:10), and the help which God gave them by dividing the sea, etc. (Nehemiah 9:11). The words in Nehemiah 9:10 are supported by Deuteronomy 6:22, on the ground of thehistorical narrative, Ex 7-10. The expression עליהם הזידוּ כּי is formed according to עליהם זדוּ אשׁר, Exodus 18:11. על הזיד occurs Exodus 21:14 in ageneral sense. On וגו שׁם לך ותּעשׂ comp. Jeremiah 32:20; Isaiah 58:12, Isaiah 58:14; 1 Chronicles 17:22. A name as this day - in that themiracles which God then did are still praised, and He continues still tomanifest His almighty power. The words of Nehemiah 9:11 are supported by Exodus 14:21-22, Exodus 14:28, and Exodus 15:19. אבן כּמו בּמצולות are from Exodus 15:5; עזּים בּמים from Ex 15 and Isaiah 43:16.

Nehemiah 9:12-15

“And Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and inthe night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein theyshould go. Nehemiah 9:13 And Thou camest down upon mount Sinai, and spakestwith them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments and true laws,good statutes and commandments: Nehemiah 9:14 And madest known unto themThy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws,by the hand of Moses Thy servant. Nehemiah 9:15 And gavest them bread fromheaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of therock for their thirst; and Thou commandedst them to go in and possess theland, which Thou hadst lifted up Thine hand to give them.” Threeparticulars in the miraculous leading of Israel through the wilderness arebrought forward: a. Their being guided in the way by miraculous tokens ofthe divine presence, in the pillar of fire and cloud, Nehemiah 9:12; comp. Exodus 13:21; Numbers 14:14. b. The revelation of God on Sinai, and the giving of the law,Nehemiah 9:13, Nehemiah 9:14. The descent of God on Sinai and the voice from heaven agreewith Exodus 19:18, Exodus 19:20, and Exodus 20:1., compared with Deuteronomy 4:36. On the variousdesignations of the law, comp. Psalm 19:9; Psalm 119:43, Psalm 119:39, Psalm 119:142. Of thecommandments, that concerning the Sabbath is specially mentioned, andspoken of as a benefit bestowed by God upon the Israelites, as aproclamation of His holy Sabbath, inasmuch as the Israelites were on theSabbath to share in the rest of God; see rem. on Exodus 20:9-11. c. Theprovision of manna, and of water from the rock, for their support duringtheir journey through the wilderness on the way to Canaan; Exodus 16:4, Exodus 16:10.,Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8; comp. Psalm 78:24, Psalm 78:15; Psalm 105:40. לרשׁת לבוא like Deuteronomy 9:1, Deuteronomy 9:5; Deuteronomy 11:31, and elsewhere. את־ידך נשׂאת is tobe understood according to Numbers 14:30.

Even the fathers to whom God had shown such favour, repeatedlydeparted from and rebelled against Him; but God of His great mercy didnot forsake them, but brought them into possession of the promised land.

Nehemiah 9:16-17

“And they, even our fathers, dealt proudly, and hardenedtheir necks, and hearkened not to Thy commandments. Nehemiah 9:17 Theyrefused to obey, and were not mindful of Thy wonders that Thou didstamongst them; and hardened their necks, and appointed a captain to returnto their bondage. But Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious andmerciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.”In these verses the conduct of the children of Israel towards God iscontrasted with His kindness towards this stiff-necked people, thehistorical confirmation following in Nehemiah 9:18. והם is emphatic, andprefixed to contrast the conduct of the Israelites with the benefitsbestowed on them. The contrast is enhanced by the ו explicative beforeאבתינוּ, even our fathers (which J. D. Michaelis wouldexpunge, from a misconception of its meaning, but which Bertheau withgood reason defends). Words are accumulated to describe the stiff-necked resistance of thepeople. הזידוּ as above, Nehemiah 9:10. “They hardened their necks”refers to Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3; Exodus 34:9, and therefore already alludes to the worshipof the golden calf at Sinai, mentioned Nehemiah 9:18; while in Nehemiah 9:17, the second greatrebellion of the people at Kadesh, on the borders of the promised land,Num 14, is contemplated. The repetition of the expression, “theyhardened their hearts,” shows that a second grievous transgression isalready spoken of in Nehemiah 9:17. This is made even clearer by the next clause,וגו ראשׁ ויּתּנוּ, which is taken almost verbally fromNumbers 14:4: “They said one to another, Let us make a captain (ראשׁ נתּנה), and return to Egypt;” the notion being merely enhancedhere by the addition לעבדתם, to their bondage. The comparisonwith Numbers 14:4 also shows that בּמרים is a clerical error forבּמצרים, as the lxx read; for בּמרים, in theirstubbornness, after לעבדתם, gives no appropriate sense. In spite,however, of their stiff-neckedness, God of His mercy and goodness didnot forsake them. סליחות אלוהּ, a God of pardons;comp. Daniel 9:9; Psalm 130:4. וגו ורחוּם חנּוּן is areminiscence of Exodus 34:6. The ו before חסד came into the text bya clerical error.

Nehemiah 9:18-21

“Yea, they even made them a molten calf, and said, This isthy god that brought thee up out of Egypt, and wrought greatprovocations. Nehemiah 9:19 Yet Thou, in Thy manifold mercies, didst not forsakethem in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them byday to lead them, and the pillar of fire by night to show them light in theway wherein they should go. Nehemiah 9:20 Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit toinstruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, andgavest them water for their thirst: Nehemiah 9:21 And forty years didst Thousustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes waxednot old, and their feet swelled not.” כּי אף, also (even this)= yea even. On the worship of the golden calf, see Exodus 24:4. The words”they did (wrought) great provocations” involve a condemnation of theworship of the molten calf; nevertheless God did not withdraw Hisgracious presence, but continued to lead them by the pillar of cloud andfire. The passage Numbers 14:14, according to which the pillar of cloud andfire guided the march of the people through the wilderness after thedeparture from Sinai, i.e., after their transgression in the matter of the calf,is here alluded to. הענן עמּוּד is rhetoricallyenhanced by את: and with respect to the cloudy pillar, it departednot; so, too, in the second clause, האשׁ את־עמּוּד; comp. Ewald, §277,d. The words, Nehemiah 9:20, “Thou gavest Thy good Spirit,” etc., refer to theoccurrence, Numbers 11:17, Numbers 11:25, where God endowed the seventy elders withthe spirit of prophecy for the confirmation of Moses' authority. Thedefinition “good Spirit” recalls Psalm 143:10. The sending of manna is firstmentioned Numbers 11:6-9, comp. Joshua 5:12; the giving of water, Numbers 20:2-8. - In Nehemiah 9:21, all that the Lord did for Israel is summed up in the assertion ofDeuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 8:4, חסרוּ לא; see the explanation of thesepassages.

Nehemiah 9:22-25

The Lord also fulfilled His promise of giving the land ofCanaan to the Israelites notwithstanding their rebelliousness. Nehemiah 9:22 “AndThou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them byboundaries; and they took possession of the land of Sihon, both the landof the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Nehemiah 9:23 AndThou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and bring theminto the land which Thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they shouldgo in to possess. Nehemiah 9:24 And the children went in and possessed the land,and Thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, theCanaanites, and gavest them into their hands, both their kings and thepeople of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure. Nehemiah 9:25 Andthey took fortified cities, and a fat land, and took possession of housesfilled with all kinds of goods, wells digged, vineyards and olive gardens,and fruit trees in abundance; and they ate and became fat, and delightedthemselves in Thy great goodness.” לפאה ותּחלקם is variously explained. Aben Ezra and others refer the suffix to the Canaanites, whom Godscattered in multos angulos or varias mundi partes. Others refer it to theIsraelites. According to this view, Ramb. says: fecisti eos per omnes terrae Cananaeae angulos habitare; and Gusset.: distribuisti eis terram usque ad angulum h. l. nulla vel minima regionum particula excepta. But חלק,Piel, generally means the dividing of things; and when used of persons, asin Genesis 49:7; Lamentations 4:16, to divide, to scatter, sensu malo, which is hereinapplicable to the Israelites. חלק signifies to divide, especiallyby lot, and is used chiefly concerning the partition of the land of Canaan,in Kal, Joshua 14:5; Joshua 18:2, and in Piel, Joshua 13:7; Joshua 18:10; Joshua 19:51. The wordפּאה also frequently occurs in Joshua, in the sense of a corner orside lying towards a certain quarter of the heavens, and of a boundary;comp. Joshua 15:5; Joshua 18:12, Joshua 18:14-15, Joshua 18:20. According to this, Bertheau rightly takes thewords to say: Thou didst divide them (the kingdoms and nations, i.e., theland of these nations) according to sides or boundaries, i.e., according tocertain definite limits. Sihon is the king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 1:4), and the ו before ח את־ארץ מ is not to be expunged as a gloss, but regarded asexplicative: and, indeed, both the land of the king of Heshbon and the landof Og. The conquest of these two kingdoms is named first, because itpreceded the possession of Canaan (Numbers 21:21-35). The increase of thechildren of the Israelites is next mentioned, Nehemiah 9:23; the fathers having fallenin the wilderness, and only their children coming into the land of Canaan. The numbering of the people in the plains of Moab (Num 26) is herealluded to, when the new generation was found to be twice as numerous asthat which marched out of Egypt; while the words לרשׁת לבוא, here and in Nehemiah 9:15, are similar to Deuteronomy 1:10. The takingpossession of Canaan is spoken of in Nehemiah 9:24. ותּכנע recalls Deuteronomy 9:3. כּרצונם, according to their pleasure, comp. Daniel 8:4. Fortified cities, as Jericho and Ai.

But even in that good land the fathers were disobedient: they rejected thecommands of God, slew the prophets who admonished them, and werenot brought back to the obedience of God even by the chastisementinflicted on them, till at length God delivered them into the hands ofGentile kings, though after His great mercy He did not utterly forsakethem. - Nehemiah 9:26 “And they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, andcast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets which testifiedagainst them to turn them to Thee, and they wrought great provocations. Nehemiah 9:27 And Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their oppressors, sothat they oppressed them; and in the time of their oppression they criedunto Thee. Then Thou heardest them from heaven, and according to Thymanifold mercies Thou gavest them deliverers, who delivered them out ofthe hand of their oppressors. Nehemiah 9:28 And when they had rest, they againdid evil before Thee. Then Thou deliveredst them into the hand of theirenemies, so that they had dominion over them; and they cried again untoThee, and Thou heardest from heaven, and didst deliver them according toThy great mercy, many times.”

Nehemiah 9:26

Nehemiah 9:26 again contains, like Nehemiah 9:16, a general condemnation of theconduct of the children of Israel towards the Lord their God during theperiod between their entrance into Canaan and the captivity, which is thenjustified by the facts adduced in the verses following. In proof of theirdisobedience, it is mentioned that they cast the commands of God behindtheir back (comp. 1 Kings 14:19; Ezekiel 23:35), and slew the prophets, e.g.,Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:21), the prophets of the days of Jezebel (1 Kings 18:13; 1 Kings 19:10), and others who rebuked their sins to turn them from them. בּ העיד, to testify against sinners, comp. 2 Kings 17:13, 2 Kings 17:15. Thelast clause of Nehemiah 9:26 is a kind of refrain, repeated from Nehemiah 9:18.

Nehemiah 9:27-28

Nehemiah 9:27 and Nehemiah 9:28 refer to the times of the judges; comp. Judges 2:11-23. מושׁיעים are the judges whom God raised up todeliver Israel out of the power of their oppressors; comp. Judges 3:9. withNehemiah 2:16. עתּים רבּות, multitudes of times, is a co-ordinate accusative: at many times, frequently; רבּות like Leviticus 25:51.

Nehemiah 9:29-30

“And testifiedst against them, to bring them back again toThy law; yet they hearkened not to Thy commandments, and sinnedagainst Thy judgments, which if a man do he shall live in them, and gave aresisting shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. Nehemiah 9:30 And Thou didst bear with them many years, and didst testify against themby Thy Spirit through Thy prophets; but they would not hearken,therefore Thou gavest them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless in Thy great mercy Thou didst not utterly consume them,nor forsake them; for Thou art gracious and merciful.”
Nehemiah 9:29 and Nehemiah 9:30 treat of the times of the kings. בּהם ותּעד is the testimony of the prophets against the idolatrouspeople; comp. Nehemiah 9:26. וּבמשׁפּטיך is emphatically prefixed,and taken up again by בּם. The sentence, which if a man do heshall live in them, is formed upon Leviticus 18:5, comp. Ezekiel 20:11. On thefigurative expression, they gave a resisting shoulder, comp. Zechariah 7:11. Thesimile is taken from the ox, who rears against the yoke, and desires not tobear it; comp. Hosea 4:16. The sentences following are repeated from Nehemiah 9:16. עליהם תּמשׁך is an abbreviated expression for חסד משׁך, Psalm 36:11; Psalm 109:12; Jeremiah 31:3, to draw out, to extendfor a long time favour to any one: Thou hadst patience with them formany years, viz., the whole period of kingly rule from Solomon to thetimes of the Assyrians. The delivering into the power of the people of thelands, i.e., of the heathen (comp. Psalm 106:40.), began with the invasion ofthe Assyrians (comp. Nehemiah 9:32), who destroyed the kingdom of the ten tribes,and was inflicted upon Judah also by means of the Chaldeans.

Nehemiah 9:31

But in the midst of these judgments also, God, according to Hispromise, Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:10, Jeremiah 5:18; Jeremiah 30:11, and elsewhere, did not utterly forsakeHis people, nor make a full end of them; for He did not suffer them tobecome extinct in exile, but preserved a remnant, and delivered it fromcaptivity.

May then, God, who keepeth covenant and mercy, now also look uponthe affliction of His people, though kings, rulers, priests, and people havefully deserved this punishment; for they are now bondmen, and in greataffliction, in the land of their fathers. Nehemiah 9:32 “And now, our God, the great,the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let notall the trouble that hath come upon us, on our kings, our princes ourpriests, our prophets, and our fathers, and on all Thy people, since thetimes of the kings of Assyria unto this day, seem little to Thee. Nehemiah 9:33 Thou art just in all that is come upon us; for Thou hast done right, but wehave done wickedly. Nehemiah 9:34 And our kings, our princes, our priests, andour fathers have not kept Thy law, nor hearkened to Thy commandmentsand Thy testimonies, wherewith Thou didst testify against them. Nehemiah 9:35 And they have not served Thee in their kingdom, and in Thy greatgoodness that Thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which Thougavest up to them, and have not turned from their wicked works. Nehemiah 9:36 Behold, we are now bondmen; and the land that Thou gavest untoour fathers to eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof, behold, we arebondmen in it. Nehemiah 9:37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whomThou hast set over us because of our sins; and they have dominion overour bodies, and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in greatdistress.” The invocation of God, Nehemiah 9:32, like that in Nehemiah 1:5, is similar toDeuteronomy 10:17. לפניך ימעט אל standsindependently, the following clause being emphasized by את, likee.g., Nehemiah 9:19: Let not what concerns all our trouble be little before Thee;comp. the similar construction with מעט in Joshua 22:17. Whatseems little is easily disregarded. The prayer is a litotes; and the sense is,Let our affliction be regarded by Thee as great and heavy. The nounsלמלכינוּ, etc., are in apposition to the suffix of מצאתנוּ, the object being continued by ל.

Nehemiah 9:33-34

Thou art just: comp. Nehemiah 9:8, Deuteronomy 32:4; Ezra 9:15. כּל על, upon all, i.e., concerning all that has befallen us; because theirsins deserved punishment, and God is only fulfilling His word upon thesinners. In Nehemiah 9:34, את again serves to emphasize the subject. In theenumeration of the different classes of the people, the prophets are hereomitted, because, as God's witnesses, they are not reckoned among thesewho had transgressed, though involved (Nehemiah 9:32) in the sufferings that havefallen on the nation.

הם are the fathers who were not brought to repentance by God'sgoodness. בּמלכוּתם, in their independent kingdom. הרב טוּבך, Thy much good, i.e., the fulness of Thygoodness, or “in the midst of Thy great blessing” (Bertheau). Thepredicate הרחבה, the wide, extensive country, is derivedfrom Exodus 3:8. In Nehemiah 9:36., the prayer that God would not lightly regard thetrouble of His people, is supported by a statement of the need andaffliction in which they still are. They are bondmen in the land which Godgave to their fathers as a free people, bondmen of the Persian monarchs;and the increase of the land which God appointed for His people belongsto the kings who rule over them. The rulers of the land dispose of theirbodies and their cattle, by carrying off both men and cattle for their use,e.g., for military service. כּרצונם like Nehemiah 9:24.