16 But they and our fathers, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and gave no attention to your orders,
But my people did not give ear to my voice; Israel would have nothing to do with me. So I gave them up to the desires of their hearts; that they might go after their evil purposes. If only my people would give ear to me, walking in my ways! I would quickly overcome their haters: my hand would be turned against those who make war on them.
Let not your hearts be hard, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the waste land; When your fathers put me to the test and saw my power and my work. For forty years I was angry with this generation, and said, They are a people whose hearts are turned away from me, for they have no knowledge of my ways;
And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God. The children of Ephraim, armed with bows, were turned back on the day of the fight. They were not ruled by God's word, and they would not go in the way of his law; They let his works go out of their memory, and the wonders which he had made them see. He did great works before the eyes of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. The sea was cut in two so that they might go through; the waters were massed together on this side and on that. In the daytime he was guiding them in the cloud, and all through the night with a light of fire. The rocks of the waste land were broken by his power, and he gave them drink as out of the deep waters. He made streams come out of the rock; and waters came flowing down like rivers. And they went on sinning against him even more, turning away from the Most High in the waste land; Testing God in their hearts, requesting meat for their desire. They said bitter words against God, saying, Is God able to make ready a table in the waste land? See, the rock was cut open by his power, so that the water came rushing out, and overflowing streams; is he able to give us bread? is he able to get meat for his people? So these things came to the Lord's ears, and he was angry; and a fire was lighted against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel; Because they had no faith in God, and no hope in his salvation. And he gave orders to the clouds on high, and the doors of heaven were open; And he sent down manna like rain for their food, and gave them the grain of heaven. Man took part in the food of strong ones; he sent them meat in full measure. He sent an east wind from heaven, driving on the south wind by his power. He sent down meat on them like dust, and feathered birds like the sand of the sea, And he let it come down into their resting-place, round about their tents. So they had food and were full; for he gave them their desire; But they were not turned from their desires; and while the food was still in their mouths, The wrath of God came on them, and put to death the fattest of them, and put an end to the young men of Israel. For all this they went on sinning even more, and had no faith in his great wonders. So their days were wasted like a breath, and their years in trouble. When he sent death on them, then they made search for him; turning to him and looking for him with care; In the memory that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their saviour. But their lips were false to him, and their tongues were untrue to him; And their hearts were not right with him, and they did not keep their agreement with him. But he, being full of pity, has forgiveness for sin, and does not put an end to man: frequently turning back his wrath, and not being violently angry. So he kept in mind that they were only flesh; a breath which is quickly gone, and will not come again. How frequently did they go against him in the waste land, and give him cause for grief in the dry places! Again they put God to the test, and gave pain to the Holy One of Israel. They did not keep in mind the work of his hand, or the day when he took them from the power of their haters; How he had done his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan; So that their rivers were turned to blood, and they were not able to get drink from their streams. He sent different sorts of flies among them, poisoning their flesh; and frogs for their destruction. He gave the increase of their fields to worms, the fruits of their industry to the locusts. He sent ice for the destruction of their vines; their trees were damaged by the bitter cold. Ice was rained down on their cattle; thunderstorms sent destruction among the flocks. He sent on them the heat of his wrath, his bitter disgust, letting loose evil angels among them. He let his wrath have its way; he did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life to disease. He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham; But he took his people out like sheep, guiding them in the waste land like a flock. He took them on safely so that they had no fear; but their haters were covered by the sea. And he was their guide to his holy land, even to the mountain, which his right hand had made his; Driving out nations before them, marking out the line of their heritage, and giving the people of Israel their tents for a resting-place. But they were bitter against the Most High God, testing him, and not keeping his laws; Their hearts were turned back and untrue like their fathers; they were turned to one side like a twisted bow. They made him angry with their high places; moving him to wrath with their images. When this came to God's ears he was very angry, and gave up Israel completely; So that he went away from the holy place in Shiloh, the tent which he had put among men; And he let his strength be taken prisoner, and gave his glory into the hands of his hater. He gave his people up to the sword, and was angry with his heritage. Their young men were burned in the fire; and their virgins were not praised in the bride-song. Their priests were put to death by the sword, and their widows made no weeping for them. Then was the Lord like one awaking from sleep, and like a strong man crying out because of wine. His haters were turned back by his blows and shamed for ever. And he put the tent of Joseph on one side, and took not the tribe of Ephraim; But he took the tribe of Judah for himself, and the mountain of Zion, in which he had pleasure. And he made his holy place like the high heaven, like the earth which is fixed by him for ever. He took David to be his servant, taking him from the place of the flocks; From looking after the sheep which were giving milk, he took him to give food to Jacob his people, and to Israel his heritage. So he gave them food with an upright heart, guiding them by the wisdom of his hands.
And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and take the land which I have given you; you went against the orders of the Lord your God, and had no faith in him, and would not give ear to his voice. From the day when I first had knowledge of you, you have gone against the word of the Lord.
But going against the order of the Lord your God, you would not go up: And you made an angry outcry in your tents, and said, In his hate for us the Lord has taken us out of the land of Egypt, to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. Then I said to you, Have no fear of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will be fighting for you, and will do such wonders as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; And in the waste land, where you have seen how the Lord was supporting you, as a man does his son, in all your journeying till you came to this place. But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your God, Who goes before you on your way, looking for a place where you may put up your tents, in fire by night, lighting up the way you are to go, and in a cloud by day.
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Commentary on Nehemiah 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Ne 9:1-3. A Solemn Fast and Repentance of the People.
1. Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month—that is, on the second day after the close of the feast of tabernacles, which commenced on the fourteenth and terminated on the twenty-second (Le 23:34-37). The day immediately after that feast, the twenty-third, had been occupied in separating the delinquents from their unlawful wives, as well, perhaps, as in taking steps for keeping aloof in future from unnecessary intercourse with the heathen around them. For although this necessary measure of reformation had been begun formerly by Ezra (Ezr 10:1-17), and satisfactorily accomplished at that time (in so far as he had information of the existing abuses, or possessed the power of correcting them) yet it appears that this reformatory work of Ezra had been only partial and imperfect. Many cases of delinquency had escaped, or new defaulters had appeared who had contracted those forbidden alliances; and there was an urgent necessity for Nehemiah again to take vigorous measures for the removal of a social evil which threatened the most disastrous consequences to the character and prosperity of the chosen people. A solemn fast was now observed for the expression of those penitential and sorrowful feelings which the reading of the law had produced, but which had been suppressed during the celebration of the feast; and the sincerity of their repentance was evinced by the decisive steps taken for the correction of existing abuses in the matter of marriage.
2. confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers—Not only did they read in their recent sufferings a punishment of the national apostasy and guilt, but they had made themselves partakers of their fathers' sins by following the same evil ways.
3. they … read in the book of the law—Their extraordinary zeal led them to continue this as before.
one fourth part of the day—that is, for three hours, twelve hours being the acknowledged length of the Jewish day (Joh 11:9). This solemn diet of worship, which probably commenced at the morning sacrifice, was continued for six hours, that is, till the time of the evening sacrifice. The worship which they gave to the Lord their God, at this season of solemn national humiliation, consisted in acknowledging and adoring His great mercy in the forgiveness of their great and multiplied offenses, in delivering them from the merited judgments which they had already experienced or which they had reason to apprehend, in continuing amongst them the light and blessings of His word and worship, and in supplicating the extension of His grace and protection.
Ne 9:4-38. The Levites Confess God's Manifold Goodness, and Their Own Wickedness.
4. Then stood up upon the stairs—the scaffolds or pulpits, whence the Levites usually addressed the people. There were probably several placed at convenient distances, to prevent confusion and the voice of one drowning those of the others.
cried with a loud voice unto the Lord—Such an exertion, of course, was indispensably necessary, in order that the speakers might be heard by the vast multitude congregated in the open air. But these speakers were then engaged in expressing their deep sense of sin, as well as fervently imploring the forgiving mercy of God; and "crying with a loud voice" was a natural accompaniment of this extraordinary prayer meeting, as violent gestures and vehement tones are always the way in which the Jews, and other people in the East, have been accustomed to give utterance to deep and earnest feelings.
5. Then the Levites … said, Stand up and bless the Lord your God—If this prayer was uttered by all these Levites in common, it must have been prepared and adopted beforehand, perhaps, by Ezra; but it may only embody the substance of the confession and thanksgiving.
6-38. Thou, even thou, art Lord alone, &c.—In this solemn and impressive prayer, in which they make public confession of their sins, and deprecate the judgments due to the transgressions of their fathers, they begin with a profound adoration of God, whose supreme majesty and omnipotence is acknowledged in the creation, preservation, and government of all. Then they proceed to enumerate His mercies and distinguished favors to them as a nation, from the period of the call of their great ancestor and the gracious promise intimated to him in the divinely bestowed name of Abraham, a promise which implied that he was to be the Father of the faithful, the ancestor of the Messiah, and the honored individual in whose seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. Tracing in full and minute detail the signal instances of divine interposition for their deliverance and their interest—in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage—their miraculous passage through the Red Sea—the promulgation of His law—the forbearance and long-suffering shown them amid their frequent rebellions—the signal triumphs given them over their enemies—their happy settlement in the promised land—and all the extraordinary blessings, both in the form of temporal prosperity and of religious privilege, with which His paternal goodness had favored them above all other people, they charge themselves with making a miserable requital. They confess their numerous and determined acts of disobedience. They read, in the loss of their national independence and their long captivity, the severe punishment of their sins. They acknowledge that, in all heavy and continued judgments upon their nation, God had done right, but they had done wickedly. And in throwing themselves on His mercy, they express their purpose of entering into a national covenant, by which they pledge themselves to dutiful obedience in future.
22. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations—that is, put them in possession of a rich country, of an extensive territory, which had been once occupied by a variety of princes and people.
and didst divide them into corners—that is, into tribes. The propriety of the expression arose from the various districts touching at points or angles on each other.
the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon—Heshbon being the capital city, the passage should run thus: "the land of Sihon or the land of the king of Heshbon."
32. Now therefore, our God … who keepest covenant and mercy—God's fidelity to His covenant is prominently acknowledged, and well it might; for their whole national history bore testimony to it. But as this could afford them little ground of comfort or of hope while they were so painfully conscious of having violated it, they were driven to seek refuge in the riches of divine grace; and hence the peculiar style of invocation here adopted: "Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy."
36. Behold, we are servants this day—Notwithstanding their happy restoration to their native land, they were still tributaries of a foreign prince whose officers ruled them. They were not, like their fathers, free tenants of the land which God gave them.
37. it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins—Our agricultural labors have been resumed in the land—we plough, and sow, and till, and Thou blessest the work of our hands with a plentiful return; but this increase is not for ourselves, as once it was, but for our foreign masters, to whom we have to pay large and oppressive tribute.
they have dominion over our bodies—Their persons were liable to be pressed, at the mandate of their Assyrian conqueror, into the service of his empire, either in war or in public works. And our beasts are taken to do their pleasure.
38. we make a sure covenant, and write—that is, subscribe or sign it. This written document would exercise a wholesome influence in restraining their backslidings or in animating them to duty, by being a witness against them if in the future they were unfaithful to their engagements.