Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 9:7
Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
7, 8. The Patriarch Abraham; the choice, the call, the name, and the character of the man, and the covenant made with him
Thou art the Lord the God ] R.V. marg. ‘Or, O Lord ’, i.e. Thou, O Jahveh (Jehovah), art the God, as in 1Ki 18:37.
didst choose Abram ] The Divine ‘choice’ is only mentioned here in reference to the calling of Abraham. The selection of the ‘chosen people’ was the free act of God’s love. This thought lay at the root of the covenant relation between Him and Israel; cf. Deu 4:37, ‘and because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them,’ Neh 7:7, Neh 9:4-6.
and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees ] Ur of the Chaldees is only mentioned here and Gen 11:28; Gen 11:31; Gen 15:7, and from these passages the present allusion is almost certainly drawn. According to some scholars, ‘Ur of the Chaldees’ is to be found in S. Babylonia, on the right bank of the Euphrates, and to be identified either with Warka (= Erech, Gen 10:10) or Mugheir = Uru, one of the oldest Babylonian cities. According to others, it was situate in Northern Assyria, with which would agree the descent of Terah from Aram (Gen 10:23) and the home of Abraham’s kinsfolk being Padan-Aram (Gen 25:20). The latter view is perhaps most favoured by Israelite tradition, cf. Deu 26:5; Isa 41:9. It was Terah who moved from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran; but Jewish tradition always regarded this as the expression of a Divine call to Abraham. Compare Act 7:4 with Gen 11:31. The Vulgate ‘de igne Chaldaeorum’ treats ‘Ur’ as if it were the Hebrew word (spelt with the same consonants) meaning ‘light.’
the name of Abraham ] The change of the patriarch’s name from Abram to Abraham is recorded in Gen 17:5, to which the reference is probably made. That Abram means ‘lofty father’ and Abraham ‘the father of a multitude’ is probably only an instance of popular Israelite etymology. ‘Abu-ra-mu’ is found as the proper name of a man in Assyrian inscriptions; and the change from the shorter to the longer form, is perhaps a return to an older and more venerated form of the name. The precise meaning of the name is of slight moment. The important point to notice is, that the change of name corresponds with the institution of the covenant sign of circumcision. The change of the name was a pledge of the new relation, into which Abraham and his seed passed; cf. ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ (Gen 35:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. Who didst choose Abram] See the notes on the passages referred to in the margin.
The name of Abraham] For the explanation of this name, See Clarke on Ge 17:5.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Didst choose Abram out of the midst of all his nation and family. When thou didst pass by and neglect the rest of them, suffering them to walk on in their idolatrous and destructive courses; thou didst choose and single out him to serve and glorify thee, to be father of all the faithful, the progenitor of the Messias, and the person in whom, not we only, but all nations, should be blessed, and to enjoy thee to all eternity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 Ge 11:28, to which may be added what Amama x 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 Ur y:
and gavest him the name of Abraham; which was changed when the covenant of circumcision was given him, Ge 17:5.
x Anti-barbar. Biblic. l. 3. p. 652. y Fortunati Schaech. Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. 1. c. 9. col. 44.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. God is exalted for His goodness to Abraham.
TEXT, Neh. 9:7-8
7
Thou art the LORD God,
Who chose Abram
And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
8
And Thou didst find his heart faithful before Thee,
And didst make a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite
To give it to his descendants.
And Thou hast fulfilled Thy promise,
For Thou art righteous.
COMMENT
History was of great significance to Israels religion. The people believed, on good authority, that they could see evidence of Gods taking action in their affairs in actual observed events. Faith, in Scripture terms, is always rooted in history. Judaism and Christianity alone are regarded as historical religions, whose truth can be measured by verification of the events which gave them their character. Therefore this psalm moves into a recital of that history.
Without a Divinely inspired interpretation and record of our nations history, we may still be profited by recalling and recounting His favors to us.
Neh. 9:7 : The history of the people of Israel starts with Abraham. There might also be an implied parallel between Gods bringing Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans and His recent delivery of Israel, Abrahams descendants, from the same land.
Neh. 9:8 records Gods generosity and faithfulness to Abraham and to his descendants. Of course He would keep His promise, because He is righteous: this is the keynote of the prayer.[72]
[72] Adenay, Expositors Bible, op. cit., p. 300.
WORD STUDIES
NAME (Neh. 9:5, Shem): basically it means a sign, monument, or memorial of a person, thing, or event. This word is translated memorial in Isa. 55:13. But the emphasis is on the person or event of which it is only the sign. To do something in someones name is to act by his authority (Exo. 5:23). To know someone by name suggests acquaintance with him personally (Exo. 33:12). To make oneself a name indicates fame and renown (2Sa. 7:9); conversely, to have no name is to be a nobody (Job. 30:8); a good name signified a good reputation or character (Pro. 22:1); the destruction of ones name meant that his person and the memory of him would be no more (Deu. 9:14).
Gods name, then, is His person, His authority, the knowledge of Him, His fame or glory, His character, the memory of all that He has done.
WORSHIP (Neh. 9:3); BOW DOWN (Neh. 9:6): these are the same word. It contains three ideas; (1) sink down, bow down, fall prostrate, do honor or reverence to someone whether to an equal or to a superior; (2) hence, to worship or adore; (3) therefore, to do homage or yield allegiance to someone.
Worship is incomplete without commitment.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
7. Abram Abraham See Gen 17:5. For the various historical allusions throughout the chapter, see the marginal references.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH’s Choice Of, And Covenant With, Abram/Abraham ( Neh 9:7-8 ).
Not only had YHWH created all things, however, but He had also out of all the nations chosen their forefather Abram, adopted him as His own (changing his name to Abraham), and had given to him and to his seed the promise of the land of Canaan. And they acknowledged that He had performed what He had promised. He had given them possession of the land. As they will go on to say, it was not His fault that it had gone badly wrong.
Neh 9:7-8
“You are YHWH the God, who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham, and found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him 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 have performed your words, for you are righteous.”
The emphasis was now on the fact that it was YHWH Who, as the Creator and Ruler of all the world, and as the covenant-fulfilling Righteous One, had called and chosen Abram. He had brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees (in other words out of Babylonia, just as He had brought them out of Babylonia), had sovereignly given him his new name Abraham as an indication that he was now God’s chosen one, (just as they bore the name of Israel His chosen one), and had found him faithful before Him (something that they now recognised should be true of them). Note the emphasis on God’s election, and on Abram’s God-given name (Gen 17:5; not emphasised elsewhere outside Genesis), and on Abraham’s responsive faith and obedience (his heart was faithful before Him, which may well reflect Gen 15:6).
As a consequence God had made a covenant with him to give to him and his seed the land of Canaan, something which He had performed because He was ‘righteous’ (conformed rightly to His covenant promises). And their tradition saw the land promised as having successfully been given to his seed (1Ki 4:21), in spite of their previous rebellions. There is a clear implication in this that the returnees were expectant that God would similarly consider His sovereign choice and covenant with regard to His chosen people, would show covenant love towards those who bore a new name given by God (Israel), and would perform His word before them, but this is not actually stated.
The description given here also assumes a knowledge of the tradition behind Gen 11:31 in respect of Ur of the Chaldees, and the traditions which spoke of Canaan as ‘the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite’ (compare Deu 7:1, rather than Gen 15:19-21). The ‘list of nations’ depicted here is not a direct citation. It is not found in this order in the books of Moses, and here omits the Hivites. But it was clearly based on a memory of a known tradition.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 9:7 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
Ver. 7. Thou art the Lord the God ] Heb. That Lord, with an emphasis, with an accent; and besides thee there is none other. See Neh 9:6 . This is proved by his free favours to Israel, and patient bearing with their evil manners in the wilderness; there being not any God like unto our God, for pardoning of sin, and passing by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage, Mic 7:18 .
Who didst choose Abram
And broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees
And gavest him the name of Abraham
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
choose Abram. Compare Gen 11:31; Gen 12:1; Gen 17:5. Jos 24:1-3.
Abraham. See note on Gen 17:5, and App-50. The letter (He) = five. This is the number of grace (App-10), put into the middle of the names (Abram and Sarai), as a symbol of the grace that called him. See App-50. for the repetition of five in its multiples all through his life.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
choose: Gen 12:1, Gen 12:2, Deu 10:15, Jos 24:2, Jos 24:3, Isa 41:8, Isa 41:9, Isa 51:2
Ur: Gen 11:31, Gen 15:7, Act 7:2-4
gavest: Gen 17:5
Reciprocal: Gen 11:28 – Ur Gen 13:15 – General 1Ch 1:27 – Abram Isa 29:22 – who redeemed Isa 46:9 – the former Isa 51:9 – as in Isa 63:7 – mention Eze 16:3 – Thy birth Eze 16:4 – for Mal 3:6 – I am Act 13:17 – God Heb 11:8 – Abraham
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 9:7. Thou art the Lord who didst choose Abraham Here follows a compendious history of the affairs of the Hebrew nation, which, it is likely was composed by Ezra or Nehemiah in the form of a prayer, and delivered to the Levites, that they might pronounce it distinctly before the whole congregation, from their several scaffolds, which were conveniently placed, in several parts of the assembly, for that purpose.