Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 9:16
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
16. But they and our fathers ] The ‘and’ here seems not to be necessary. It is found, however, in all the MSS., and is represented in all the Versions, and must clearly be retained in the text. As the following Neh 9:17-22 continue to refer to the Mosaic generation, no distinction of meaning can be drawn between ‘they’ and ‘our fathers.’ It seems best therefore to regard the ‘and’ as an instance of the explanatory or exegetical copula. ‘They and (= that is to say) our fathers.’ Cf. Neh 9:22.
dealt proudly ] Cf. Neh 9:10. In this verse and in Neh 9:29 the word is used with reference to the children of Israel, as in Deu 1:43, ‘ye rebelled and were presumptuous.’ Deu 17:13, ‘all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.’
hardened their necks ] R.V. neck. Cf. Neh 9:17; Neh 9:29. For the phrase ‘a stiff-necked people’ cf. Exo 32:9; Exo 33:3; Exo 34:9; Deu 9:6; Deu 9:13. ‘To stiffen’ or ‘harden the neck’ is found in Deu 10:16, ‘Be no more stiff-necked,’ 2Ki 17:14, ‘they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers.’ Cf. Job 9:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neh 9:16
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks.
Hardened by sin
Dr. Manton says: As a delicate constitution is more capable of pain than a robust and stubborn one, and the tender flesh of a child will sooner feel the lash than the thick skin of a slave, so the children of God, having a more serious apprehension of things, and a more tender spirit, soonest feel the burden of their Fathers displeasure, and do more lay it to heart than careless and stupid spirits, who laugh at their cross, or drink away their sorrows. Tenderness of heart is thus an attribute of the child of God, and a very precious attribute, too. Hard-hearted men are not men after Gods own heart. In proportion as feeling declines, life has declined. Spiritual men are sensitive men. Ossification of the heart is a fatal disease. Declensions in grace are a searing of the soul. When water is warmed by the summer sun, the smallest stone sinks into it; when it is frozen in the northern blast, a huge block will be borne up upon the surface of it, and will never penetrate to its depths. So, when the soul grows cold with distance from God, it will sustain an enormous weight of sin; but when grace returns, and the soul is in a fight spiritual condition, an ounce of sin will be more than the soul can bear. Oh, for more of this holy sensitiveness! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Notwithstanding all these singular and wonderful mercies; which he hitherto recounted to aggravate their sins, which he now comes to confess, and to lead them to a sincere and ingenuous grief and repentance for their sins, not only for the mischief which they brought upon themselves, but for the injury and indignity which they offered to God.
Dealt proudly, i.e. sinned presumptuously, and with contempt of God, as scorning to submit their wills to Gods.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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, Ex 24:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Even the fathers to whom God had shown such favour, repeatedly departed from and rebelled against Him; but God of His great mercy did not forsake them, but brought them into possession of the promised land.
Neh 9:16-17 “And they, even our fathers, dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to Thy commandments. Neh 9:17 They refused to obey, and were not mindful of Thy wonders that Thou didst amongst them; and hardened their necks, and appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.” In these verses the conduct of the children of Israel towards God is contrasted with His kindness towards this stiff-necked people, the historical confirmation following in Neh 9:18. is emphatic, and prefixed to contrast the conduct of the Israelites with the benefits bestowed on them. The contrast is enhanced by the explicative before , even our fathers (which J. D. Michaelis would expunge, from a misconception of its meaning, but which Bertheau with good reason defends). Words are accumulated to describe the stiff-necked resistance of the people. as above, Neh 9:10. “They hardened their necks” refers to Exo 32:9; Exo 33:3; Exo 34:9, and therefore already alludes to the worship of the golden calf at Sinai, mentioned Neh 9:18; while in Neh 9:17, the second great rebellion of the people at Kadesh, on the borders of the promised land, Num 14, is contemplated. The repetition of the expression, “they hardened their hearts,” shows that a second grievous transgression is already spoken of in Neh 9:17. This is made even clearer by the next clause, , which is taken almost verbally from Num 14:4: “They said one to another, Let us make a captain ( ), and return to Egypt;” the notion being merely enhanced here by the addition , to their bondage. The comparison with Num 14:4 also shows that is a clerical error for , as the lxx read; for , in their stubbornness, after , gives no appropriate sense. In spite, however, of their stiff-neckedness, God of His mercy and goodness did not forsake them. , a God of pardons; comp. Dan 9:9; Psa 130:4. is a reminiscence of Exo 34:6. The before came into the text by a clerical error.
Neh 9:18-21 “Yea, they even made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt, and wrought great provocations. Neh 9:19 Yet Thou, in Thy manifold mercies, didst not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them, and the pillar of fire by night to show them light in the way wherein they should go. Neh 9:20 Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst: Neh 9:21 And forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” , also (even this) = yea even. On the worship of the golden calf, see Exo 24:4. The words ”they did (wrought) great provocations” involve a condemnation of the worship of the molten calf; nevertheless God did not withdraw His gracious presence, but continued to lead them by the pillar of cloud and fire. The passage Num 14:14, according to which the pillar of cloud and fire guided the march of the people through the wilderness after the departure from Sinai, i.e., after their transgression in the matter of the calf, is here alluded to. is rhetorically enhanced by : and with respect to the cloudy pillar, it departed not; so, too, in the second clause, ; comp. Ewald, 277, d. The words, Neh 9:20, “Thou gavest Thy good Spirit,” etc., refer to the occurrence, Num 11:17, Num 11:25, where God endowed the seventy elders with the spirit of prophecy for the confirmation of Moses’ authority. The definition “good Spirit” recalls Psa 143:10. The sending of manna is first mentioned Num 11:6-9, comp. Jos 5:12; the giving of water, Num 20:2-8. – In Neh 9:21, all that the Lord did for Israel is summed up in the assertion of Deu 2:7; Deu 8:4, ; see the explanation of these passages.
Neh 9:22-25 The Lord also fulfilled His promise of giving the land of Canaan to the Israelites notwithstanding their rebelliousness. Neh 9:22 “And Thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them by boundaries; and they took possession of the land of Sihon, both the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Neh 9:23 And Thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and bring them into the land which Thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess. Neh 9:24 And the children went in and possessed the land, and Thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, both their kings and the people of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure. Neh 9:25 And they took fortified cities, and a fat land, and took possession of houses filled with all kinds of goods, wells digged, vineyards and olive gardens, and fruit trees in abundance; and they ate and became fat, and delighted themselves in Thy great goodness.” is variously explained. Aben Ezra and others refer the suffix to the Canaanites, whom God scattered in multos angulos or varias mundi partes . Others refer it to the Israelites. 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 , Piel, generally means the dividing of things; and when used of persons, as in Gen 49:7; Lam 4:16, to divide, to scatter, sensu malo, which is here inapplicable to the Israelites. signifies to divide, especially by lot, and is used chiefly concerning the partition of the land of Canaan, in Kal, Jos 14:5; Jos 18:2, and in Piel, Jos 13:7; Jos 18:10; Jos 19:51. The word also frequently occurs in Joshua, in the sense of a corner or side lying towards a certain quarter of the heavens, and of a boundary; comp. Jos 15:5; Jos 18:12, Jos 18:14-15, Jos 18:20. According to this, Bertheau rightly takes the words to say: Thou didst divide them (the kingdoms and nations, i.e., the land of these nations) according to sides or boundaries, i.e., according to certain definite limits. Sihon is the king of Heshbon (Deu 1:4), and the before is not to be expunged as a gloss, but regarded as explicative: and, indeed, both the land of the king of Heshbon and the land of Og. The conquest of these two kingdoms is named first, because it preceded the possession of Canaan (Num 21:21-35). The increase of the children of the Israelites is next mentioned, Neh 9:23; the fathers having fallen in 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 here alluded to, when the new generation was found to be twice as numerous as that which marched out of Egypt; while the words , here and in Neh 9:15, are similar to Deu 1:10. The taking possession of Canaan is spoken of in Neh 9:24. recalls Deu 9:3. , according to their pleasure, comp. Dan 8:4. Fortified cities, as Jericho and Ai.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5. God blesses Israel even during her rebellion in the Wilderness.
TEXT, Neh. 9:16-21
16
But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Thy commandments.
17
And they refused to listen,
And did not remember Thy wondrous deeds which
Thou hadst performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But Thou art a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness;
And Thou didst not forsake them,
18
Even when they made for themselves
A calf of molten metal
And said, This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt;
And committed great blasphemies,
19. Thou, in Thy great compassion,
Didst not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
20
And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them,
Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth,
And Thou didst give them water for their thirst.
21
Indeed, forty years Thou didst provide for them in the wilderness and they were not in want,
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
COMMENT
Twice in these verses the pattern of Israels rebellion and Gods graciousness are repeated.
In Neh. 9:16-17 their stubbornness and short memory caused them to appoint a leader to replace Moses, Gods man, in order to lead them back to Egypt. Num. 14:4 records their threat to do this; the information given here, that they had actually appointed someone is a supplement to it. Their arrogance made them guilty of the same sin as the Egyptians. Yet Gods graciousness and forgiveness prevented His forsaking them.
Then again in Neh. 9:18-21 they rebelled but God was compassionate.
Neh. 9:18 portrays the epitome of the rebelliousness. Not only did they make a forbidden idol and worship it, but they credited it instead of God for their deliverance from Egypt! That is incomprehensible.
Neh. 9:19-21 list Gods favors to them despite their sins; His presence vouched for by the pillar and the cloud, guiding and lighting their way; His Spirit of instruction; the manna and the water; protection from wear for their clothing and their feet.
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
(16) Dealt proudly.Like the Egyptians themselves (Neh. 9:10). It is remarkable that the same word is used as in the Hebrew of Exo. 18:11 and Deu. 1:43.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. They and our fathers This should be rendered, and they, even our fathers.
But His People’s Response To His Goodness Had Been To Openly Disobey His Commandments And To Turn To Other Gods. However Even So He Did Not Forsake Them Because Of What He Is ( Neh 9:16-17 ).
Here the first acknowledgement of how sinful their fathers had been is now given. It refers to their arrogant intention to appoint a captain and return to their bondage in Egypt. This occurred when they believed the reports of the unbelieving spies and were fearful of what would be the consequences of entering the God-given land (Num 14:4), and thus refused to possess the land. A second, which opens the next passage, will refer to the time when they fashioned and worshipped the molten calf in the wilderness because they thought that Moses was not coming back to them from the mountain. By doing so they rejected the concept that their Deliverer had revealed about Himself (‘you shall not make any graven image’). Both were examples of patent disobedience and unbelief. By them they demonstrated their arrogance, and the hardness of their dispositions. This pattern of God’s goodness and care followed by man’s disobedience will continually be repeated (Neh 9:26; Neh 9:28; Neh 9:30; Neh 9:32; Neh 9:34-35).
Neh 9:16
“But they, even our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their neck, and did not listen to your commandments,”
They acknowledged that those who had behaved in this way were ‘our fathers’. They were admitting their share in the guilt of their fathers. And they admitted that their fathers had been arrogant and stiff-necked, an idea which is emphasised by repeated. They had thought that they knew better than God, and had behaved accordingly. They had been arrogant towards Him, had refused to bow to His requirements, and had not listened to His commandments. By this they were admitting that they had deserved all that they had received, and far worse.
Neh 9:17
“And refused to obey, nor were mindful of your wonders which you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage.”
This first example of their disobedience and hardened state refers to what happened after the twelve scouts, who had been sent into Canaan in order to survey the position, had reported back (Numbers 13-14). They had ignored all the wonders that God had performed on their behalf, and had panicked. And they had ‘hardened their neck (become stiffnecked and unyielding, a concept obtained from Exo 32:9; Exo 33:3; Exo 34:9) and had determined to appoint a Captain and return to Egypt, to their previous bondage (Num 14:4). As a consequence they were disobeying His command to go in and possess the land. Thus they had not deserved the land.
Neh 9:17
“But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in covenant love, and you did not forsake them.”.
But even such behaviour had not resulted in God giving up on them. Why? Because He is a God Who is ready to pardon. He is a God Who is gracious and merciful. He is a God Who is slow to anger and abundant in covenant love. The consequence was that He did not forsake them.
For these descriptions compare Exo 34:6-7; Jon 4:2; Psa 103:8; Psa 145:8, which suggest that the central part of the quotation was probably a stereotyped description regularly used, with variations, in the cult, and originally based on Exo 34:6-7.
This description of God merits some attention. It brings out that:
He is ready to pardon, compare Dan 9:9, ‘to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness’; Psa 130:4, ‘there is forgiveness with Him that He might be feared’. He pardons in order to bring those pardoned back into a relationship with Himself. He puts their sin behind His back (Isa 38:17). ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us’ (Psa 103:12).
He is gracious and merciful. The idea behind these words is that God is compassionate, and merciful, constantly showing His undeserved love towards men and women in their weakness, in the face of their undeserving.
He is slow to anger. The point here is that He is longsuffering, and does not easily give up. He gives men time to repent and turn back to Him. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9).
He is abundant in covenant love. Behind this thought is that He is totally faithful to all with whom He has entered into covenant, having chosen them for Himself. Through His covenant he reaches out to us in abundant love. No one who genuinely responds to His covenant will find that love lacking.
He did not forsake them. They were at no stage ‘God-forsaken’. This was an important fact which is being emphasised in the passage. Compare how the same words appear in a similar way in Neh 9:31.
Neh 9:16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
Ver. 16. But they and our fathers ] God’s mercies have been hitherto mentioned, that their sins might thereby be aggravated; for good turns aggravate unkindness; and men’s sins are much increased by their obligations. It is charged upon Solomon as a foul fault, that he departed from the Lord, who had appeared unto him twice, 1Ki 11:9 .
Dealt proudly
And hardened their necks
And hearkened not to thy commandments NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 9:16-25
16 But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18Even when they made for themselves
A calf of molten metal
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great blasphemies,
19You, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a boundary.
They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them as they desired.
25They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and grew fat,
And reveled in Your great goodness.
Neh 9:16-17 Here is the recurrent theme of the chapter.
1. God’s faithfulness and love, Neh 9:17 b
2. Israel’s unfaithfulness and rebellion, Neh 9:16-17 a
YHWH’s righteousness and Israel’s rebellion are graphically revealed in Deu 9:4-7; Deu 9:13; Deu 9:24; Deu 9:27.
Neh 9:16
NASBthey became stubborn
NKJVhardened their necks
NRSVstiffened their necks
TEVgrew. . .stubborn
NJBgrew obstinate
The VERB (BDB 904 I, KB 1151, Hiphil IMPERFECT) and the NOUN (BDB 791) both denote purposeful rejection of truth (i.e., rebellion, cf. Neh 9:17; Neh 9:29; 2Ch 30:8; 2Ch 36:13; Jer 7:26; Jer 17:23; Jer 19:15).
Neh 9:17 Thy wondrous deeds This VERB (BDB 810, KB 927, Niphal PARTICIPLE, see Special Topic: Wonderful Things ) can mean difficult (cf. Deu 17:8; Pro 30:18) or wonderful (cf. Exo 3:20; Psa 78:12-16). In this passage, like so many Psalms, it refers to God’s mighty, powerful, extraordinary acts of deliverance during the exodus, wanderings, and conquest.
appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt This relates specifically to Num 14:4. The precursor is found in Exo 14:10-12 and Num 11:1-9.
This translation follows the Septuagint and a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts. Instead of Egypt the MT has bondage (BDB 715, cf. NKJV), which is very similar in spelling.
You are a God There are six specific things stated about God’s character.
1. forgiving (BDB 699, used exclusively of God’s forgiveness)
2. gracious (BDB 337, cf. Deu 4:31; 2Ch 30:9)
3. compassionate (BDB 933)
4. slow to anger (cf. Num 14:18)
5. abounding in lovingkindness (BDB 338, Covenant loyalty, see Special Topic: Hesed at Neh 13:14)
6. He did not forsake them!
This is one of a select number of OT texts that delineate the basic nature of God Exo 34:6-7; Psa 103:8; and Joe 2:13.
Part of this text’s litany of God’s characteristics became a standard way of referring to His character (cf. Psa 86:15; Psa 145:8; Jon 4:2). This is who God is! Rejoice and be glad!
Believers’ hope is based on the unchanging character of God. Remember the list is given in a verse that describes Israel’s intentional rejection of God and His word. See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL’S GOD
Neh 9:18 they made for themselves a calf of molten metal The calf was meant as a physical representation of YHWH, not as another god (cf. Exo 32:1 to Exo 8:31).
and committed great blasphemies There is a series of sins recorded in Exodus 32.
1. idolatry (cf. LSS & Vulgate) or at least making a physical image of YHWH (cf. Exo 20:4-5)
2. drunkenness
3. sexual promiscuity (cf. Exo 32:6, rose up to play means a sexual orgy, cf. Gen 26:18 for another use of this phrase)
Neh 9:20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them God’s good spirit does not necessarily refer to the NT Trinitarian understanding of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. In the OT God’s Spirit is a way of referring to His will being accomplished (cf. Gen 1:2). In this context it is probably parallel to God’s angel who accompanied Israel during the wilderness wandering period (cf. Exo 3:2; Exo 14:19; Exo 23:20; Exo 23:23; Exo 33:2).
Also, God’s Spirit is a way of referring to revelation or inspiration (cf. Neh 9:30; Psa 143:10). He (NT Trinitarian sense) is the agent of inspiration (cf. Neh 9:30; Num 11:17; Num 11:25; Num 11:29; 1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 10:9-11; 2Sa 23:2; 1Ki 22:24; 1Ch 12:18; 2Ch 24:20; Isa 11:2; Isa 42:1; Eze 11:5; Eze 11:24; Hos 9:7; Joe 2:28-29; Mic 3:8; Zec 7:12). See Special Topic: Spirit in the Bible .
Neh 9:21 Even though the wilderness wandering period was a time of judgment because of their unbelief, God was with them in a personal, powerful, daily way. The rabbis later called this time the honeymoon period because of YHWH’s tender care and provision. The term forty is a round, symbolic number. This period only lasted 38 years. The specific reference to the clothes not wearing out is from Deu 8:4; Deu 29:5.
Neh 9:22 This refers to Joshua’s conquest on the eastern side of the Jordan (cf. Num 21:21-35; Psa 35:11; Ps. 36:19-20).
Neh 9:23-25 This seems to refer to Joshua’s conquest of the land of Canaan.
Neh 9:23 You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven This was part of the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 15:5; Gen 22:17; Gen 26:4; Exo 32:13, i.e., numerous descendants also referred to as like the sand of the sea, cf. Gen 22:12; Gen 32:12; Isa 48:19; Hos 1:10).
dealt proudly = fostered pride.
Neh 9:16-25
Neh 9:16-25
GOD’S MERCY UPON ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS;
HIS REJECTION OF THAT GENERATION; AND HIS BRINGING THEIR CHILDREN INTO THE PROMISED LAND
“But they and their fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their neck, and hearkened not to thy commandments, and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness, amd forsookest them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they took fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit-trees in abundance: so they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.”
(For our comment on the history of Israel as mentioned in these verses, see our commentaries on the Pentateuch, especially on Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.) There is practically no additional information provided by this chapter. An exception is the revelation that Israel actually appointed a captain to lead them back to Egypt. Num 14:1-4 has the information that such a move was suggested and recommended by some of the Israelites; but this is the only statement to the effect that they really appointed a captain to take them back to Egypt. Also, this writer does not recall any mention of the fact that their feet did not swell.
E.M. Zerr:
Neh 9:16. This is an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the fathers, which means their forefathers or early ancestors. Dealt proudly refers to their stubbornness and refusal to yield to the commandments of God. All disobedience may be charged to pride, and Paul teaches that in 1Ti 6:3-4. Hardened their necks is just another phrase for their stubbornness, and a stiff neck is used as a figure of it.
Neh 9:17. Ingratitude is a common weakness of man, and is one of the most deplorable kind. Being unmindful of the deeds performed by the Lord for his people, the Israelites became restless while Moses was in the mount. Appointed a captain. to return to their bondage. This was done at the time the spies returned from their 40 days of research. The same is referred to by Stephen in his noted speech to the Jews (Act 7:40). He had a different instance in mind from that in Numbers, but it is on the same line of conduct. These people in their wonderful speech acknowledged the mercy of God that was manifested, and that he did not forsake his people.
Neh 9:18. The history of the molten (cast) calf is in Exodus 32. It would have been foolishly false to make a metallic image to worship only, but it was blasphemous to attribute their miraculous deliverance from Egypt to such ‘a helpless thing. In doing that the children of Israel gave God cause for great provocation, so that it would have been just to cut them off from him entirely.
Neh 9:19. But God’s great mercy tempered his justice, and caused him to continue his divine guidance by use of the supernatural cloud.
Neh 9:20. The spirit of God directed the sayings of Moses, and he then gave them to the people. In this way the Lord gave his spirit to his people throughout the period of their relations to him in the wilderness. Also, in special instances he gave inspiration to others. See Exo 31:1-3; Num 11:24-25. Another reference is made to the miraculous supply of bread and water. The bread was rained down from the skies in the form of manna, and the water was brought out of a dry rock.
Neh 9:21. The naming of the 40 years as a period of miraculous support does not mean that God did not care for them at other times. But special interest is centered round that subject because the children of Israel were “on the go” during that time, and did not have time nor opportunity for producing the necessities of life; for that reason God provided them as needed. One method he used in supplying their needs was to prolong the wearing qualities of their clothes. Also their feet did not swell. This is from an original that Strong defines to “blister.” Having no opportunity for replacing their shoes or sandals, and having to travel on foot, they surely would have become footsore had they not been miraculously cared for.
Neh 9:22. Divide them into corners is rendered by Moffatt’s translation as follows: “allotting them every corner of the land,” and the lexicon agrees. It means that God gave unto his people the land being held by the heathen. The ones that are named in this verse were east of the Jordan River.
Neh 9:23. When they entered Egypt they numbered only 70 (Gen 46:27), and they increased to over half a million men of war besides women and children by the time they left Egypt (Num 1:46).
Neh 9:24. The promise to give all the heathen nations into the hands of the Israelites was made conditional. They were to make no covenant with those nations, but they did not fully observe the conditions. As far as they did so the Lord drove out the foreigners, and this verse should be understood in that light.
Neh 9:25. This verse should be understood in the same light or with the same restrictions as the preceding one. Fat land means a land that was productive of the good things of life. Moses had promised that they were to go into a land already provided with these desirable things (Dent. 6 :10:11).
dealt: Neh 9:10, Neh 9:29, Exo 32:9, Deu 9:6, Deu 9:13, Deu 9:23, Deu 9:24, Deu 9:27, Deu 32:15, Psa 78:8-72, Psa 106:6, Isa 63:10, Jer 2:31, Act 7:51
hardened: Deu 31:27, 2Ki 17:14, 2Ch 30:8, 2Ch 36:13, Psa 95:8-10, Pro 29:1, Isa 48:4, Jer 19:15, Rom 2:5, Heb 3:13, Heb 3:15
hearkened: Exo 15:26, Deu 5:29, Psa 81:8, Psa 81:11-14, Isa 48:18, There were two things to which the Israelites did not duly give heed, else they had not done as they did. The word of God they heard, but they gave no heed to God’s commandments, and the works of God they saw, but were not mindful of his wonders. Had they really considered them as miracles, they would have obeyed from a principle of faith and holy fear: had they duly considered them as mercies, they would have obeyed from a principle of gratitude and holy love.
Reciprocal: Exo 18:11 – proudly Num 14:4 – General Deu 9:7 – from the day 2Ch 29:6 – For our fathers Psa 119:21 – cursed Jer 7:24 – they Jer 7:25 – the day Jer 7:26 – they hearkened Jer 11:8 – obeyed Jer 22:21 – This Jer 32:30 – children Eze 2:3 – rebelled Eze 5:6 – for they Eze 20:13 – rebelled Zec 1:4 – as Mal 3:7 – from the Mar 10:5 – For Act 7:39 – whom Act 13:18 – about Act 19:9 – divers Heb 3:8 – Harden
Neh 9:16-17. But our fathers dealt proudly, &c. Notwithstanding all thy singular and wonderful mercies, they sinned presumptuously, and with a high hand, scorning to submit their wills to thine. Having hitherto recounted Gods mercies toward them, with a view to aggravate their guilt, he now comes to confess their sins, in order that he might lead them to a sincere and ingenuous grief for them, not only on account of the sufferings which they had brought on themselves, but for the injury and indignity which they had offered to God; and refused to obey Persisted in disobedience after many admonitions and invitations to repentance. And in their rebellion appointed a captain That is, designed, purposed, and resolved to do so, (Num 14:4,) and therefore they are said to do it; as Abraham is said to have offered up Isaac, (Heb 11:17,) because he intended and attempted to do it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments