Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 9:22
Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
22 25. The Conquest of Palestine: Victory
22. The Conquest of the Transjordanic territory.
nations ] R.V. peoples.
and didst divide them into corners ] R.V. which thou didst allot after their portions. Marg. ‘Or, And didst distribute them into every corner ’. The difficulty of rendering arises from the word ‘pah’ = ‘a corner,’ or ‘edge,’ which the LXX. and Vulg. do not attempt to translate. Used of ‘a corner’ in such passages as Lev 19:9; Lev 19:27; Amo 3:12; it is found with a territorial signification, in Num 24:17 ‘the corners of Moab,’ Jos 15:5; Jos 18:14-15, ‘the north quarter,’ ‘the west quarter,’ ‘the south quarter,’ Jer 48:45 ‘the corner of Moab.’ It does not seem to occur anywhere in a technical sense for ‘a lot’ or ‘an appointed portion.’ ‘To allot according to corner,’ in the sense of ‘after their portions’ (as the R.V.), may give the meaning of the obscure phrase; but no satisfactory parallel to this use of ‘ pah ’ occurs in the O. T. This being the case, it is probable that preference should be given to the R.V. marg. ‘into every corner,’ a translation which renders ‘pah’ literally, and explains the Hebrew idiom by the insertion of the word ‘every.’
Sihon Og ] The victory over these kings at the battles of Jahaz and Edrei is described in Num 21:21-35. It made the children of Israel masters of the E. bank of the Jordan. Reference to the conquest of these two kings is frequent, e.g. Num 32:33; Deu 1:4; Deu 3:1, &c.; Jos 2:10; Psa 135:11; Psa 136:19-20. The territory of the two Amorite kings stretched from the river Jabbok in the S. to the Hauran Mts. in the N., and included the district of Argob. In later days it was divided into Iturea, Gaulanitis, Batanea, Trachonitis and Auranitis.
and the land of the king of Heshbon ] R.V. even the land, &c. The ‘copula’ is used to define the previous words, cf. Neh 9:16 ‘they and our fathers.’ Neh 8:7. The LXX. omit ‘and the land’ ( ).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou didst divide them into corners – i. e., parts of the holy land; or as some prefer thou didst distribute them on all sides.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. The land of Og king of Bashan.] It is most evident that Sihon was king of Heshbon. How then can it be said that they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon? The words the land of the king of Heshbon are wanting in two of De Rossi’s MSS. In another MS. the words and the land of are wanting; so that the clause is read, They possessed the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon. The Septuagint has the same reading; the Arabic nearly the same, viz., the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon. The Syriac has, They possessed the land of Sihon, the land of the KINGS of Heshbon. The reading of the text is undoubtedly wrong; that supported by the MSS. and by the Septuagint is most likely to be the true one. Those of the Arabic and Syriac contain at least no contradictory sense. The and in the Hebrew and our version, distinguishes two lands and two kings; the land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon: when it is most certain that only one land and one king can be meant: but the vau may be translated here as it often is, even: EVEN the land of the king of Heshbon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Into corners, or, into a corner. But the singular number is very commonly put for the plural. This is understood, either,
1. Of the Israelites, to whom God divided by lot the
kingdoms and nations last mentioned, and gave them all the corners, or sides, or quarters (for all these the word signifies) of their land. Or rather,
2. Of the heathen nations, whom God in a great measure destroyed, and the remainders of them he dispersed into corners; that whereas before the Israelites came they had large habitations and dominions, now they were cooped up into corners, some of them into one town or city, and some into another, in the several corners of their land, as indeed we find them afterward; whilst thee Israelites dwelt in a large place, and had the possession of their whole land, some few and small parcels excepted. Compare Deu 32:26, where the like phrase is used in the same sense.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. Moreover thou gavest themkingdoms and nationsthat is, put them in possession of a richcountry, of an extensive territory, which had been once occupied by avariety of princes and people.
and didst divide them intocornersthat is, into tribes. The propriety of the expressionarose from the various districts touching at points or angles on eachother.
the land of Sihon, and theland of the king of HeshbonHeshbon being the capital city, thepassage should run thus: “the land of Sihon or the land of theking of Heshbon.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms and nations,…. The two kingdoms of Sihon and Og, and the seven nations of Canaan:
and didst divide them into corners; or “corner”; into every corner of the land of Canaan, so that they possessed the whole of it, a few cities excepted; Jarchi interprets it of one corner, that they might not be mixed with the people of the land, but be all together in one place; but Aben Ezra understands it of the Canaanites, of their being divided and scattered into corners, when they fled from the Israelites; but the former sense seems best:
so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon; or “eren”, or “namely” z, “the land of the king of Heshbon”; for Sihon was king of Heshbon, and so the land the same:
and the land of Og king of Bashan; those lands both lay on the other side Jordan, and were possessed by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
z So Piscator, Patrick, Rambachius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. Gods compassion takes them to Canaan.
TEXT, Neh. 9:22-25
22
Thou didst also give them kingdoms and peoples,
And Thou didst allot them to them as a boundary.
And they took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshboh,
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23
And Thou didst make their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,
And Thou didst bring them into the land
Which Thou hadst told their fathers to enter and possess.
24
So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And Thou didst subdue before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And Thou didst give them into their hand, with their kings, and the peoples of the land,
To do with them as they desired.
25
And they 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 Thy great goodness.
COMMENT
Israels entrance into the Promised Land came in two stages.
Neh. 9:22 describes the conquest of the East Bank. Sihon and the Amorites inhabited the land by the Dead Sea; Heshbon was one of their cities. Og and the people of Bashan were closer to the Sea of Galilee. Psa. 135:11 is another example of how this event was impressed on their minds in relation to their entry into the land.
In Neh. 9:24 they go on to the West Bank,
Neh. 9:23; Neh. 9:25 fit both situations. Their growing fat, in Neh. 9:25, speaks of their prosperity; in a culture where hunger was the rule, fat was beautiful (Pro. 13:4). The word revel in Hebrew has the name, Eden, in it; it speaks of delight and pleasantness. Under God, their Eden was being restored.
We realize that the two words, fat and reveled, are taken by many as evidence of apostasy; but the phrase, in Thy great goodness, suggests a more positive interpretation. Even good things can be used in excess; here we see them as goods; in other contexts the first term especially can be associated with excess. The transition to evil comes more naturally with the But of the next verse.
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
(22) Divide them into corners.Strict usage of the term would require: Thou didst divide unto them [these nations] in their boundaries.
And the land.There is a double reference to Sihon, king of Heshbon. This and Bashan were taken as the earnest of the possession of Canaan.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Thou gavest them kingdoms and nations Namely, the kingdoms and peoples of the land of Canaan.
Divide them into corners Or, divide them according to borders. That is, thou didst divide those kingdoms (their territory) according to definite boundary lines. The conquered land was distributed among the Israelites according to their tribes, as is recorded in the Book of Joshua So Bertheau and Keil explain; but others, as Gesenius, refer the suffix to the Israelites, thus: thou didst distribute them (the Israelites) into various quarters.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 9:22. Moreover thou gavest them, &c. Thou gavest them the kingdoms of the people, which thou didst divide to each of them. Houbigant. The author of the Observations gives a different explanation of the passage, which the reader will find in our note on Amo 3:12.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Neh 9:22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
Ver. 22. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations ] God gave them all; for he is the true proprietary, he pulleth down one, and setteth up another. This Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged (after he had been turned a grazing), and Charles V, emperor of Germany, who in twenty-eight battles in America, waged by Cortez and Pizarro, won twenty-eight kingdoms. And what a world of nations are swallowed up in the greatness of the Turkish empire! America hath the happiness to be out of their reach.
So they possessed the land of Sihon
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
nations = peoples.
divide them into corners = apportion them their lot. Hebrew. pe’ah = quarter, region. See Lev 19:9; Lev 23:22. Compare Jer 9:26; Jer 49:32. The word occurs in the allotment of the Land, in Jos 15:5; Jos 18:12, Jos 18:14, Jos 18:15, Jos 18:20.
Sihon . . . Og. Compare Num 21:21, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Penalty of Ingratitude and Disobedience
Neh 9:22-38
The theme of this prayer is the covenant mercy of God. However great the provocation of the Chosen People, He never swerved from His ancient promise to their fathers. He testified against them by His Spirit and chastened them for their sins. He allowed them to be oppressed by their enemies and carried into captivity. But when they returned and cried for His help they found His manifold mercies waiting to welcome, forgive, and restore them. They were conscious that there was nothing in themselves or even in their fathers to explain these wonderful dealings, and the secret had ever to be found in His great mercies. In this hour of distress, they turned back to Him and bound themselves by a faithful covenant. But, alas, even written promises will not hold the wayward heart of man. What a picture this is of our own lives, and how often have all these experiences been repeated in us! Fortunately for us we are represented now, not by our promises and prayers, but by Jesus Christ, in whom we stand and are accepted and kept.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
thou: Jos 10:11, Psa 78:65, Psa 105:44
divide: Deu 32:26, Jos 11:23
Sihon: Num 21:21-35, Deu 2:26-36, Deu 3:1-17, Psa 135:10-12, Psa 136:17-22
Reciprocal: Exo 3:8 – unto a good Num 21:24 – Israel Num 32:3 – Heshbon Deu 1:4 – General Deu 2:32 – General Jos 12:2 – Sihon Jos 24:8 – General Jdg 11:20 – General 1Ch 6:81 – Heshbon Psa 44:2 – drive out Psa 78:55 – cast Psa 80:9 – preparedst Psa 135:11 – Sihon Psa 136:21 – General Jer 32:23 – possessed Eze 20:28 – when I Amo 2:9 – I the Hab 3:6 – and drove Hab 3:12 – didst march
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 9:22. And didst divide them into corners That is, the heathen nations, whom God in a great measure destroyed, and the remainders of them he dispersed into corners; that whereas, before the Israelites came, they had large habitations, now they were cooped up, some in one town, and some in another, in the several corners of their land, while the Israelites dwelt in a large place, and had the possession of their whole land, some few and small parcels excepted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst {d} divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
(d) Meaning, the heathen whom he drove out.