Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 1:6

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

6. The humble access leading to the confession of sin.

let thine ear now be attentive ] The word ‘attentive’ is not very common in the original. It occurs again in Neh 1:11, in Psa 130:2. And with the rendering ‘attent’ (A.V. and R.V.) in 2Ch 6:40 ; 2Ch 7:15. The LXX. renders .

and thine eyes open ] We should expect this clause to come first, as in 2Ch 6:40; 2Ch 7:15. We need not however supply the words ‘to the misery of thy people’ or ‘to him that prayeth.’ A similar passage in 1Ki 8:52, ‘that thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant,’ shows that the metaphor is not to be pressed too literally.

hear ] R.V. hearken unto. An alteration due to the wish to give the full force of the Hebrew. ‘Thy servant.’ Compare 1Sa 3:9-10; 1Sa 23:10 ; 2Sa 7:20.

now, day and night ] R.V. at this time, day and night. Literally, ‘this day, day and night,’ cf. Neh 1:11. ‘At this time’ then refers to the ‘certain days’ mentioned in Neh 1:4: it does not mean that he went into the presence of the king on the day of this prayer.

The Vulgate ‘hodie nocte et die.’ Cf. Act 20:31 ‘night and day with tears.’

for the children of Israel thy servants ] i.e. in their behalf. In spite of their sin and disobedience, the children of Israel are still God’s servants, cf. Lev 25:55; Isa 63:17. The exact phrase used here does not occur elsewhere. But the permanent ideal relation, in spite of all failure or rebellion, is frequently expressed in the prophets; cf. ‘Jacob, my servant,’ used in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; Isa 44:2 &c.), Jeremiah (Jer 30:10; Jer 46:27-28), Eze 37:25.

and confess ] R.V. while I confess. The A.V. is not grammatical.

‘Confess.’ See on Ezr 10:1.

the sins of the children of Israel, which we &c.] Nehemiah identifies himself with the guilt of the people. Cf. Moses in Exo 34:9 ‘Pardon our iniquity and our sin.’

both I and my father’s house ] i.e. Neither the individual nor the family being free from the responsibility of national sin. It has been remarked that, if Nehemiah belonged to the house of David, there would be a special appropriateness in these words. According to one tradition (Euseb.), he was of the tribe of Judah.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 6. Let thine ear] Hear what we say and confess. Thine eyes open – see what we suffer.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Let thine ear be now attentive,…. To his prayer, as in Ne 1:11,

and thine eyes open; to behold with pity and compassion the distressed case of Jerusalem, and the Jews in it:

I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants; this he had continued to do ever since he heard of their trouble and calamity:

and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned; he considered sin as the cause of all this evil that had befallen his people, and confesses it with sorrow and humiliation, and not their sins only, but his own personal and family sins.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

6. Thine ear thine eyes He that formed the ear, shall he not hear his children’s cry? He that made the eye, shall he not see the sufferings of his people?

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

Ver. 6. Let thine ears now be attentive, and thine eyes open ] Should not God see as well as hear (saith a divine), his children should want many things. We apprehend not all our wants; and so cannot pray for relief of all. He of his own accord, without any monitor, is wont to aid us. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous; and his ears are open to their prayer,” Psa 33:15 .

That thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant ] If not secundum voluntatem, yet ad utilitatem (Aug. Confess. 1. 5, c. 8), but usually God answereth his servants’ prayers, fitting his mercy ad cardinem desiderii, to a longing heart, as here; and letting it be unto them even as they will.

Which I pray before thee now, day and night ] Christ requireth his servants and suppliants to pray and not faint, Luk 18:1 . Ordinarily, morning and evening without fail; extraordinarily, oftener. The Jews divide their day into prayer, work, and repast; neither will they omit prayer for their meat or labour. The Mahometans, what occasion soever they have, either by profit or pleasure, to divert them, will pray five times every day; and upon the Friday (which is their sabbath) six times. Vae torpori nostro! woe our numbness, how few and feeble are our prayers for ourselves and for brethren in distress; who have for that cause an unanswerable action against us!

And confess the sins of the children of Israel ] This he did more fully and at large than is here set down; and he fitly beginnneth with confession; that having gotten off the guilt of sin, he might with more courage and comfort deprecate wrath, and beg mercy.

Which we have sinned against thee ] There lay the pinch of his grief, that they sinned against so good a God.

Both I and my father’s house have sinned] Hic igitur Lyra deliravit, Lyra is incorrect when he saith here, that Nehemiah confessed his own sins, but only as a member of the same body, he himself being innocent. Comparatively innocent he was, doubtless; but that he was not without sin, and such sin as he had cause to confess to be God provoking sins, is clear by this very text. He was sensible of his own sins, and of other men’s sins too. The sins of our ancestors not bewailed and disclaimed, are set upon our score, Dan 5:22 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

ear. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6. Neherniah refers to Lev 26:40-45, and 1Ki 8:46-52.

children = sons.

sins . . . sinned. . . sinned. Hebrew. chata, ‘. App-44.

I. Like Daniel, he includes himself. Compare Dan 9:3-19.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

thine ear: 1Ki 8:28, 1Ki 8:29, 2Ch 6:40, Psa 34:15, Psa 130:2, Dan 9:17, Dan 9:18

day and night: 1Sa 15:11, Psa 55:17, Psa 88:1, Luk 2:37, Luk 18:7, 1Ti 5:5, 2Ti 1:3

confess: Ezr 9:6, Ezr 9:7, Ezr 10:11, Psa 32:5, Isa 64:6, Isa 64:7, Lam 3:39-42, Dan 9:4, Dan 9:20, 1Jo 1:9

both I: 2Ch 28:10, 2Ch 29:6, Psa 106:6, Isa 6:5, Lam 5:7, Eph 2:3

Reciprocal: Lev 16:21 – confess over 1Ki 8:30 – when they shall 1Ki 8:47 – saying 2Ch 6:20 – thine eyes 2Ch 6:37 – We have sinned 2Ch 7:15 – mine eyes Neh 1:11 – Let now Neh 9:2 – confessed Psa 17:1 – attend Psa 102:17 – He will Lam 1:18 – for I Dan 9:5 – have sinned Zec 12:4 – I will open

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Neh 1:6. Which I pray before thee night and day He refers to all the prayers which he had for some time been addressing to God, during his sorrow for the desolations of Jerusalem.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments