Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 9:23

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].

23. multipliedst ] See Deu 1:10; Deu 7:3.

as the stars of heaven ] The use of this simile may very probably be a reminiscence of the promise in Gen 15:5; Gen 22:17. Cf. Jer 33:22.

hadst promised ] R.V. didst say.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6-38. Thou, even thou, art Lordalone, &c.In this solemn and impressive prayer, in whichthey make public confession of their sins, and deprecate thejudgments due to the transgressions of their fathers, they begin witha profound adoration of God, whose supreme majesty and omnipotence isacknowledged in the creation, preservation, and government of all.Then they proceed to enumerate His mercies and distinguished favorsto them as a nation, from the period of the call of their greatancestor and the gracious promise intimated to him in the divinelybestowed name of Abraham, a promise which implied that he was to bethe Father of the faithful, the ancestor of the Messiah, and thehonored individual in whose seed all the families of the earth shouldbe blessed. Tracing in full and minute detail the signal instances ofdivine interposition for their deliverance and their interestintheir deliverance from Egyptian bondagetheir miraculous passagethrough the Red Seathe promulgation of His lawthe forbearanceand long-suffering shown them amid their frequent rebellionsthesignal triumphs given them over their enemiestheir happysettlement in the promised landand all the extraordinaryblessings, both in the form of temporal prosperity and of religiousprivilege, with which His paternal goodness had favored them aboveall other people, they charge themselves with making a miserablerequital. They confess their numerous and determined acts ofdisobedience. They read, in the loss of their national independenceand their long captivity, the severe punishment of their sins. Theyacknowledge that, in all heavy and continued judgments upon theirnation, God had done right, but they had done wickedly. And inthrowing themselves on His mercy, they express their purpose ofentering into a national covenant, by which they pledge themselves todutiful obedience in future.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven,…. Fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, Ge 15:5 their number when they came out of Egypt, and just before they entered into the land of Canaan, being upwards of 600,000 men, besides women and children, Ex 12:37

and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it; the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed, into which the Lord brought them by Joshua; he was the instrument, but the thing was of God.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Neh 9:23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].

Ver. 23. Their children also multipliedst thou ] Judaea was not above two hundred miles long and fifty miles broad (not near the half of England by much), yet what a numerous people they were! what huge armies they had!

And broughtest them into the land ] Not the nearest way, but the best for them; that he might humble them, and try them, and do them good in the latter end. If God will bring us to heaven at length (as Israel in the wilderness, so) must we follow him and the line of his law, though it seem to lead us in and out, backward and forward, as if we were treading a maze.

Concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers ] And they disposed of it by will to their posterity, as if they had been in present possession. God’s promises are good surehold: the patriarchs would be buried there, though they died in Egypt, and keep possession, as they could; for they knew that all was their own.

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

multipliedst: Gen 15:5, Gen 22:17, 1Ch 27:23

broughtest: Jos 1:1 – Jos 3:17

which thou: Gen 12:7, Gen 13:15-17, Gen 15:18, Gen 17:8, Gen 26:3

Reciprocal: Gen 47:27 – grew Exo 1:7 – fruitful Lev 26:9 – make you Num 14:23 – Surely they shall not see Num 26:51 – General Deu 1:10 – your God Deu 10:22 – as the stars Deu 28:62 – as the stars Jdg 4:1 – did evil Isa 9:3 – hast multiplied Isa 26:15 – increased Nah 3:16 – above Heb 6:14 – multiplying Heb 11:12 – as the stars

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge