Nehemiah 9:29

29 You also warned them to return to your Instruction, but they acted arrogantly and didn't obey your commands. They sinned against your judgments, even though life comes by keeping them. They turned a stubborn shoulder, became headstrong, and wouldn't obey.

Nehemiah 9:29 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:29

And testifiedst against them
By sending prophets to them, to admonish them of their sins, and remind them of their duty:

that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law;
to regard it, and walk according it:

yet they dealt proudly;
with an haughty air rejected the counsel of God:

and hearkened not unto thy commandments;
yielded not obedience to them:

but sinned against thy judgments;
transgressed his laws, which were so just, righteous, reasonable, and equitable:

which if a man do, he shall live in them;
or by them, in the land of Canaan, see ( Leviticus 18:5 ) ,

and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear;
like oxen, that wriggle and struggle, and draw back, and will not admit the yoke upon them.

Nehemiah 9:29 In-Context

27 Therefore, you handed them over to the power of their enemies who made them suffer. But when they cried out to you in their suffering, you heard them from heaven. Because you are merciful, you gave them saviors who saved them from the power of their enemies.

28 But after they had rest from this, they again started doing evil against you. So you gave them over to the power of their enemies who ruled over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven and rescued them many times because of your great mercy.

29 You also warned them to return to your Instruction, but they acted arrogantly and didn't obey your commands. They sinned against your judgments, even though life comes by keeping them. They turned a stubborn shoulder, became headstrong, and wouldn't obey.

30 You were patient with them for many years and warned them by your spirit through the prophets. But they wouldn't listen, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples.

31 In your great mercy, however, you didn't make an end of them. Neither did you forsake them, because you are a merciful and compassionate God.

Footnotes

• [a]. Them refers to judgments.