Nehemiah 9:20

20 You gave your good spirit to teach them. You didn't withhold your manna from them, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Nehemiah 9:20 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:20

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them
In the knowledge of the laws delivered to them; the spirit of prophecy, according to Ben Melech, and which Aben Ezra interprets of the spirit put upon the seventy elders, ( Numbers 11:17 Numbers 11:25 ) ,

and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth;
all the while they were in the wilderness, until they came to Canaan's land; called the Lord's manna, because prepared by him, and given by him to them; a part or portion and gift from the Lord, as Ben Melech, from whence it had its name, see ( Exodus 16:15 )

and gavest them water for their thirst;
which seems to have respect to the last rock stricken for them, after their many provocations in the wilderness, ( Numbers 20:11 ) .

Nehemiah 9:20 In-Context

18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves, saying, "This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt," and holding you in great contempt,

19 you, in your great mercy, didn't abandon them in the wilderness. The column of cloud continued to guide them on their journey during the day, and the column of lightning lit their path during the night.

20 You gave your good spirit to teach them. You didn't withhold your manna from them, and you gave them water for their thirst.

21 You kept them alive for forty years— they lacked nothing in the wilderness! Their clothes didn't wear out, and their feet didn't swell.

22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and assigned to them every side. They took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.