Nehemiah 9:20

20 You also gave your good Spirit to teach them, did not withhold man from their mouths and provided them water to quench their thirst. 1142

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 cast themselves a metal calf, saying of it, "This is your god that brought you up from Egypt,"and committing other gross provocations;

19 still, you, in your great compassion, did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud did not leave them by day; it kept leading them along the way. By night the column of fire kept showing them light and the path to take.

20 You also gave your good Spirit to teach them, did not withhold man from their mouths and provided them water to quench their thirst. 1142

21 Yes, forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing -their clothes did not wear out; their feet did not swell up.

22 "'You gave them kingdoms and peoples; you even gave them extra land, so that they took possession of the land of Sichon, also the land of the king of Heshbon and the land of 'Og king of Bashan.