Nehemiah 9:11-21

11 1And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, 2as a stone into mighty waters.
12 By 3a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.
13 4You came down on Mount Sinai 5and spoke with them from heaven and gave them 6right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
14 7and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.
15 8You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and 9brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you 10told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
16 "But they and our fathers 11acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.
17 They refused to obey 12and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, 13gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
18 Even 14when they had made for themselves a golden[a] calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,'15and had committed great blasphemies,
19 you 16in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. 17The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, 18nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.
20 19You gave your good Spirit to instruct them 20and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.
21 21Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Nehemiah 9:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 9

In this chapter we have an account of a fast kept by the Jews, which was observed, as by outward acts of humiliation, so by confession of sin, reading the law, and worshipping the Lord, Ne 9:1-3 and of a long prayer that the Levites made, in which they celebrate the divine perfections, take notice of various instances of the goodness of God to the people of Israel, acknowledge their manifold transgressions, observe the Lord's correction of them for them, in which they own he was righteous, Ne 9:4-38.

Cross References 21

  • 1. Ex. 14:21, 22, 27, 28; Psalms 78:13
  • 2. Exodus 15:5, 10
  • 3. ver. 19; Exodus 13:21, 22; Numbers 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:1
  • 4. Exodus 19:20
  • 5. See Exodus 20:1-17
  • 6. Psalms 19:8, 9; [Romans 7:12]; See Psalms 119
  • 7. Exodus 16:23; Exodus 20:8-11; [Genesis 2:2, 3; Ezekiel 20:12, 20]
  • 8. [Exodus 16:14, 15; Psalms 78:25; Psalms 105:40; 1 Corinthians 10:3]; Cited John 6:31
  • 9. Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:10; Psalms 78:15-17; Psalms 105:41; 1 Corinthians 10:4
  • 10. Deuteronomy 1:8
  • 11. Exodus 18:11
  • 12. Ps. 78:11, 42, 43
  • 13. ver. 31; Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalms 86:5, 15; Joel 2:13
  • 14. Exodus 32:4; Psalms 106:19, 20; Acts 7:41
  • 15. ver. 26; Psalms 78:41, 58; [Hebrews 3:15]
  • 16. ver. 27, 31; Psalms 106:45
  • 17. See ver. 12
  • 18. See ver. 12
  • 19. Isaiah 63:11; [Numbers 11:17]
  • 20. [Exodus 16:35]; See ver. 15
  • 21. Deuteronomy 2:7

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.