Nehemiah 9:30

30 Year after year you patiently warned them. ¹ You inspired your prophets to speak, but your people were deaf, so you let them be conquered by other nations.

Nehemiah 9:30 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:30

Yet many years didst thou forbear them
Throughout the reigns of several kings, such was God's longsuffering towards them: or, "thou didst draw upon them"; that is, his mercy, as Jarchi interprets it; he drew it out of his heart, and prolonged it towards them:

and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets;
who reproved and admonished them, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God in them, who spoke in his name, and what he suggested to them:

yet they would not give ear;
to what the prophets said, and the Spirit of God in them:

therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands:
people that were lords of many countries, as the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

Nehemiah 9:30 In-Context

28 When peace returned, they sinned again, and again you let their enemies conquer them. Yet when they repented and asked you to save them, in heaven you heard, and time after time you rescued them in your great mercy.

29 You warned them to obey your teachings, but in pride they rejected your laws, although keeping your Law is the way to life. Hard-headed and stubborn, they refused to obey.

30 Year after year you patiently warned them. You inspired your prophets to speak, but your people were deaf, so you let them be conquered by other nations.

31 And yet, because your mercy is great, you did not forsake or destroy them. You are a gracious and merciful God!

32 "O God, our God, how great you are! How terrifying, how powerful! You faithfully keep your covenant promises. From the time when Assyrian kings oppressed us, even till now, how much we have suffered! Our kings, our leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors, and all our people have suffered. Remember how much we have suffered!

Cross References

• 1. 9.30 2 K 17.13-18;2 Chronicles 36.15, 16.