Nehemiah 9:34

34 Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

Nehemiah 9:34 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:34

Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our
fathers, kept thy law
All ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest, had shown no regard, nor yielded obedience to the holy law of God:

nor hearkened unto thy commandments, and thy testimonies, wherewith
thou didst testify against them;
moral and ceremonial, which were a testification of the will of God to them, and a testimony against them if they observed them not.

Nehemiah 9:34 In-Context

32 "And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps [his] covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33 You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.

34 Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

35 And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds.

36 Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors to eat its fruits and [enjoy] its goodness--behold, we are slaves in it!

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "fathers"
• [b]. Hebrew torah