Nehemiah 9:30

30 "Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets. Yet would they not give ear; therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

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 "But after they had rest, they did evil again before Thee. Therefore leftest Thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven. And many times didst Thou deliver them according to Thy mercies,

29 and testifiedst against them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law. Yet they dealt proudly and hearkened not unto Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgments (which if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdrew the shoulder and hardened their neck and would not hear.

30 "Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets. Yet would they not give ear; therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

31 Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou did not utterly consume them nor forsake them, for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32 "Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before Thee that hath come upon us--on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.