Nehemiah 9:32

32 Now therefore, our Lord God, great God, strong, and fearedful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, our kings, and our princes, and our fathers, and our priests, and our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of king Assur till to this day. (And so now, Lord our God, the great God, strong, and fearful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, yea, our kings, and our leaders, our fathers, and our priests, our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.)

Nehemiah 9:32 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:32

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the
terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy
The same titles Nehemiah gives to the Lord, ( Nehemiah 1:5 ) and it may be reasonably thought the whole prayer is his composure, which was delivered by him to the Levites:

let not all the trouble seem little before thee;
as if it was not enough; let it be judged sufficient, and no more be added, but mercy shown; Aben Ezra thinks the word "little" is not to be connected with "trouble", but with the nearest antecedent "mercy", and so Gussetius {z}; as if the sense was, let not thy mercy be small with thee, but let it be largely extended along with all the trouble, or at the time when trouble of every kind

comes 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
times of the kings of Assyria unto this day;
but this sense is not clear, and makes it have respect to times to come; whereas it relates to time past, and to all the trouble and affliction they had met with from the Assyrian kings, from the time they invaded their land, and carried them captive, until this very time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ebr. Comment. p. 937.

Nehemiah 9:32 In-Context

30 And thou drewest along many years upon them, and thou witnessedest to them in thy Spirit, by the hand, or telling, of thy prophets, that they were law-breakers; and they heard them not; and therefore thou gavest them into the hand of the peoples of (the) lands. (And thou wast patient with them for many years, and thou witnessedest to them by thy Spirit, through the words of thy prophets, that they were Law-breakers; but they did not listen to them; and so thou gavest them into the hands of the peoples of the lands.)

31 But in thy mercies full many, thou madest not them to be into wasting, neither thou forsookest them; for thou art God of merciful doings, and meek. (But in thy very many mercies, thou didest not destroy them, nor abandonedest them; for thou art a merciful and gracious God.)

32 Now therefore, our Lord God, great God, strong, and fearedful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, our kings, and our princes, and our fathers, and our priests, and our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of king Assur till to this day. (And so now, Lord our God, the great God, strong, and fearful, keeping covenant and mercy, turn thou not away thy face from us in all the travail that hath found us, yea, our kings, and our leaders, our fathers, and our priests, our prophets, and all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.)

33 And Lord, thou art just in all (the) things, that came [up]on us, for thou didest truth(fully) to us; but we have done wickedly.

34 And our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our fathers, have not done thy law; and they perceived not thy behests and thy witnessings, which thou hast witnessed in thy behests. (And our kings, and our leaders, and our priests, and our fathers, have not obeyed thy Law; and they did not heed thy commandments and thy testimonies, which thou witnessed to them.)