Nehemiah 9:16

16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

Nehemiah 9:16 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:16

But they and our fathers dealt proudly
Behaved in a haughty manner towards God, their kind benefactor:

and hardened their necks;
refused to take the yoke of his law, as refractory oxen, that withdraw their necks from the yoke:

and hearkened not to thy commandments;
to do them, though they promised they would, ( Exodus 24:7 ) .

Nehemiah 9:16 In-Context

14 You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

15 In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them.

16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

18 Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,