Nehemiah 9:25

25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took possession of well-supplied houses, rock-hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.^[a] They ate, were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in Your great goodness.

Nehemiah 9:25 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:25

And they took strong cities
Such as, in an hyperbolical way, are said to be walled up to heaven, ( Deuteronomy 1:28 )

and a fat land;
of a good and fruitful soil, abounding with all good things, ( Deuteronomy 8:7 Deuteronomy 8:8 )

and possessed houses full of all goods;
ready built and furnished for them, both with good provisions and good furniture:

wells digged;
to supply them with water:

vineyards, and olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance;
which they planted not:

and they did eat, and were filled, and became fat;
in body, though in mind became wanton and wicked; they made their hearts fat, or stupid, as Aben Ezra interprets it, see ( Deuteronomy 32:15 ) ( Isaiah 6:10 )

and delighted themselves in thy great goodness;
not in praising the Lord for it, and using it to his honour and glory, but indulged themselves to luxury and intemperance; though it may be understood of a lawful pleasure in the enjoyment of the great affluence they were brought into, which last agrees with what follows.

Nehemiah 9:25 In-Context

23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You told their ancestors to go in and take possession [of it].

24 So their descendants went in and possessed the land: You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them, to do as they pleased with them.

25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took possession of well-supplied houses, rock-hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate, were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in Your great goodness.

26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You. They flung Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who warned them to turn them back to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

27 So You handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. In their time of distress, they cried out to You, and You heard from heaven. In Your abundant compassion You gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the power of their enemies.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 6:11