Nehemiah 9:36

36 Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it.

Nehemiah 9:36 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:36

Behold, we are servants this day
For though they had leave to return to their land, and rebuild their city and temple, yet they were still in subjection to the kings of Persia:

and for the land thou gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit
thereof, and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it;
though the rightful owners and proprietors of it by the gift of God to their ancestors, to hold it and enjoy the good of it, and yet were obliged to pay tribute for it to the kings of Persia, all excepting priests and Levites; see ( Ezra 6:8 ) ( Ezra 7:20 Ezra 7:24 ) .

Nehemiah 9:36 In-Context

34 And our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers, have not performed thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35 And they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land that thou didst set before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36 Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it.

37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.

38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, [and] our priests are at the sealing.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'bondmen.'