Nehemiah 9:38

38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal^[a] unto it.

Nehemiah 9:38 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:38

And because of all this
Of all this distress, and that it might be removed, and be clear of it; or "in all this distress and evil", as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, in the midst of it all:

we make a sure covenant;
or faithfully promise to observe the law of God, and particularly put away strange wives, and not intermarry with the people of the land:

and write it;
that it may remain and be a testimony against them should they break it, being their own handwriting:

and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it;
as witnesses of it, and thereby binding themselves to observe the same things; their names that sealed are given in the next chapter.

Nehemiah 9:38 In-Context

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

37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also 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, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

Footnotes

• [a] seal: Heb. are at the sealing, or, sealed