Nehemiah 9:38

The People Agree to Obey God's Law

38 "So we are making a firm agreement. We're writing it down. Our leaders are stamping it with their seals. And so are our Levites and priests."

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 "Now look at us. We are slaves today. We're slaves in the land you gave our people long ago. You gave it to them so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces.

37 But we have sinned against you. So its great harvest goes to the kings of Persia. You have placed them over us. They rule over our bodies and cattle just as they please. And we are suffering terribly.

38 "So we are making a firm agreement. We're writing it down. Our leaders are stamping it with their seals. And so are our Levites and priests."