Nehemiah 9:16

16 "But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks 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 and you made known your holy sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through your servant Moses.

15 For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.

16 "But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments;

17 they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them; but they stiffened their necks and determined to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.

18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, "This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies,