Nehemiah 9:16

16 "But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey thy 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 thou didst make known to them thy holy sabbath and command them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses thy servant.

15 Thou didst give them bread from heaven for their hunger and bring forth water for them from the rock for their thirst, and thou didst tell them to go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

16 "But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey thy commandments;

17 they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders which thou didst perform among them; but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But thou art a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and didst not forsake them.

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