Nehemiah 9:20

20 And thou gavest to them thy good Spirit, that taught them; and thou forbadest not thine angel's meat, (or thy manna,) from their mouth(s), and thou gavest to them water in their thirst (and thou gavest them water for their thirst).

Nehemiah 9:20 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:20

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them
In the knowledge of the laws delivered to them; the spirit of prophecy, according to Ben Melech, and which Aben Ezra interprets of the spirit put upon the seventy elders, ( Numbers 11:17 Numbers 11:25 ) ,

and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth;
all the while they were in the wilderness, until they came to Canaan's land; called the Lord's manna, because prepared by him, and given by him to them; a part or portion and gift from the Lord, as Ben Melech, from whence it had its name, see ( Exodus 16:15 )

and gavest them water for their thirst;
which seems to have respect to the last rock stricken for them, after their many provocations in the wilderness, ( Numbers 20:11 ) .

Nehemiah 9:20 In-Context

18 and when they had made to them a molten calf, as by strife, and had said, This is thy God, Israel, that led thee out of Egypt, and they did great blasphemies to thy name. (even when they made for themselves a metal idol, yea, a calf, and said, Israel, this is thy god, that led thee out of Egypt, and they did great blasphemies to thy name.)
19 But thou, Lord, in thy many mercies leftest, or forsookest, not them in (the) desert; for a pillar of cloud went not away from them by the day, that it should lead them into the way whither they were to go; and the pillar of fire went not away from them by night, that it should show to them the way, by which they should enter. (Yet thou, Lord, in thy many mercies, did not leave, or forsake, them in the desert; for the pillar of cloud went not away from them in the day, so that it could lead them in the way that they should to go; and the pillar of fire went not away from them in the night, so that it could also show them the way that they should go.)
20 And thou gavest to them thy good Spirit, that taught them; and thou forbadest not thine angel's meat, (or thy manna,) from their mouth(s), and thou gavest to them water in their thirst (and thou gavest them water for their thirst).
21 Forty years thou feddest them in (the) desert, and nothing failed to them (and nothing failed for them); their clothes waxed not eld, and their feet were not hurt, (or swollen).
22 And thou gavest to them realms, and peoples; and thou partedest lots, either heritages, to them, and they had in possession the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan. (And thou gavest kingdoms, and peoples to them; and thou partedest to them lots, or inheritances, and they took possession of the land of Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, the king of Bashan.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.