Nehemiah 9:29

29 And thou witnessedest to them, that they should turn again to thy law; but they did proudly, and heard not thy behests, and sinned in thy dooms, which a man that shall do (them), shall live in those; but they gave their shoulder and went away, and they made hard their nolls, and would not obey to thy dooms. (And thou witnessedest to them, that they should return to thy Law; but they did proudly, and would not listen to thy commandments, and sinned against thy judgements, which if a man shall do them, he shall live; but instead, they gave their shoulder to you and went away, and they were stiff-necked, or stubborn, and would not obey thy judgements.)

Nehemiah 9:29 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:29

And testifiedst against them
By sending prophets to them, to admonish them of their sins, and remind them of their duty:

that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law;
to regard it, and walk according it:

yet they dealt proudly;
with an haughty air rejected the counsel of God:

and hearkened not unto thy commandments;
yielded not obedience to them:

but sinned against thy judgments;
transgressed his laws, which were so just, righteous, reasonable, and equitable:

which if a man do, he shall live in them;
or by them, in the land of Canaan, see ( Leviticus 18:5 ) ,

and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear;
like oxen, that wriggle and struggle, and draw back, and will not admit the yoke upon them.

Nehemiah 9:29 In-Context

27 And thou gavest them into the hand(s) of their enemies; and they tormented them; and in the time of their tribulation they cried to thee; and thou heardest them from heaven, and by thy many merciful doings thou gavest them saviours, that saved them from the hand of their enemies (who saved them from the hands, or the power, of their enemies).

28 And when they had rested, they turned again to do evil in thy sight; and thou forsookest them in the hand of their enemies, and (their) enemies had them in possession; then they were turned again to thee, and cried to thee; and in thy mercy doing thou heardest them from heaven, and deliveredest them by many times. (And after they had rested, or had stopped for a while, again they turned to do evil before thee; and thou abandonedest them into the hands of their enemies, and their enemies subjugated them; then they turned again to thee, and cried to thee; and thou heardest them from heaven, and many times in thy mercy thou deliveredest them.)

29 And thou witnessedest to them, that they should turn again to thy law; but they did proudly, and heard not thy behests, and sinned in thy dooms, which a man that shall do (them), shall live in those; but they gave their shoulder and went away, and they made hard their nolls, and would not obey to thy dooms. (And thou witnessedest to them, that they should return to thy Law; but they did proudly, and would not listen to thy commandments, and sinned against thy judgements, which if a man shall do them, he shall live; but instead, they gave their shoulder to you and went away, and they were stiff-necked, or stubborn, and would not obey thy judgements.)

30 And thou drewest along many years upon them, and thou witnessedest to them in thy Spirit, by the hand, or telling, of thy prophets, that they were law-breakers; and they heard them not; and therefore thou gavest them into the hand of the peoples of (the) lands. (And thou wast patient with them for many years, and thou witnessedest to them by thy Spirit, through the words of thy prophets, that they were Law-breakers; but they did not listen to them; and so thou gavest them into the hands of the peoples of the lands.)

31 But in thy mercies full many, thou madest not them to be into wasting, neither thou forsookest them; for thou art God of merciful doings, and meek. (But in thy very many mercies, thou didest not destroy them, nor abandonedest them; for thou art a merciful and gracious God.)