Discovery BoxNehemiah 9:1-26
Context9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. 9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent 1 separated from all the foreigners, 2 standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 3 9:3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins 4 and worshiping the LORD their God. 9:4 Then the Levites – Jeshua, Binnui, 5 Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani – stood on the steps and called out loudly 6 to the LORD their God. 9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”
“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. 7 May your glorious name 8 be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise. 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, 9 along with all their multitude of stars, 10 the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
9:7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a 11 covenant with him to give his descendants 12 the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, 13 for you are righteous.
9:9 “You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 14 9:10 You performed awesome signs 15 against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians 16 had acted presumptuously 17 against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day. 9:11 You split the sea before them, and they crossed through 18 the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers 19 into the depths, like a stone into surging 20 waters. 9:12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.
9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through 21 Moses your servant. 9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn 22 to give them.
9:16 “But they – our ancestors 23 – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled 24 and did not obey your commandments. 9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. 25 But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. 26 You did not abandon them, 9:18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious 27 blasphemies.
9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, 28 nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. 9:20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. 9:21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. 29 They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon 30 and the land of King Og of Bashan. 9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. 9:24 Their descendants 31 entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased. 9:25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full 32 and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.
9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. 33 They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.
[9:2] 1 tn Heb “the seed of Israel.”
[9:2] 2 tn Heb “sons of a foreigner.”
[9:2] 3 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 16, 23, 32, 34, 36).
[9:3] 4 tn Heb “confessing.” The words “their sins” are not present in the Hebrew text of v. 3, but are clearly implied here because they are explicitly stated in v. 2.
[9:4] 5 tc Heb “Bani.” The translation reads “Binnui” (so also NAB) rather than the MT reading “Bani.” Otherwise there are two individuals with the same name in this verse. The name “Binnui” appears, for example, in Neh 10:10.
[9:4] 6 tn Heb “in a great voice.”
[9:5] 7 tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O
[9:5] 8 tn Heb “the name of your glory.”
[9:6] 9 tn Heb “the heavens of the heavens.”
[9:6] 10 tn Heb “all their host.”
[9:8] 11 tn Heb “the” (so NAB).
[9:9] 14 tn Heb “the Sea of Reeds.” Traditionally this is identified as the Red Sea, and the modern designation has been used in the translation for clarity.
[9:10] 15 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
[9:10] 16 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:10] 17 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
[9:11] 18 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
[9:11] 19 tn Heb “those who pursued them.”
[9:14] 21 tn Heb “by the hand of.”
[9:15] 22 tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”
[9:16] 23 tn Heb “and our fathers.” The vav is explicative.
[9:16] 24 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).
[9:17] 25 tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew
[9:17] 26 tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.
[9:19] 28 tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”
[9:22] 29 tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:22] 30 tc Most Hebrew
[9:25] 32 tn Heb “they ate and were sated.” This expression is a hendiadys. The first verb retains its full verbal sense, while the second functions adverbially: “they ate and were filled” = “they ate until they were full.”
