Nehemiah 9:30

30 Many years ¹you bore with them ²and warned them ³by your Spirit through your prophets. ⁴Yet they would not give ear. ⁵Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Nehemiah 9:30 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:30

Yet many years didst thou forbear them
Throughout the reigns of several kings, such was God's longsuffering towards them: or, "thou didst draw upon them"; that is, his mercy, as Jarchi interprets it; he drew it out of his heart, and prolonged it towards them:

and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets;
who reproved and admonished them, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God in them, who spoke in his name, and what he suggested to them:

yet they would not give ear;
to what the prophets said, and the Spirit of God in them:

therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands:
people that were lords of many countries, as the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

Nehemiah 9:30 In-Context

28 But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.

29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.

30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 "Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

Cross References

• 1. [Acts 13:18]
• 2. ver. 26, 29, 34; 2 Kings 17:13
• 3. 1 Peter 1:10, 11; 2 Peter 1:21
• 4. Acts 7:51
• 5. Ezra 9:7; [Isaiah 42:24]