Neh 9:26-31 | KD | STEP | again contains, like , a general condemnation of the conduct of the children of Israel towards the Lord their God during the period between their entrance into Canaan and the captivity, which is then justified by the facts adduced in the verses following. In proof of their disobedience, it is mentioned that they cast the commands of God behind their back (comp. 1Ki 14:19; ), and slew the prophets, e.g., Zechariah ( ), the prophets of the days of Jezebel (1Ki 18:13; 1Ki 19:10), and others who rebuked their sins to turn them from them. בּ העיד, to testify against sinners, comp. 2Ki 17:13, 2Ki 17:15. The last clause of is a kind of refrain, repeated from Neh 9:18.

‏ Nehemiah 9:26-31

Neh 9:26 again contains, like Neh 9:16, a general condemnation of the conduct of the children of Israel towards the Lord their God during the period between their entrance into Canaan and the captivity, which is then justified by the facts adduced in the verses following. In proof of their disobedience, it is mentioned that they cast the commands of God behind their back (comp. 1Ki 14:19; Eze 23:35), and slew the prophets, e.g., Zechariah (2Ch 24:21), the prophets of the days of Jezebel (1Ki 18:13; 1Ki 19:10), and others who rebuked their sins to turn them from them. בּ העיד, to testify against sinners, comp. 2Ki 17:13, 2Ki 17:15. The last clause of Neh 9:26 is a kind of refrain, repeated from Neh 9:18. Neh 9:27-28

Neh 9:27 and Neh 9:28 refer to the times of the judges; comp. Jdg 2:11-23. מושׁיעים are the judges whom God raised up to deliver Israel out of the power of their oppressors; comp. Jdg 3:9. with Neh 2:16. עתּים רבּות, multitudes of times, is a co-ordinate accusative: at many times, frequently; רבּות like Lev 25:51. Neh 9:29-30 “And testifiedst against them, to bring them back again to Thy law; yet they hearkened not to Thy commandments, and sinned against Thy judgments, which if a man do he shall live in them, and gave a resisting shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. Neh 9:30 And Thou didst bear with them many years, and didst testify against them by Thy Spirit through Thy prophets; but they would not hearken, therefore Thou gavest them into the hand of the people of the lands. Neh 9:31 Nevertheless in Thy great mercy Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art gracious and merciful.”

Neh 9:29 and Neh 9:30 treat of the times of the kings. בּהם ותּעד is the testimony of the prophets against the idolatrous people; comp. Neh 9:26. וּבמשׁפּטיך is emphatically prefixed, and taken up again by בּם. The sentence, which if a man do he shall live in them, is formed upon Lev 18:5, comp. Eze 20:11. On the figurative expression, they gave a resisting shoulder, comp. Zec 7:11. The simile is taken from the ox, who rears against the yoke, and desires not to bear it; comp. Hos 4:16. The sentences following are repeated from Neh 9:16. עליהם תּמשׁך is an abbreviated expression for חסד משׁך, Psa 36:11; Psa 109:12; Jer 31:3, to draw out, to extend for a long time favour to any one: Thou hadst patience with them for many years, viz., the whole period of kingly rule from Solomon to the times of the Assyrians. The delivering into the power of the people of the lands, i.e., of the heathen (comp. Psa 106:40.), began with the invasion of the Assyrians (comp. Neh 9:32), who destroyed the kingdom of the ten tribes, and was inflicted upon Judah also by means of the Chaldeans. Neh 9:31

But in the midst of these judgments also, God, according to His promise, Jer 4:27; Jer 5:10, Jer 5:18; Jer 30:11, and elsewhere, did not utterly forsake His people, nor make a full end of them; for He did not suffer them to become extinct in exile, but preserved a remnant, and delivered it from captivity.