Nehemiah 9:30

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 9:30. Many years didst thou forbear them — Thou didst delay to bring upon them those judgments which thou hadst threatened, and they had deserved, and didst wait for their repentance. And testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets — Who spake to them by thy divine inspiration, whom therefore they ought to have obeyed. Yet would they not give ear — That is, would not obey them, or even vouchsafe so much as to hear them. Therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands — At last God delivered them into the hands of the Chaldeans, who are called the people of the lands, because they got possession of all the neighbouring countries, which God put under their power, as he had other countries beyond the Euphrates.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our land, and our own history. Let us recollect our advantages from childhood, and ask what were our first returns? Let us frequently do so, that we may be kept humble, thankful, and watchful. Let all remember that pride and obstinacy are sins which ruin the soul. But it is often as hard to persuade the broken-hearted to hope, as formerly it was to bring them to fear. Is this thy case? Behold this sweet promise, A God ready to pardon! Instead of keeping away from God under a sense of unworthiness, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. He is a God ready to pardon.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou gavest them saviours - See Judges 3:15 etc.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations—that is, put them in possession of a rich country, of an extensive territory, which had been once occupied by a variety of princes and people.

and didst divide them into corners—that is, into tribes. The propriety of the expression arose from the various districts touching at points or angles on each other.

the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon—Heshbon being the capital city, the passage should run thus: "the land of Sihon or the land of the king of Heshbon."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Didst thou forbear them, i.e. thou didst delay to bring upon them those judgments which thou hadst threatened, and they had deserved, and didst wait for their repentance.

By thy spirit in thy prophets; by thy prophets, who shake to them by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, whom therefore they should have obeyed.

Yet would they not give ear, i.e. would not obey them, nor would they vouchsafe so much as to hear them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30, 31. The long-suffering of Jehovah

30. forbear them] R.V. bear with them. The ‘many years’ here spoken of contain the brief reference to the earlier monarchic period. ‘Bear with;’ literally ‘protract,’ ‘extend’ (LXX. ἥλκυσας. Vulg. ‘protraxisti’), as perhaps Jeremiah 31:3, marg. ‘Have I continued loving-kindness unto thee.’

by thy spirit in thy prophets] Cf. Zechariah 7:12, ‘The words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit by the hand of the former prophets.’ The words do not affirm the Personality of the Divine Spirit, but the Divine revelation to the mind of man, which was spiritual. The Spirit is the agent, the prophets are the channels of Divine communication. Cf. 1 Kings 22:24; 1 Peter 1:10-11; 2 Peter 1:21.

the people of the lands] R.V. the peoples of the lands. i.e. the heathen, Ezra 9:1.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - Many years didst thou forbear them. The ten tribes for 260 years from the revolt of Jeroboam, the remaining two tribes for 135 years longer. Testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets. Compare 2 Kings 17:13, where the phrase used is nearly the same, and see also 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16. There was a continual succession of prophets from the time of Solomon to, and through, the captivity. Besides those whose writings have come down to us, we find mention of Ahijah the Shilonite, Iddo the seer, Shemaiah the prophet, Hanani, Jehu the son of Hanani, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah the son of Imlah, Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, Huldah, and (perhaps) Hosai. The guilt of the Jewish people was enormously increased by the fact that they would not give ear to the exhortations constantly addressed to them by the messengers of God. Therefore they were delivered into the hands of the heathen, or people of the lands. Nehemiah 9:30

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"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. Nehemiah 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. Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless in Thy great mercy Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art gracious and merciful."

Nehemiah 9:29 and Nehemiah 9:30 treat of the times of the kings. בּהם ותּעד is the testimony of the prophets against the idolatrous people; comp. Nehemiah 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 Leviticus 18:5, comp. Ezekiel 20:11. On the figurative expression, they gave a resisting shoulder, comp. Zechariah 7:11. The simile is taken from the ox, who rears against the yoke, and desires not to bear it; comp. Hosea 4:16. The sentences following are repeated from Nehemiah 9:16. עליהם תּמשׁך is an abbreviated expression for חסד משׁך, Psalm 36:11; Psalm 109:12; Jeremiah 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. Psalm 106:40.), began with the invasion of the Assyrians (comp. Nehemiah 9:32), who destroyed the kingdom of the ten tribes, and was inflicted upon Judah also by means of the Chaldeans.