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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 9:4-38

We have here an account how the work of this fast-day was carried on. 1. The names of the ministers that were employed. They are twice named (Neh. 9:4, 5), only with some variation of the names. Either they prayed successively, according to that rule which the apostle gives (1 Cor. 14:31; You may all prophesy one by one), or, as some think, there were eight several congregations at some distance from each other, and each had a Levite to preside in it. 2. The work itself in which they employed... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 9:17

And refused to obey ,.... Though exhorted, admonished, and threatened, such was their obstinacy: neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them ; in delivering them at the Red sea, in raining manna about them, and giving them water out of the rock: but hardened their necks ; see the preceding verse: and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage ; they not only proposed it, but determined upon it, which is reckoned the same as if they had... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 9:17

And in their rebellion appointed a captain - This clause, read according to its order in the Hebrew text, is thus: And appointed a captain to return to their bondage in their rebellion. But it is probable that במרים bemiryam , in their rebellion, is a mistake for במצרים bemitsrayim , in Egypt. This is the reading of seven of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., the Neapolitan edition of the Hagiographa, and the Septuagint. It is also the reading in Numbers 14:4 . The clause... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:1-29

A prayerful review of Divine goodness as manifested in the facts of human life. I. This is a prayerful review of the Divine NAME . "And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" ( Nehemiah 9:5 ). 1 . It views God as the Creator of all things ( Nehemiah 9:6 ). 2 . It views God as electing his people ( Nehemiah 9:7 ). 3 . It views God as covenanting with the faithful ( Nehemiah 9:8 ). 4 . It views God as delivering his people in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:1-35

Confession. The feast of tabernacles, held in such wise as Israel had not known since the days of Joshua ( Joshua 8:17 ), concluded, "according unto the manner" of that festival, with a " solemn assembly" on the eighth day ( Joshua 8:18 )—"the last day, that great day of the feast" ( John 7:37 ). After one day's interval, when nothing unusual was done, "on the twenty-fourth day of the month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting" (verse l), and a very great day was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:1-38

The solemn fast of assembled Israel. Notice three features in the people's religious life. 1 . Their confession of sin. 2 . Their external reformation. 3 . Their solemn adoption of the written word of God as the law of their life. Take these as representative, universal. I. HUMILIATION AND CONFESSION . 1 . Public and united as well as private and solitary. Great impressiveness in numbers. The heart needs the stimulus of contact with great waves of feeling. There... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:2-38

Appeal It has been remarked that there is no prayer in this lengthy address to God. And the absence of direct supplication is certainly very noticeable. But it must be remembered that we may make our appeal to God in more ways than by directly asking him for the blessings we desire at his hand. The comparative and almost complete absence of formal petition from this address suggests to us that we may go far towards winning our cause by— I. PRESENTING THE SOUL BEFORE GOD IN ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:6-31

Adoration and thanksgiving. At this great and solemn gathering, which followed the feast of tabernacles, Ezra and eight Levites led the whole assembly in a reverent address and appeal to God. It is thought by some that the record of it in this chapter (verses 6-38) is the exact copy of it as then written down for the use of the Levites; or it may be the leading topics of it as afterwards recollected and recorded. We have seen that confession of sin is the groundwork and substance of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 9:7-31

Compare with this long historical resumé the still longer ones in Psalms 78:5-72 and Acts 7:2-47 . God's dealings with his people furnished a moral lesson of extraordinary force, and moral teachers, naturally, made frequent reference to them. But it is not often that we have so complete and elaborate a recapitulation as the present, which, beginning with the call of Abraham, brings the history down to the time of the Persian servitude. God's goodness and his people's ingratitude form the... read more

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