Moreover, thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar ,.... The Israelites, to shelter them from the heat of the sun in a dry and barren wilderness: and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go ; through a trackless desert, see Exodus 13:21 . read more
Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai ,.... By some visible tokens of his presence, as a cloud, fire, smoke, &c.; which must be understood consistent with his omniscience, see Exodus 19:18 , and spakest with them from heaven ; the decalogue or ten commandments, Exodus 20:1 , and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments ; both judicial and ceremonial, which were of excellent use to them in their civil and ecclesiastical polity; these were not... read more
And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath ,.... Which was not made known to others, and was peculiar to the Jewish nation, and a privilege granted to them, to have rest corporeal and spiritual, typical of the rest in Christ: and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant ; moral, ceremonial, and judicial, such as other nations had not, Deuteronomy 4:8 . read more
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger ,.... To satisfy that, meaning the manna, Exodus 16:3 and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock, for their thirst ; to quench it; this was done both quickly after they came out of the land of Egypt, and a little before their entrance into the land of Canaan, see Exodus 17:6 and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them ; which oath was made to them and to their... read more
But they and our fathers dealt proudly ,.... Behaved in a haughty manner towards God, their kind benefactor: and hardened their necks ; refused to take the yoke of his law, as refractory oxen, that withdraw their necks from the yoke: and hearkened not to thy commandments ; to do them, though they promised they would, Exodus 24:7 . read more
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
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf ,.... In imitation of the Apis, or ox of the Egyptians: and said, this is thy god that brought thee out of Egypt ; or the image of thy god, as the Arabic version, see Exodus 32:4 , and had wrought great provocations ; of all which nothing was greater than idolatry. read more
Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness ,.... Where no supply could be had, if he had cast them off, see Nehemiah 9:17 , the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way ; which, if it had, they would have been scorched by the heat of the sun: neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go ; or otherwise they would have lost their way, and not have known which way to have gone. read more
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them ,.... In the knowledge of the laws delivered to them; the spirit of prophecy, according to Ben Melech, and which Aben Ezra interprets of the spirit put upon the seventy elders, Numbers 11:17 , and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth ; all the while they were in the wilderness, until they came to Canaan's land; called the Lord's manna, because prepared by him, and given by him to them; a part or portion and gift from the Lord, as... read more
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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