Nehemiah 9:16–21
Israel confesses its stubbornness and recalls that God did not abandon them
Study it word by word16But they and our fathers acted with arrogance and hardened their neck, and did not listen to your commandments.
17They refused to listen, and did not remember your wonders that you had done with them; and they hardened their neck and appointed a head to return to their servitude in their rebellion. But you are an Eloah of pardons, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, and you did not abandon them.
18Even when they made for themselves a calf of cast metal and said, ‘This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and committed great acts of contempt,
19you, in your many mercies, did not abandon them in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud did not depart from over them by day, to lead them on the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should go.
20And your good spirit you gave to give them understanding, and your manna you did not withhold from their mouth, and water you gave them for their thirst.
21Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
In its context
14And your holy Sabbath you made known to them, and commandments and statutes and a law you commanded them by the hand of Moses your servant.
15And bread from the heavens you gave them for their hunger, and water from the crag you brought out for them for their thirst; and you told them to go in to possess the land for which you had lifted up your hand to give it to them.
…
22And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, and distributed them by regions; and they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23And their sons you multiplied like the stars of the heavens, and brought them into the land of which you had told their fathers that they would go in to possess it.
Its words in the original
- אֲבֹתֵיavote· father
Father; also ancestor ("our fathers"), and the founder or head of a family or group.
- הֵזִידוּhezidu· boil; act arrogantly
Cook, boil. Figuratively, "boil over" with pride: act arrogantly or with evil intent.
- יַּקְשׁוּyakshu· be hard
Be hard, be difficult; in the causative form, make hard, harden.
- עָרְפָּarpa· neck
Back of the neck, nape. Having one's hand on an enemy's neck means having defeated him. "Turn the back" is to flee.
- שָׁמְעוּshamu· hear, listen, obey
Hear, listen. In the Bible listening truly includes paying heed; so it often means "obey". In the causative form, make heard, proclaim.
- מִצְוֺתֶיmitsvote· commandment
Commandment: an order given by one in authority; above all, those of God.
- יְמָאֲנוּyemaanu· refuse
Refuse, be unwilling.
- זָכְרוּzachru· remember
Remember, call to mind; also mention. When God "remembers" someone, it is not that he had forgotten: it means he acts in his favor.
- נִפְלְאֹתֶיniflote· be wonderful, too hard
Be extraordinary, beyond what one can do; be wonderful. "Is anything too hard for YHWH?"
- עָשִׂיתָasita· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- יִּתְּנוּyitnu· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- רֹאשׁrosh· head, chief
Head. From there the first or the chief of a group, the top of a mountain, the beginning of something, or the sum; also the branches of a river.
- שׁוּבshuv· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- עַבְדֻתָavduta· servitude, bondage
Servitude: the condition of one who is subject to another and serves him. Ezra says it of the people under the kings of Persia.
- מִרְיָmirya· rebellion
Rebellion. "Sons of rebellion" are rebels.
- אֱלוֹהַּeloha· Eloah, god
Eloah: a name of God, the singular form of Elohim; also any god. It is used mostly in poetry.
- סְלִיחוֹתselichot· pardon, forgiveness
Pardon. "A God of pardons" is a God always ready to forgive.
- חַנּוּןchanun· gracious
Gracious, merciful: who shows favor to one in need. Said almost always of God.
- רַחוּםrachum· merciful
Merciful: who feels tenderness and compassion. Said almost always of God.
- אֶרֶךְerech· long, slow
Long. "Long of nose" is the Hebrew way of saying "slow to anger", patient.
- אַפַּיִםapayim· anger, nose
Nose, nostrils. Since breathing grows hard in anger, the same word also means "anger"; sometimes "face".
- רַבrav· many, great
Many, much, abundant, great; also "elder" or "chief".
- חֶסֶדchesed· loyal love
"Chesed": love that stays faithful to a commitment. It is kindness that does not remain a feeling: it acts in favor of the other and does not abandon him. The Bible says it above all of God's love for his people.
- עֲזַבְתָּazavta· leave, forsake
Leave, forsake, abandon; also let go, leave behind for someone.
- עֵגֶלegel· calf
Calf: a young bull.
- מַסֵּכָהmasecha· cast image, covering
A cast image: a figure made of molten metal. In other passages, a covering or a libation.
- יֹּאמְרוּyomru· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- אֱלֹהֶיelohe· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- הֶעֶלְheel· go up, offer up
Go up, ascend, climb. It is also used for "offering" a sacrifice (making it go up), and for coming up from Egypt.
- מִּצְרָיִםmitsrayim· Egypt, Mizraim
Mizraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt; also the Egyptians. As a person, a son of Ham, ancestor of the Egyptians.
- נֶאָצוֹתneatsot· contempt
Contempt, insult: words or deeds by which someone is treated as worthless (2 Kings 19:3; Isaiah 37:3). It comes from the verb "despise."
- גְּדֹלוֹתgedolot· great
Great in size, number, age or importance; also "the elder" of two; "high priest" is "great priest".
- רַחֲמֶיrachame· compassion
Deep compassion, tender mercy like that of a mother; also the womb.
- מִּדְבָּרmidbar· wilderness
Wilderness: in the Bible it is not only sand; it is dry, untilled land, where flocks can be led but people cannot live by sowing.
- עַמּוּדamud· pillar, column
Pillar, column; also a pillar of cloud or of fire.
- עָנָןanan· cloud
Cloud.
- סָרsar· turn aside, remove
Turn aside, turn away; remove, take away.
- יוֹמָםyomam· by day
By day, in the daytime.
- הַנְחֹתָhanchota· lead, guide
Lead, guide along the way; bring someone to a place.
- דֶּרֶךְderech· way
Way, road, journey. Figuratively, the way one lives or acts.
- אֵשׁesh· fire
Fire. In the Bible it often goes with the presence of God (the bush, Sinai).
- לַיְלָהlayla· night
Night.
- הָאִירhair· give light, shine
Give light, shine; light up.
- יֵלְכוּyelchu· go, walk
Go, walk, depart; in the causative form, lead or bring.
- רוּחֲruach· spirit, wind, breath
The basic idea is "air in motion". The same word can be "wind"; "breath", the air that is breathed and keeps life; or "spirit": the mood or inner strength of a person, or the Spirit of God, his presence and power at work.
- טּוֹבָהtova· good
Good in the widest sense: pleasant, beautiful, useful, right, of good quality. As a noun, "good", "good things", "well-being".
- הַשְׂכִּילָhaskila· act wisely, understand
Act wisely, understand, have insight; make wise, teach. Also succeed, prosper.
- מַנְman· manna
Manna: the food God gave Israel in the desert for forty years. The name comes from the question "What is it?" (man hu).
- מָנַעְתָּmanata· withhold
Withhold, refuse, hold back.
- פִּיpi· mouth
Mouth. Also what someone says or commands ("by the mouth of" = by the word of); the edge of a sword; "according to".
- מַיִםmayim· water
Water. In Hebrew it is always plural ("waters").
- צְמָאָtsemaa· thirst
Thirst.
- אַרְבָּעִיםarbaim· forty
Forty.
- שָׁנָהshana· year
Year.
- כִּלְכַּלְתָּkilkalta· provide for
Sustain, provide someone with what he needs to live; also hold, contain.
- חָסֵרוּchaseru· lack, be lacking
Lack, be short of; decrease.
- שַׂלְמֹתֵיsalmote· garment, cloak
Garment, cloak.
- בָלוּvalu· wear out
Wear out, grow old with time; wear something out.
- רַגְלֵיragle· foot
Foot; the foot of an animal; also a step.
- בָצֵקוּvatseku· swell
Swell: the foot becoming swollen from walking.