Nehemiahchapter 9
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Speaks with:Nehemiah 9×9Daniel 9×5Psalms 106×4Nehemiah 8×4Genesis 15×3Exodus 14×3
Summary
Chapter summary
On the twenty-fourth day the assembly returns in fasting and sackcloth, reading in the book a fourth part of the day and confessing a fourth part. Then the Levites lead Scripture's longest recital of covenant history in one prayer: 'Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven… and thou preservest them all'. Abraham chosen, Egypt and the divided sea, Sinai, the pillar of cloud and fire, manna and water out of the rock, forty years in which 'their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.' Again and again the fathers dealt proudly; again and again God is 'ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger.' They end as servants in their own land, and make a sure covenant in writing.
Context
History · Nehemiah — Nehemiah overview
- A. 1–5 Sackcloth, earth, and a quarter of the day in the book of the law
- B. 6–15 Thou art the LORD alone, who made heaven and its host
- C. 16–25 They dealt proudly, but Thou art a God ready to pardon
- D. 26–31 Rebellion, ruin, and rescue, over and over again
- E. 32–38 Behold, we are servants this day, and we make a sure covenant
The outline
A.Sackcloth, earth, and a quarter of the day in the book of the lawvv. 1 to 5
Read vv. 1 to 5 →B.Thou art the LORD alone, who made heaven and its hostvv. 6 to 15
Read vv. 6 to 15 →C.They dealt proudly, but Thou art a God ready to pardonvv. 16 to 25
Read vv. 16 to 25 →D.Rebellion, ruin, and rescue, over and over againvv. 26 to 31
Read vv. 26 to 31 →E.Behold, we are servants this day, and we make a sure covenantvv. 32 to 38
Read vv. 32 to 38 →
The world behind this chapter
Nehemiah 9The history
The pattern of the day is given precisely: they read in the book of the law for a quarter of the day and confessed and worshipped for another quarter. Roughly three hours of Scripture and three hours of prayer.
The prayer that follows is the longest recorded prayer in the Old Testament and it is almost entirely history. Creation, Abraham, Egypt, the Red Sea, Sinai, the wilderness, the conquest, the judges, the prophets, the exile — told as one story with God's faithfulness and the nation's stubbornness braided together, verse by verse.
Its most striking feature is the honesty about the present. The prayer does not end in triumph. It ends with the line that describes their real situation: "behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers… behold, we are servants in it." The land yields its increase to kings God has set over them because of their sins.
What it meant to them
This is what the returned community believed about itself: home, but not free. The wall was up, the temple was working, and they were still a tax district of a foreign empire, and they said so in prayer rather than pretending otherwise.
The refrain running through it is God's patience — "thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" — and the many times He gave them into trouble and then heard them from heaven. The prayer ends by making a sure covenant and writing it down.
Sources cited
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament (public domain)
- Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Nehemiah 9. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.