Nehemiah 1:9
in Nehemiah 1but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.
KJV
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
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This verse in Nehemiah 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseBut I say, Has the Lord used iniquity to snatch the nations from the power of his enemies and recall them to faith in him and to his dominion? By no means. For "Israel" was once "the Lord's portion," but they made Israel turn from their God in sin, and because of their sins God said to them, "Behold, you have been separated by your sins and because of your sins you have been scattered under the whole heaven."
This site's exposition
dealt very corruptly against thee
on Nehemiah 1:7-9
The confession names three categories at once, commandments, statutes and judgments, all commanded through Moses and all broken. Verse 8 turns the prayer's engine: remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, and Nehemiah recites the scatter clause of Deuteronomy 30 back to the God who spoke it, if ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. Verse 9 completes the same passage's other half, the promise to gather the scattered again from the uttermost part of heaven if they turn back and keep the commandments, so the petition rests on a promise already on record rather than a new claim. Nehemiah is not informing God of anything; he is holding God to his own recorded word.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This he quotes from Deut. xxx. 1-5 , and begs leave to put God in mind of it (though the Eternal Mind needs no remembrancer) as that which he guided his desires by, and grounded his faith and hope upon, in praying this prayer: Remember, I beseech thee, that word; for thou hast said, Put me in remembrance.
18 ) that he offered sacrifice, we must conclude him to have been a priest. Nehemiah's station at the court of Persia. We are here told that he was in Shushan the palace, or royal city, of the king of Persia, where the court was ordinarily kept (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number
But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them,....
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׁבְתֶּ֣ם | veshavtem | and you will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ | ushemartem | and you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| מִצְוֹתַ֔י | mitzvotai | commandments my | H4687 → | 181 times |
| וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם | vaasitem | and you will observe | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתָ֑ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִהְיֶ֨ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| נִֽדַּחֲכֶ֜ם | nidachakhem | banished [one] your | H5080 → | |
| בִּקְצֵ֤ה | biktzeh | at [the] end of | H7097 → | |
| הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| מִשָּׁ֣ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אֲקַבְּצֵ֔ם | ʾakabetzem | I will gather them | H6908 → | 127 times |
| וַהֲבִֽיאוֹתִים֙ | vahavootim | and I will bring them | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֔וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּחַ֔רְתִּי | bacharti | I have chosen | H977 → | |
| לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן | leshaken | to cause to dwell | H7931 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמִ֖י | shemi | name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
וְשַׁבְתֶּ֣םand you will turn back
veshavtemH7725 →1056 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙and you will keep
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
מִצְוֹתַ֔יcommandments my
mitzvotaiH4687 →181 times
וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖םand you will observe
vaasitemH6213 →2628 times
אֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יִהְיֶ֨הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
נִֽדַּחֲכֶ֜םbanished [one] your
nidachakhemH5080 →
בִּקְצֵ֤הat [the] end of
biktzehH7097 →
הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
מִשָּׁ֣םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
אֲקַבְּצֵ֔םI will gather them
ʾakabetzemH6908 →127 times
וַהֲבִֽיאוֹתִים֙and I will bring them
vahavootimH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֔וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בָּחַ֔רְתִּיI have chosen
bachartiH977 →
לְשַׁכֵּ֥ןto cause to dwell
leshakenH7931 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמִ֖יname my
shemiH8034 →864 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 32:37I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:3
Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and…
- Ezekiel 34:12–14
As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
- Jeremiah 23:6
In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
- Jeremiah 33:16
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
- Ezekiel 11:17
Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back…
- Jeremiah 23:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 9.7.