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Nehemiah 9:18

in Nehemiah 9

Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

KJV

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

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This verse in Nehemiah 9

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
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 Exo 32:4, and had wrought great provocations; of all which nothing was greater than idolatry.

This site's exposition

an image of a calf

The prayer names the sin without softening it: "they cast for themselves an image of a calf." Gill reads the calf as a copy of the Egyptian Apis. The people said, "This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt," crediting their own handiwork with the Lord's act.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the L ORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the L ORD their God.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v2-3

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Thou, even thou, art Lord alone, &c.--In this solemn and impressive prayer, in which they make public confession of their sins, and deprecate the judgments due to the transgressions of their fathers, they begin with a profound adoration of God, whose supreme majesty and omnipotence is acknowledged in the creation, preservation, and government of all.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אַ֗ףeven

    ʾafH637 →134 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • עָשׂ֤וּthey had made

    ʾasuH6213 →2628 times

  • לָהֶם֙for themselves

    lahem

  • עֵ֣גֶלa calf of

    ʾegelH5695 →

  • מַסֵּכָ֔הmolten metal

    masekhahH4541 →

  • וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they had said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • זֶ֣הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ[is] god your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הֶעֶלְךָ֖he brought up you

    heelkhaH5927 →890 times

  • מִמִּצְרָ֑יִםfrom Egypt

    mimitzrayimH4714 →

  • וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֔וּand they had done

    vaiyaasuH6213 →2628 times

  • נֶאָצ֖וֹתblasphemies

    neatzotH5007 →

  • גְּדֹלֽוֹת׃great

    gedolotH1419 →526 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 32:4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”9 worksAmos 5:25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?5 worksNehemiah 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.5 worksPsalms 106:19–23At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image.4 worksActs 7:41At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.4 worksExodus 32:31–32So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 9:12–16And the LORD said to me, “Get up and go down from here at once, for your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten image.”2 worksEzekiel 20:7–44And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’2 works

Where this verse is studied

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 9 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 9 →