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Nehemiah 9:36

in Nehemiah 9

So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it.

KJV

Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

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This verse in Nehemiah 9

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Behold, we are servants - They had no king of their own: and were under the government of the kings of Persia, to whom they paid a regular tribute.

This site's exposition

here we are today as slaves

on Nehemiah 9:36-37

"So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers" (9:36). The recital of creation, Abraham, Egypt and conquest arrives at a people back in their land and still not free in it. The prayer ends: "We are in great distress."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

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

Behold, we are servants this day,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This, they honestly own, was for their sins. Poverty and slavery are the fruits of sin; it is sin that brings us into all our distresses. Here is their address to God under these calamities.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Behold, we are servants this day--Notwithstanding their happy restoration to their native land, they were still tributaries of a foreign prince whose officers ruled them.

The words behind it

17 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.

  • הִנֵּ֛הhere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • אֲנַ֥חְנוּwe

    ʾanachnuH587 →120 times

  • הַיּ֖וֹםthis day

    haiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • עֲבָדִ֑ים[are] slaves

    ʾavadimH5650 →799 times

  • וְהָאָ֜רֶץand the land

    vehaaretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • נָתַ֣תָּהyou gave

    natatahH5414 →2011 times

  • לַאֲבֹתֵ֗ינוּto ancestors our

    laavoteinuH1 →1212 times

  • לֶאֱכֹ֤לto eat

    leekholH398 →810 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • פִּרְיָהּ֙fruit its

    piryahH6529 →119 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • טוּבָ֔הּgood thing[s] its

    tuvahH2898 →32 times

  • הִנֵּ֛הhere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • אֲנַ֥חְנוּwe

    ʾanachnuH587 →120 times

  • עֲבָדִ֖ים[are] slaves

    ʾavadimH5650 →799 times

  • עָלֶֽיהָ׃on it

    ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times

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

Related verses

5 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.

Ezra 9:9Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.6 worksDeuteronomy 28:48you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.3 works2 Chronicles 12:8Nevertheless, they will become his servants, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.”2 worksJeremiah 25:18to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;2 worksJoel 2:17Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Chronicles 12:8

    Nevertheless, they will become his servants, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.”

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 28:47–48

      Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,

    • Isaiah 26:13

      O LORD our God, other lords besides You have had dominion, but Your name alone do we confess.

    • Judges 3:1

      These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,

    • Hosea 8:10

      Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.

    • Jeremiah 10:24

      Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.

  • Through

    Ezra 9:9

    Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 7:6

      this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for…

    • Psalms 136:23–24

      He remembered us in our low estate His loving devotion endures forever.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 28:48

    you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 28:13–14

      “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).

Read on in Nehemiah 9 →