English Standard Version
Nehemiah 9:34
34Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them.
Nehemiah 9:34 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.
- New International Version (NIV)Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws.
Context of Nehemiah 9:34
32"Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.
Read all of Nehemiah 9Nehemiah 9:34 word by word
וְאֶת־מְלָכֵ֤ינוּ שָׂרֵ֙ינוּ֙ כֹּהֲנֵ֣ינוּ וַאֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ לֹ֥א עָשׂ֖וּ תּוֹרָתֶ֑ךָ וְלֹ֤א הִקְשִׁ֙יבוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֹתֶ֔יךָ וּלְעֵ֣דְוֹתֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הַעִידֹ֖תָ בָּהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Neither have our kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- our princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- our priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- nor our fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- keptעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- thy lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
- nor hearkenedקָשַׁבqâshab · to listenH7181
- unto thy commandmentsמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
- and thy testimoniesעֵדוּת‛êdûth · testimonyH5715
- wherewith thou didst testifyעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
Cross-references for Nehemiah 9:34
- Jeremiah 29:19because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.'
- Nehemiah 9:30Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
- 2 Kings 17:15They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.
- Deuteronomy 31:21And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give."
- 2 Kings 17:13Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets."
Commentaries on Nehemiah 9:34
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 34Neither have our kings - In this verse he acknowledges that the kings, princes, priests, and fathers, had broken the law: but the prophets are left out; for they continued faithful to God, testifying by his Spirit against the crimes of all; and this even at the risk of their lives.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-38Verses 4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 32-37The prayer now addresses the current situation, asking the great God—who has unfailing love—for ongoing love and mercy for his people in their difficult times (Nehemiah 9:32). The leaders acknowledged God's justice in punishing them for their sins (Nehemiah 9:33–35), and they expressed sorrow over their enslavement by the Persians (9:36–37).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-386-38. 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. Then they proceed to enumerate His mercies and distinguished favors to them as a nation, from the…Read the comment
Topics related to Nehemiah 9:34
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nehemiah 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries