The Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

In their rebellion. Several MSS. have b'Mitzraim for b'Miryam, which would give the sense "appointed a captain to return to their bondage in Egypt." So the Septuagint. Appointed a captain. The reference is to Numbers 14:4, where we are told that the Israelites "said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."

The Levites speak as if the appointment had been made, perhaps regarding the intention as morally equivalent to the act. A God ready to pardon. Literally, "a God of pardons." The word used is a rare one, occurring only in Daniel 9:9 and Psalms 130:4, besides the present passage.

Gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. This is quoted from Joel 2:13, which is perhaps a conscious reproduction of Jonah 4:2.

More for Nehemiah 9:17

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:1-38The solemn fast of assembled Israel. Notice three features in the people's religious life. 1. Their confession of sin. 2. Their external reformation. 3. Their solemn adoption of the written word of God as the law of the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:1-38EXPOSITION SOLEMN FAST KEPT, WITH CONFESSION OF SINS; AND VOLUNTARY COVENANT WITH GOD ENTERED INTO BY THE PEOPLE, AND SEALED TO BY THE PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND LEVITES (Nehemiah 9:1-38.). When the law was first read to the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:1-29A prayerful review of Divine goodness as manifested in the facts of human life. I. This is a prayerful review of the Divine NAME. "And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" (Nehem…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryMatthew Henry on Nehemiah 9:4-38The 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 conf…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Prayer of the Levites. (b. c. 444.)THE PRAYER OF THE LEVITES. (B. C. 444.) We have here an account how the work of this fast-day was carried on. 1. The names of the ministers that were employed. They are twice named (Nehemiah 9:4-5), only with some varia…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:7-31Compare with this long historical resumé the still longer ones in Psalms 78:5-72 and Acts 7:2-47. God's dealings with his people furnished a moral lesson of extraordinary force, and moral teachers, naturally, made frequ…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Nehemiah 9:12-21Israel in the desert. The people now recount the mercies of God to their fathers in the desert, and confess the sins of which they were guilty there. After deliverance from Egypt, the desert had to be passed before Cana…Joseph S. Exell and contributors