Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
(1) In the twenty and fourth day.—After one day of rest, the people assembled with all the tokens of sorrow, even to dust on the head (1 Samuel 4:12): the external signs and the internal spirit were one.
And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
(2) The seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers.—The change to “seed” has here a deep propriety. They carefully avoided the many aliens among them throughout this fast.
And stood and confessed.—It must be remembered that these verses give the programme of what is afterwards filled up: the very praise for which they “stood” was filled with confession.
And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
(3) One fourth part.—Both day and night were divided into four parts. All orders standing in their respective place, the reading occupied the morning and the worship the afternoon. It is the latter which is now made prominent, as the former had been prominent in the preceding chapter.
Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.
(4) Stairs, of the Levites.—The scaffold of the Levites, without the comma: the steps of ascent to the pulpit of Ezra (Nehemiah 8:2).
Bani, and Chenani.—Probably, Binnui and Haman (Nehemiah 10:9-10).
Their God.—When the people are called upon (Nehemiah 9:5), it is “your God”; hence these eight Levites offered a prayer which is not inserted.
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
(5) Hashabniah.—Not found elsewhere. No reason is given why this company is somewhat different from the former; the LXX. arbitrarily omit all names after Kadmiel. Similarly, they insert “and Ezra said” before Nehemiah 9:6. The psalm was perhaps composed by Ezra, but uttered by the Levites in the name of the congregation.
Stand up and bless . . . Blessed be.—Or, let them bless.
Thou, even thou, art Lord alone.—The three phrases mark how the address to the people glides into direct adoration of God.
Thy glorious name.—Literally found again in Psalm 72:19 alone.
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
(6) Preservest them all.—In this comprehensiveness reproduced only in Hebrews 1:3.
The host of heaven.—First the stars, but here the angels (Psalm 103:21).
And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:
And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.
And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
(11) As a stone into the mighty waters—Compare the Song of Moses, and mark in the Hebrew both the identity and the variation.
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
(13) Right judgements.—Five of the names given to the law of God in Psalms 119 are singled out and applied to the Sinaitic legislation first, and then to the subsequent ordinances of Moses generally. But the emphasis here is on the adjectives “right,” “true,” “good,” as belonging rather to the eternal principles of the Decalogue.
And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:
(14) Madest known unto them thy holy sabbath.—Every word here, as well as the prominence given to this among the other “commandments,” must be noted as illustrating the importance of this ordinance in the covenant of chapter 10 and throughout the book.
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
(15) Bread from heaven.—A change of phrase, which our Lord consecrated for ever (John 6).
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
(16) Dealt proudly.—Like the Egyptians themselves (Nehemiah 9:10). It is remarkable that the same word is used as in the Hebrew of Exodus 18:11 and Deuteronomy 1:43.
And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
(17) In their rebellion.—Rather, appointed a captain to return to their bondage in Egypt. This is the reading of some MSS., followed by the Septuagint, and is in harmony with Numbers 14:4, though there the appointment is only proposed.
Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
(20) Thy good spirit.—Probably a reference to Numbers 11:17; Numbers 11:25. The epithet given to the Spirit is in Psalm 143:10. But His teaching function occurs here only, and is a remarkable anticipation of the New Testament.
Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
(22) Divide them into corners.—Strict usage of the term would require: Thou didst divide unto them [these nations] in their boundaries.
And the land.—There is a double reference to Sihon, king of Heshbon. This and Bashan were taken as the earnest of the possession of Canaan.
Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
(27) Theirenemies who vexed them.—The phraseology in this and the following verse shows that the Book of Judges is carefully remembered in the prayer.
But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
(32) Here begins the prayer proper.
Kings of Assyria.—“The rod of God’s anger” (Isaiah 10:5). Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sargon, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, are traced in the sacred record as successive scourges.
For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
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:
And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
(37) Yieldeth much increase.—In money and kind a very large amount was sent by Syria to the Persian treasury.
Over our bodies, and over our cattle.—For military service; but the priests do not omit themselves.
In great distress.—Not so much under the Persian yoke as in the remembrance of God’s judgments. The pathetic comparison between the Divine purpose in giving the land originally and their present bondage in it extends almost to every word.
And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.
(38) Because of all this.—On the ground of this confession, and to prove our sincerity.
Seal unto it.—On the sealed [document]. Each party impressed his seal on moist clay, which was then hardened. Sometimes these seals were attached to the document by separate strings. In Nehemiah 11, “those who sealed” is, literally, those on the sealed [documents], in the plural.
(1-38) The Fast, the Confession, and the Covenant.
And stood and confessed.—It must be remembered that these verses give the programme of what is afterwards filled up: the very praise for which they “stood” was filled with confession.
Bani, and Chenani.—Probably, Binnui and Haman (Nehemiah 10:9-10).
Their God.—When the people are called upon (Nehemiah 9:5), it is “your God”; hence these eight Levites offered a prayer which is not inserted.
Stand up and bless . . . Blessed be.—Or, let them bless.
Thou, even thou, art Lord alone.—The three phrases mark how the address to the people glides into direct adoration of God.
Thy glorious name.—Literally found again in Psalm 72:19 alone.
The host of heaven.—First the stars, but here the angels (Psalm 103:21).
A God ready to pardon.—A God of pardons; only in Daniel 9:9 and Psalm 130:4.
And the land.—There is a double reference to Sihon, king of Heshbon. This and Bashan were taken as the earnest of the possession of Canaan.
Kings of Assyria.—“The rod of God’s anger” (Isaiah 10:5). Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sargon, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, are traced in the sacred record as successive scourges.
Over our bodies, and over our cattle.—For military service; but the priests do not omit themselves.
In great distress.—Not so much under the Persian yoke as in the remembrance of God’s judgments. The pathetic comparison between the Divine purpose in giving the land originally and their present bondage in it extends almost to every word.
Seal unto it.—On the sealed [document]. Each party impressed his seal on moist clay, which was then hardened. Sometimes these seals were attached to the document by separate strings. In Nehemiah 11, “those who sealed” is, literally, those on the sealed [documents], in the plural.