Nehemiah 1:8
What does Nehemiah 1:8 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 1:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 1:8 means
Nehemiah asks God to “Remember… the word” spoken to Moses: if Israel trespassed, God would scatter them among the peoples. This is not a challenge to God’s memory, but a reverent appeal to His covenant truthfulness. Nehemiah acknowledges that their exile conforms to God’s own warnings, admitting that judgment is deserved. Prayer here is saturated with Scripture; he brings God’s words back to God, aligning his requests with divine revelation. By starting with the scattering clause, he shows he is not ignoring the hard parts of the covenant. He faces the reality of sin’s consequence in order to make a faithful case for mercy on God’s terms.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:
KJV
King James Version · 1611Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Keep in mind, O Lord, the order you gave your servant Moses, saying, If you do wrong I will send you wandering among the peoples:
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye--ye trespass--I scatter you among peoples;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses thy servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the peoples;
Context
After confession, verse 8 turns to covenant recollection, citing the part of Moses’ teaching that promised scattering for disobedience. The next verse will complete the covenant logic by recalling the promise of gathering upon repentance. This two-part remembrance structures the prayer’s hope: justice acknowledged, mercy anticipated. The reader thus sees that Nehemiah is not inventing a new plan but seeking God to act in ways already pledged in His word, giving the coming request weight and legitimacy.
v.7we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
v.8This passage
v.9but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 28:64
And Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone.
- 1 Kings 9:6
But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
- Deuteronomy 4:25
When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger;
- Luke 1:72
To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant;
- Deuteronomy 32:26
I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
- Psalms 119:49
Remember the word unto thy servant, Because thou hast made me to hope.
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