Nehemiah 1:9
What does Nehemiah 1:9 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 1:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 1:9 means
Having recalled the warning, Nehemiah now clings to the promise: if Israel returns to God and keeps His commandments, God will gather them from the farthest places and bring them to the chosen place where He caused His name to dwell—Jerusalem. The distance—“the uttermost part of the heavens”—cannot hinder God’s restoring power. This hope rests on repentance and renewed obedience, not mere relocation. Nehemiah asks for what God has already willed: a restored people in the place marked by His name. The concern is ultimately God’s honor, that His name not be reproached but displayed in a rebuilt, obedient community centered on His appointed dwelling.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000but 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901but 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But if you come back to me and keep my orders and do them, even if those of you who have been forced out are living in the farthest parts of heaven, I will get them from there, and take them back to the place marked out by me for the resting-place of my name.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them--if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place which I have chosen for my name to dwell there.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890but if ye return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto 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 set my name there.
Context
Verse 9 balances verse 8 by recalling the covenant promise of gathering and restoration for a repentant people. This sets the positive aim of Nehemiah’s prayer: not only relief from disgrace but the reestablishment of God’s name in His chosen place. The next verse appeals to God’s past acts of redemption as further grounds for present help. The flow moves from promise to precedent, tightening the case for divine intervention before Nehemiah asks for favor in the Persian court.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 4:29
But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
- Ezekiel 36:24
For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
- Jeremiah 3:14
Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- Deuteronomy 12:21
If the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which Jehovah hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; and thou mayest eat within thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul.
- Jeremiah 32:37
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
- Jeremiah 12:15
And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
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