Nehemiah 9:20
What does Nehemiah 9:20 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 9:20 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 9:20 means
God gave His good Spirit to instruct them, withheld not manna, and provided water for their thirst. This verse affirms that God’s care is comprehensive: He feeds bodies and teaches hearts. The mention of His Spirit highlights a divine, inner work of guidance through chosen instruments. Instruction is not left to human wisdom; God Himself ensures His people know His ways. Daily manna and water reinforce the constancy of provision. By recalling this, the prayer shows that ignorance and lack were not the causes of later failures. God supplied truth and sustenance in abundance; disobedience arose from hardened hearts, not from God’s neglect.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And you gave your good spirit to be their teacher, and did not keep back your manna from their mouths, and gave them water when they had need of it.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water for their thirst.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
Context
Continuing the theme of mercy after idolatry, the prayer lists God’s spiritual and physical provisions. Verse 21 will expand the theme of preservation across the entire forty years. The structure underscores that from leadership to laity, from mind to body, God fully equipped Israel, making their subsequent rebellion all the more inexcusable and His patience all the more remarkable.
v.19yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.
v.20This passage
v.21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 2 Peter 1:21
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
- Ephesians 5:9
(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
- Numbers 11:17
And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
- Exodus 16:35
And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
- Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, Jehovah, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Psalms 105:41
He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; They ran in the dry places like a river.
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