Nehemiah 9:21
What does Nehemiah 9:21 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 9:21 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 9:21 means
For forty years God sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. These details underscore miraculous preservation: God’s care touched the ordinary and the extraordinary. He is Lord over both dramatic deliverances and daily durability. The verse testifies that their survival was not due to skill or luck but to covenant faithfulness. Remembering this invites gratitude and humility. It also makes later ingratitude stark: with such comprehensive care, rebellion cannot be justified. God’s people lived by His provision every day for decades, a continual witness to His kindness and reliability.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Truly, for forty years you were their support in the waste land, and they were in need of nothing; their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and forty years Thou hast nourished them in a wilderness; they have not lacked; their garments have not worn out, and their feet have not swelled.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not.
Context
Wrapping up the wilderness narrative of guidance, instruction, and provision, the prayer now turns in verse 22 to God’s gift of territories and victories east of the Jordan under Sihon and Og. The flow moves from survival to success, showing that God’s faithfulness not only keeps His people alive but advances them toward the promised inheritance.
v.20Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
v.21This passage
v.22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 2:7
For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
- 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.
- Numbers 14:33
And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
- Psalms 34:10
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.
- Deuteronomy 29:5
And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot.
- Acts 13:18
And for about the time of forty years as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness.
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