Nehemiah 9:23
What does Nehemiah 9:23 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 9:23 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 9:23 means
God multiplied their children “as the stars of heaven,” fulfilling His word to the patriarchs, and brought them into the promised land. The imagery signals both quantity and covenant continuity. Entrance into the land was not an accident of politics but a direct result of God’s faithful commitment. The verse tightly links family growth to territorial inheritance, matching earlier promises to Abraham. It reinforces the theme that Israel’s existence, expansion, and settlement are gifts of grace. By acknowledging this, the people own that their current condition cannot be explained apart from God’s promises performed over generations.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Their 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And you made their children as great in number as the stars of heaven, and took them into the land, of which you had said to their fathers that they were to go in and take it for themselves.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And their sons Thou hast multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and bringest them in unto the land that Thou hast said to their fathers to go in to possess.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And their children thou didst multiply as the stars of heaven, and thou broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.
Context
Following victories east of the Jordan, the prayer steps to the threshold of Canaan itself. Verse 24 will describe the actual possession of the land and the subduing of its inhabitants. The emphasis remains on God’s actions—He brings, He multiplies, He subdues—highlighting that Israel’s story is primarily the story of God’s faithfulness.
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.
v.23This passage
v.24So 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 peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 Chronicles 27:23
But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under, because Jehovah had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven.
- Genesis 12:7
And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah, who appeared unto him.
- Genesis 22:17
that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
- Genesis 15:18
In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
- Genesis 26:3
sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
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