Nehemiah 9:36
What does Nehemiah 9:36 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 9:36 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 9:36 means
They declare their present status: “We are servants this day,” even in the land God gave to their fathers to enjoy. This is a poignant irony: the promised land remains fruitful, but the people who should be free in it are subject to foreign rule. The admission acknowledges that the exile’s effects persist; rebuilding walls has not ended political subjugation. The verse also implies that God’s promises are not in question—He gave the land—but their sin has brought servitude within that gift. This humble realism prepares for further detail about the burden they bear and the distress that drives them to seek renewed covenant faithfulness.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Now, today, we are servants, and as for the land which you gave to our fathers, so that the produce of it and the good might be theirs, see, we are servants in it:
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`Lo, we--to-day--<FI> are<Fi> servants, and the land that Thou hast given to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its good--lo, we <FI>are<Fi> servants on it,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land, which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it.
Context
Having confessed past guilt, the community now names their present humiliation. Verse 36 sets up verse 37, which will describe the tribute and control exercised by the kings set over them, linking this bondage to their sins. This present-tense distress becomes the immediate backdrop for the covenant renewal they will commit to in verse 38.
v.35For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
v.36This passage
v.37And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have power over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 28:48
therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
- Ezra 9:9
For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 12:8
Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.
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