Nehemiah 9 26

Nehemiah 9:26 kjv

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Nehemiah 9:26 nkjv

"Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.

Nehemiah 9:26 niv

"But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:26 esv

"Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:26 nlt

"But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9 verses

Nehemiah 9 26 Meaning

Nehemiah 9:26 outlines Israel's deep-seated and persistent rebellion against God's divine authority. Despite God's sustained goodness, His people repeatedly turned disobedient, rejecting His commandments, violently persecuting His messengers, and openly committing grievous insults against His name. This highlights the severity of their ingratitude and defiance in their history.

Nehemiah 9 26 Context

Nehemiah 9:26 is part of a monumental prayer of confession offered by the Levites after the people of Judah had heard the Law read by Ezra and celebrated the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) with great joy (Neh 8). The prayer chronicles the entire history of Israel, beginning with creation, moving through God's covenant with Abraham, His deliverance from Egypt, His provision in the wilderness, and their entry into the Promised Land. This verse specifically describes a low point within their post-wilderness history in the land, where despite God's abundant blessings, Israel repeatedly lapsed into rebellion and defiance. It serves as a historical justification for the current subservience they experience, contrasting God's unwavering faithfulness with their chronic faithlessness. The prayer is a corporate acknowledgement of generations of sin, culminating in the post-exilic community taking responsibility for the past mistakes that led to their captivity.

Nehemiah 9 26 Word analysis

• "But they were disobedient": סָרְרוּ (sar'ru) from the Hebrew verb סָרַר (sarar). This term implies stubbornness, a wilful and unyielding resistance to authority. It is more than a passive failure; it describes an active perversity of will and refusal to conform.
• "and rebelled against you": וַיִּמְרוּ (vay'yimru) from מָרַד (marad). This signifies an open act of defiance and revolt, often used in a political sense for rebelling against a king. Here, it underscores their direct insurrection against God's sovereign rule. This strengthens the sense of "disobedient" from active resistance to outright revolt.
• "and cast your law behind their backs": Hebrew וַיַּשְׁלִכוּ תוֹרָתְךָ אַחֲרֵי גַוָּם (vay'yashliku torate'kha acharei gav'vam).
  • וַיַּשְׁלִכוּ (vay'yashliku) from שָׁלַךְ (shalak) – to throw, cast off.
  • תּוֹרָה (torah) – law, instruction, teaching. Represents God's revealed will and blueprint for life.
  • אַחֲרֵי גַוָּם (acharei gav'vam) – behind their backs. This is a vivid idiomatic expression signifying profound contempt, complete dismissal, and utter disregard. It means to turn away from something entirely, showing utter indifference and deliberate rejection of what is right and sacred.
• "and killed your prophets": וַיַּהַרְגוּ אֶת נְבִיאֶיךָ (vay'yahargu et nevi'ekha).
  • הָרַג (harag) – to kill, slay.
  • נָבִיא (navi) – prophet, spokesman for God. This extreme act represents the ultimate rejection of God's direct messengers. By silencing the prophets, they sought to silence God Himself and suppress the truth He delivered.
• "who warned them": אֲשֶׁר הֵעִידוּ בָהֶם (asher he'idu vahem) from עוּד (ud) – to warn, admonish, testify. The prophets' primary role was not merely fortune-telling but delivering God's testimony, exhorting, and warning the people against sin, acting as divine conscience.
• "in order to turn them back to you": לְהָשִׁיבָם אֵלֶיךָ (le'hashivam eilekha). שׁוּב (shuv) – to return, turn back, repent. This reveals God's underlying merciful purpose in sending the prophets: restoration, repentance, and reconciliation. Despite their continuous rebellion, God persistently desired their genuine return to Him.
• "and they committed great blasphemies": וַיַּעֲשׂוּ חֲרָפוֹת גְּדוֹלוֹת (vay'ya'asu kharafoot gedolot).
  • חֶרְפָּה (cherpah) – reproach, disgrace, shame, scorn, blasphemy.
  • גְּדֹלוֹת (gedolot) – great, massive. This signifies active and severe dishonor brought upon God's name. It means to reproach God Himself, bringing shame and contempt upon His character and glory through their actions, not just verbally. It highlights their defiant scorn and deep insult against His holiness.

Word-groups by words-group analysis

• "But they were disobedient and rebelled against you": This opening phrase highlights the profound, active nature of Israel's spiritual rebellion. It's a compound declaration: first, being inwardly stubborn (sarar), then overtly revolting (marad) against divine authority. This isn't mere neglect, but a conscious, hostile defiance of God's Lordship.
• "cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets": This pair describes escalating acts of contempt and violence. First, they dismissed God's divine instruction (Torah) with utter disdain, effectively turning their back on His will. This escalated into extreme persecution: silencing His direct, living messengers, the prophets, through murder. This signifies an attempt to eradicate God's presence and voice from their midst.
• "who warned them in order to turn them back to you": This parenthetical phrase offers a profound glimpse into God's merciful character. Despite their escalating rebellion, God's persistent warnings, delivered through His prophets, had a singular redemptive purpose: to bring them to repentance and restore their relationship with Him. This highlights divine patience amidst human stubbornness.
• "and they committed great blasphemies": This culminating phrase summarizes the severity and implications of all their previous acts. Their disobedience, law-rejection, and prophet-killing were not just against God's commands or messengers, but constituted direct acts of profound cherpah (reproach/blasphemy) against God Himself. Their actions brought shame and disgrace upon His holy name, publicly mocking His authority and nature.

Nehemiah 9 26 Bonus section

• The repetitive nature of "and... and..." throughout the verse (and chapter) highlights a cumulative, successive deterioration in Israel's relationship with God, illustrating the deepening impact of their sin over time.
• This verse represents a microcosm of Israel's covenant failure throughout the Old Testament, which often served as the biblical justification for divine discipline, including exile.
• The description of killing prophets lays foundational material for later New Testament critiques of Israel's leaders by Jesus and the apostles, who identify a consistent historical pattern culminating in their rejection and crucifixion of Christ (e.g., Acts 7:52, 1 Thes 2:15).
• The phrase "cast your law behind their backs" suggests an active turning away, not merely passive forgetfulness. It highlights accountability for conscious choices to disregard God's word.

Nehemiah 9 26 Commentary

Nehemiah 9:26 provides a stark summary of Israel's historical infidelity following God's abundant provision and guidance in the land. The verse pinpoints a multi-faceted and intensifying pattern of rebellion:First, it describes a fundamental disobedience and rebellion, stemming from an inner stubbornness and culminating in overt defiance against God. This indicates a wilful refusal to align their lives with His divine will.Second, this defiance manifested as a profound contempt for divine instruction. To "cast your law behind their backs" is a vivid metaphor for treating God's sacred revelation, His Torah, as worthless and disposable, choosing deliberately to ignore its truth and authority. This demonstrated a deep disregard for the covenant principles that defined their existence as God's people.Third, the rebellion escalated into active persecution of God's messengers. The act of "killing your prophets" underscores the ultimate rejection of God's grace. These prophets were precisely those sent by God with calls to repentance (shuv) and warnings of impending judgment, illustrating God's merciful persistence to "turn them back to Him." Their murder represents a desire to silence God's voice entirely, eliminating any challenge to their sinful ways.Finally, these actions amounted to "great blasphemies," meaning active, profound acts of contempt and insult against God Himself. It wasn't just a failure to obey, but an overt shaming of God's name and character through their conduct. This collective conduct brought scandal to God's reputation, especially among the surrounding nations.In essence, the verse reveals a people utterly resistant to God's love and discipline, culminating in extreme actions that dishonored His very being. This pattern of sin explained why the post-exilic community found themselves in their present humble state, a poignant lesson in the enduring consequences of spiritual rebellion.