Nehemiah 9:22

_MOREOVER THOU GAVEST THEM KINGDOMS AND NATIONS, AND DIDST DIVIDE THEM INTO CORNERS: SO THEY POSSESSED THE LAND OF SIHON, AND THE LAND OF THE KING OF HESHBON, AND THE LAND OF OG KING OF BASHAN._ Moreover them gavest them kingdoms and nations - i:e., put them in possession of a rich country, of an extensive territory, which had been once occupied by a variety of princes and people. AND DIDST DIVIDE THEM INTO CORNERS, х_ WATACHLªQEEM_ (H2505) _ LªPEE'AAH_ (H6285)] - and didst distribute them into various quarters or districts of the promised land. The propriety of the expression arose from the various districts touching at points or angles on each other. THE LAND OF SIHON, AND THE LAND OF THE KING OF HESHBON. Heshbon being the capital city, the passage should run thus: 'the land of Sihon or the land of the king of Heshbon.'...

4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our...

Verse 22. _THE LAND OF OG KING OF BASHAN._] It is most evident that _Sihon_ was king of _Heshbon_. How then can it be said that they possessed _the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon_? The words _the land of the king of Heshbon_ are wanting in two of _De Rossi's_ MSS. In another MS. the words _and the land of_ are wanting; so that the clause is read, _They possessed the land of_ _Sihon, king of Heshbon_. The _Septuagint_ has the same reading; the _Arabic_ nearly the same, viz., _the land of Sihon, the land of the_ _king of Heshbon_. The _Syriac_ has, _They possessed the land of_ _Sihon, the land of the_ KINGS _of Heshbon_. The reading of the text is undoubtedly wrong; that supported by the MSS. and by the _Septuagint_ is most likely to be the true one. Those of the _Arabic_ and _Syriac_ contain at least no _contradictory_ sense. The _and_ in the...

THOU DIDST DIVIDE THEM INTO CORNERS - i. e., parts of the holy land; or as some prefer “thou didst distribute them on all sides.”...

EXPOSITION SOLEMN FAST KEPT, WITH CONFESSION OF SINS; AND VOLUNTARY COVENANT WITH GOD ENTERED INTO BY THE PEOPLE, AND SEALED TO BY THE PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND LEVITES (Nehemiah 9:1.). When the law was first read to them on the opening day of the seventh month, the people had shown strong feelings of compunction, an earnest desire to return to God by the thorny way of repentance. In checking this feeling on that particular day, Ezra and Nehemia

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The public humiliation and confession (Nehemiah 9:1)_ 2. The great confession and prayer (Nehemiah 9:6) Nehemiah 9:1. Two days after the feast of tabernacles had been concluded this humiliation and confession of sin took place. The assembled congregation fasted, with sackcloth and earth upon them. Separation was next. Evil confessed must mean evil put away. They separated themselves from all strangers, and after their confession they worshipped the Lord. Here again is the right order of a spiritual revival. Reading, hearing and believing the Word always comes first; humiliation, self-judgment, confession and true worship follow....

THE FAST AND A NATIONAL CONFESSION. All that took place, as described in this section, was the result of the reading of the Law. The command to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles having been observed, there followed a spontaneous outburst of self-condemnation on the part of the people, who were conscience-stricken on account of having hitherto neglected to observe the Law; they had clearly been desirous of expressing their sorrow before (see Nehemiah 8:9), but it would have been inappropriate during the feast. Fasting and prayerful confession were fitly followed (see next section) by a solemn act of resolution of amendment. Nehemiah 9:1. the twenty and fourth day: the second day after the celebration of the feast, _i.e._ in the seventh month (see...

NATIONS. peoples. DIVIDE THEM INTO CORNERS. apportion them their lot. Hebrew. _pe'ah_. quarter, region. See Leviticus 19:9; Leviticus 23:22. Compare Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 49:32. The word occurs in the allotment of the Land, in Joshua 15:5; Joshua 18:12; Joshua 18:14; Joshua 18:15

The Conquest of Palestine: Victory 22. The Conquest of the Transjordanic territory. _nations_ R.V. peoples. _and didst divide them into corners_ R.V. WHICH THOU DIDST ALLOT AFTER THEIR PORTIONS. Marg. -Or, _And didst distribute them into every corner_". The difficulty of rendering arises from the word -pêah" = -a corner," or -edge," which the LXX. and Vulg. do not attempt to translate. Used of -a corner" in such passages as Leviticus 19:9; Leviticus 19:27; Amos 3:12; it is found with a territorial signification, in Numbers 24:17 -the corners of Moab,...

MOREOVER THOU GAVEST THEM, &C.— _Thou gavest them the kingdoms of the people, which thou didst divide to each of them._ Houbigant. The author of the _Observations_ gives a different explanation of the passage, which the reader will find in our note on Amos 3:12....