Nehemiah 9:30
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
Study Note
Study Note
The retrospective declaration 'yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets' grounds the entire prophetic corpus within the framework of divine long-suffering — the prophets were not agents of divine impatience but expressions of extended divine patience. The identification of prophetic testimony with the Spirit's activity ('by thy spirit in thy prophets') is an important pneumatological statement: biblical prophecy is not merely human reflection but Spirit-mediated divine speech. The verse is embedded in Ezra-Nehemiah's great penitential prayer (chapters 9) that surveys Israel's entire history as a story of divine faithfulness meeting human infidelity — the prophets as God's persistent bridge-builders. Hebrews 1:1 ('God…spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets') and 2 Peter 1:21 ('holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost') develop this pneumatological-prophetic theology.
Other Translations
Yet many years didst thou bear with them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
`And Thou drawest over them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,
Year after year you put up with them, and gave witness against them by your spirit through your prophets: still they did not give ear: and so you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands.
Cross References
Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn …
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but …
And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he …
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the …
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them …
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which …
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not …
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the …
And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and …