Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

9:1 the twenty-fourth day. It is still the seventh month, after the seven days of the Feast of Booths and an eighth day of solemn assembly (8:18).

9:2 separated themselves from all foreigners. This is in line with the measures described in Ezra 9-10. Here it refers not just to marriage but to the integrity of the community in general. iniquities of their fathers. That is, of all previous generations, as in the prayer that follows (Neh. 9:6-37).

9:3 Book of the Law. See note on 8:1.

9:4-5 Some of these leading Levites were among those who interpreted the law while Ezra read it (8:7-8). They now lead in prayer. Ezra himself has fallen into the background. Yet some translations have "And Ezra said" at the beginning of 9:6, following the ancient Greek text (see ESV footnote), not the Hebrew.

9:6-37 The prayer resembles in part Ezra's prayer of confession upon his discovery of the problem of mixed marriages (Ezra 9:6-15). It has even more in common with certain psalms of confession (such as Psalm 78; 105-106), which interweave confession with memories of God's grace, and notes of petition. The prayer follows the biblical story as told in Genesis-Kings.

9:6-8 The Levites' prayer begins with Genesis: the universal God of creation chose Abram and brought his descendants into the land he promised to them.

9:6 You are the Lord, you alone. The uniqueness of Israel's God was proclaimed in the story of creation. heaven . . . the earth. Together these sum up the whole creation (see Gen. 1:1; Ex. 20:11). All their host could refer to either angels or stars.

9:7 Ur of the Chaldeans is in southern Mesopotamia (see Gen. 11:31). the name Abraham. See Gen. 17:5.

9:8 the covenant. God promised Abraham both descendants and land when he made a covenant with him. This was essentially a covenant of promise (Gen. 15:18-21; 17:4-8). The promise to drive out other nations has particular overtones in this period of restoration to the land. you are righteous. This is one of God's essential characteristics (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 119:137), shown here in his faithfulness to his promises.

9:9-15 The prayer now recalls God's deliverance of Israel in the exodus from Egypt, as told in the book of Exodus.

9:9-11 heard their cry at the Red Sea. This telescopes the whole story from Exodus 2-15 (see Ex. 2:23-25; 14:1-15:27). signs and wonders . . . divided the sea. This phrase refers to the miracles done against Pharaoh to compel him to release the Israelites (Exodus 7-15).

9:12 The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire provided God's guidance (see Ex. 13:21-22).

9:13-14 Mount Sinai is the place of the Mosaic covenant, where God gave the Ten Commandments and other rules, laws, statutes, and commandments, i.e., detailed instructions applying the force of the Ten Commandments to many cases in life. Law codes are found in Ex. 20:22-23:19; Leviticus; Deuteronomy 12-26.

9:15 bread from heaven . . . water. Cf. Ex. 16:14-15; 17:6.

9:16-18 Israel has often rebelled against God and must rely on his grace (see Deut. 9:4-6). appointed a leader. See Num. 14:4. The people must have gone ahead and chosen a different leader, though Numbers 14 contains no record of the actual appointment. Golden calf refers to the apostasy committed while the covenant was still being made at Sinai (Exodus 32; Deut. 9:7-21). Yet God was ready to forgive, gracious and merciful (Neh. 9:17). See Ex. 34:6-7. God immediately made a new covenant and promised his continued presence, despite Israel's sin.

9:19-21 The Levites' confession continues to recount God's goodness in the wilderness.

9:21 Forty years. See Deut. 2:7. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. From Deut. 8:4, recounting God's extraordinary preservation.

9:22-25 At this point the prayer retells in brief the story of the occupation of the land. It covers the events of the book of Joshua, using the language of Deuteronomy. Sihon . . . Og. See Deut. 2:26-3:11. stars of heaven. See Deut. 1:10.

9:25 a rich land. See Deut. 6:10-11; 8:7-10. The prospect of a plentiful land was accompanied in Deuteronomy by warnings that wealth could lead to abandonment of God (Deut. 6:12-15; 8:11-20). This is precisely what happened.

9:26-28 This pattern of sin, judgment, repentance, and deliverance is typical of the book of Judges. killed your prophets. Cf. Matt. 23:31; Acts 7:52.

9:29-31 The idea of God's long patience with the Israelites' sin, calling them back by the prophets but ending finally in judgment, is the story of 1-2 Kings (see 2 Kings 17).

9:30 into the hand of the peoples. For the northern kingdom this meant Assyria (2 Kings 17), while for Judah it meant Babylon (2 Kings 24-25).

9:31 you did not make an end of them. Second Chronicles 36:22-23 and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah demonstrate this.

9:32-33 All the hardship refers to the sufferings of both exiles (Assyrian and Babylonian). The people have suffered greatly, yet God has been righteous (v. 33) in his judgment (see note on v. 8).

9:34-35 The prayer acknowledges again that the people sinned amid God's blessing.

9:36-37 we are slaves. This sinfulness explains why the people are not yet entirely free and why the blessings of the land are not yet fully enjoyed under Persian rule, even though that rule is somewhat gentler than was the rule of Assyria and Babylon.

9:38 To mend the situation, the people will now enter a solemn covenant (Hb. ’amanah). The word used is not the usual word for "covenant," which is berit, but a rarer one that emphasizes faithfulness; the people pledge to keep faithfully what they now undertake.