Глава 9

1–5. Day of national repentance. 6–38. Ezra's prayer of repentance. 39. Obligation to comply with the law. Nehemiah 9:1. On the twenty-fourth day of this month all the children of Israel gathered together, fasting in sackcloth and with ashes on their heads. The day of repentance, which is discussed in ch. IX, was not a day of “purification” established in the law (Lev. 16:29–34, 23:26–32): it was a deliberately designated day for the expression of those repentant feelings that excited the people when reading the law. The external sign of these feelings among the Jews has long been fasting, wearing sackcloth and sprinkling ashes on the head (cf. 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2; Joel 1:13). Nehemiah 9:2. And the seed of Israel separated from all the strangers, and they stood up and confessed their sins and the crimes of their fathers. “And the seed of Israel was separated from all the strangers.” Some exegetes (Keil, Schultz, Bertholet) understand the above remark as an indication of a final break with everything pagan, while others, more rightly, as an indication of the admission of only Israelis into the described meeting of the 24 days of the seventh month (Rissel). Nehemiah 9:3. And they stood in their place, and for a quarter of the day they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God, and for a quarter they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. “And they stood in their place”: it would be more accurate to render “and they stood in their place” (each one), - no doubt, for hearing the book of God's law. A quarter of the day continued reading the book of the law, and a quarter of the day, according to Art. 3, “they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.” The form of confession and worship is described further in v. 4–37. Nehemiah 9:4. And the Levites stood on the high place: Joshua, Baniah, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Baniah, Henani, and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. Nehemiah 9:5. And the Levites said, Joshua, Kadmiel, Baniah, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, Petahiah: Arise, glorify the Lord your God, from everlasting to everlasting. Let them glorify Your glorious name, which exceeds all glorification and praise! Instead of those listed in Art. 5 of the eight names of Levites in the LXX (and in the Slavs) only five are named, since the names Vania, Vunni and Vania were obviously understood by the LXX in the sense of the common nouns bnej, ben, sons, son. Hence, instead of reading Heb. the text Jesus, Vaniah, Kadmiel, Shebaniah in the LXX it turned out: Jesus is the sons of Kadmiel, Shebaniah, etc. But, undoubtedly, Vaniah is the proper name of the series of Levites (Neh. 3:17, 10:14). According to Art. 4th, the Levites, standing on an elevated place, “cry out loudly to the Lord their God,” i.e., they probably said some kind of repentant prayer in a loud voice. Following this, as can be seen from Art. On the 5th, the Levites called the people to prayer. In Art. 5th the names of these Levites are called. From the identity of most of the names (out of eight - five) with those named in Art. 4, it must be concluded that the same persons are meant in both verses. Three different names (Bunni, Baniah and Henani in v. 4, Hashavniah, Hodiah and Peahiah in v. 5) arose, perhaps by copyist error. Neh.9:6. [And Ezra said:] You, Lord, are one, You created the heavens, the heavens of the heavens and all their hosts, the earth and everything that is on it, the seas and everything that is in them, and You live all these, and the heavenly hosts worship You. Starting with Art. 6 prayer of repentance in Greek. The text is preceded by a remark not available to the Masorets: καὶ ἔιπεν Εσδρας, and Ezra said. Thus, the Greek translators understood the narrative in the sense that after the Levites Ezra came forward and spoke as quoted in v. 6–37 prayer. Keil objects to this understanding and considers the LXX remark καὶ ἔιπεν Εσδρας; unsuccessful conjecture. In his opinion, prayer is not the speech of one person, but the confession of an entire community, since the one praying speaks about himself in many ways. number (v. 9: “our father”, v. 33 “we”). But this form of speech is understandable if we keep in mind that the person praying speaks on behalf of the community. The occasional omission of the brief remark “and Ezra said” in the Hebrew text is also quite understandable. Set forth in Art. 6–37 Ezra's prayer is usually called the prayer of repentance. But, in fact, its main subject is the glorification of God for His covenant with the people of Israel and mercy towards them. The prayer indicates the greatest benefits that the people received in the name of the covenant. At the same time, the attitude of the people towards Jehovah is also depicted. In Art. 6–8 the theme of the prayer is indicated: the Lord, the Creator and Almighty, chose Abraham and made a covenant with him to give his seed the land of Canaan and fulfilled his promise. This theme is revealed in four stanzas (9–15, 16–25, 26–31, 32–37), and to reveal it, facts from the past history of Israel are given, and in conclusion, God’s mercy to the people in their present situation is shown. "Heaven, heaven of heaven". In order to more clearly highlight divine omnipotence, the concept of heaven is strengthened by the addition - “heaven of heavens” (cf. Deut. 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chron. 2:6, 6:18), and the concept of earth - with the words “sea and all that is in them” (cf. Ps 145:6). “All their army” is a reference to heaven (cf. Gen. 2:1). "The hosts of heaven worship you." In this expression, angels are already called heavenly armies, as in (Ps. 149:2, 102:21). Nehemiah 9:7. You Yourself, Lord God, chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham, Neh.9:8. and you found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give [to him and] his seed the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. And You have fulfilled Your word, because You are righteous. Wed. (Gen. 12:1, 15:7, 17:5). “Because you are righteous”: divine righteousness (zadik) in v. 8 is understood in a special sense, as faithfulness to the promises. Neh.9:9. You saw the disaster of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, Nehemiah 9:10. And you showed signs and wonders on Pharaoh and on all his servants and on all the people of his land, because You knew that they dealt with them arrogantly, and You have made a name for Yourself to this day. Nehemiah 9:11. You split the sea before them, and they walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, and you threw those who pursued them into the depths, like a stone into strong waters. Art. 9 is a summary of what is described in (Exodus 3:7, 14:10, 15:4). Nehemiah 9:12. You led them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night, to illuminate the path for them to follow. Nehemiah 9:13. And You came down to Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven, and gave them just judgments, faithful laws, statutes and good commandments. Nehemiah 9:14. And He showed them Your holy Sabbath and your commandments, and your statutes and law, through Your servant Moses. Wed. (Ex. 13:21, 19:18, 20, 20:1–26; Num. 14:14; Deut. 4:36). Nehemiah 9:15. And You gave them bread from heaven in their hunger, and You brought out water from the rock for them in their thirst, and You told them to go and take possession of the land, which You, lifting up Your hand, swore to give them. Wed. (Ex. 16:4, 10–13, 17:6; Num. 20:10; Ps. 78:24). Nehemiah 9:16. But they and our fathers were stubborn, and held their necks elastic, and did not listen to Your commandments; Nehemiah 9:17. They did not want to obey and did not remember Your wonderful deeds that You did with them, and they held their necks elastic, and, out of their stubbornness, they set a leader over themselves in order to return to their slavery. But You are a God who loves to forgive, kind and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy, and You have not forsaken them. Wed. (Ex. 32:9, 33:3, 34:9; Deut. 9:6, 13). “They set a leader over themselves so that they could return to their slavery.” Slav.: “Dasha nachalo (LXX ἕδωκαν ἀρχήν) will return to her work in Egypt.” This remark is meant as an instruction (Num. 14:4). However, the fact when the Jews appointed themselves a leader instead of Moses is unknown. Hence they rightly offer Heb. vaittnu rosch “they set up a leader” is understood in the general sense: “and they turned their heads,” i.e. made a decision, decided. Transl. Gulyaeva: “and in their stubbornness they turned their heads to their former slavery.” Nehemiah 9:18. And although they made for themselves a molten calf, and said: This is your god, who brought you out of Egypt, and although they committed great insults, For the veneration of the golden calf, see (Ex. 32:4). Nehemiah 9:19. but You, according to Your great mercy, did not leave them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day, to guide them along the way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they should go. This refers to the place (Num. 14:14) in which, even after the sin of the people, the miraculous pillar did not cease to precede it. Nehemiah 9:20. And You gave them Your good Spirit to instruct them, and You did not take Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water to quench their thirst. Words 20 tbsp. they mean the fact that the Lord, in order to enhance the authority of Moses, gave the spirit of prophecy to the seventy elders (Num. 11:17, 25). “And You did not take Your manna out of their mouth” (cf. Numbers 11:6–9, Josh. 5:12). “And he gave them water to quench their thirst” (cf. Numbers 20:2–8). Nehemiah 9:21. For forty years You fed them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. In Art. 21 summarizes everything that the Lord did for the chosen people in the wilderness (cf. Deut. 2:7, 8:4). Nehemiah 9:22. And You gave them kingdoms and nations and divided them, and they took possession of the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. “You gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them.” In the LXX (and in Slav.) λαοὺς (peoples) is an addition to the verb. εμέρισας (“and you divided the people among them”). But the expression of the original vattchlkem lepeah (Russian: “and divided them”; lepeah left without translation) is not entirely clear. It is not clear who the suff refers to. 2 persons male r. in ch. vattchlkem "and divided them" - into Canaanites or Jews. If the verb chalak is taken (in the form piel) to mean “scatter” (Gen. 49:7; Lamentations 4:16), then we will be talking about the Canaanites (Aben-Ezra). For the conquest of the land of Sihon and Og, see (Num. 21:21–26, 32:33)). Nehemiah 9:23. And You multiplied their sons like the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land about which You told their fathers that they would come to possess it. “And You multiplied their sons like the stars of heaven.” This refers to the numbering of the people in the fields of Moab (Num. 26). Nehemiah 9:25. And they occupied fortified cities and rich land, and took possession of houses filled with all kinds of goods, reservoirs carved out of stone, vineyards and olive gardens, and many trees with fruits for food. They ate, were filled, became fat, and enjoyed themselves according to Your great goodness; “Fortified cities” – Jericho, Ai (Joshua 6:1, 8:1). Nehemiah 9:26. and they became stubborn and rebelled against You, and despised Your law, killed Your prophets who exhorted them to turn to You, and committed great insults. “They killed the prophets” (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:21; 1 Kings 18:13, 19:10). According to later Jewish tradition (cf. Matt. 5:12, 23:31; Luke 11:47, 13:33), most of the great prophets were killed. Nehemiah 9:27. And You gave them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when, in their time of need, they cried out to You, You listened to them from heaven and, according to Your great mercy, gave them saviors, and they saved them from the hands of their enemies. Nehemiah 9:28. When they calmed down, they again began to do evil before You, and You gave them into the hands of their enemies, and they ruled over them. But when they again cried out to You, You listened to them from heaven and, according to Your great mercy, delivered them many times. The time of the judges is remembered (Judges 2:11–23). “Gave them saviors” (moschiim), i.e. judges (cf. Judges 3:9, 15). Nehemiah 9:29. You reminded them to turn to Your law, but they persisted and did not listen to Your commandments, and deviated from Your statutes, by which a person would live if he fulfilled them, and they made their backbone stubborn, and they held their neck elastic, and did not listen. Nehemiah 9:30. Waiting for their conversion, You delayed for many years and reminded them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, but they did not listen. And You delivered them into the hands of foreign nations. In Art. 29–30 recalls the period of the kings. “And You delivered them into the hands of foreign nations.” The dominance of these peoples, according to Art. 32, began with the invasion of the Assyrians, who destroyed the ten-tribe kingdom. Nehemiah 9:37. And she brings forth her works in abundance for the kings to whom You have subjected us for our sins. They own our bodies and our livestock at will, and we are in great distress. “And our bodies... they own.” It is believed that we are talking about the obligatory military service for Jews in the Persian troops (cf. Herodotus. Histor. VII, 89). Nehemiah 9:38. For all this we give a firm commitment and sign, and on the signature is the seal of our princes, our Levites and our priests. Art. 38 in the original text is assigned to the beginning of the next chapter. Aware of the inadequacy of their past deeds to the title of God's chosen people, the Jews make a solemn commitment to observe the law. At the same time, a document is prepared and seals are attached to it by representatives of the people. For all this, Heb. becol zoth is better translated - “because of this”, “based on everything that has been said” (in the prayer of repentance). And on the signature (chattum) is the seal of our princes. Chattum is a sealed document (Jer. 32:11, 14). The document was usually folded for sealing, then on the outside, where, perhaps, the contents of the document were briefly stated, signatures were made or seals were attached. This is what the representatives of the people did with the document in which they outlined the popular decision. You might be interested in: