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Nehemiah 1:9

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Nehemiah 1:9 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.
Nehemiah 1:9 — American Standard Version

Context — Nehemiah 1

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
6Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Yea, I and my father`s house have sinned:
7we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:
9but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.
10Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, etc.] Return by repentance, and, as a proof of the genuineness of it, yield obedience to the commands of God, and continue therein: though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven; that is, the uttermost parts of the earth, the most distant regions; so called, because at the extreme parts of the horizon, according to our apprehension, the heavens and earth touch each other; so that what is the uttermost part of the one is supposed to be of the other: yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there; that is to Jerusalem where the temple was…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“if ye turn: Lev 26:39-42; Deu 4:29-31, Deu 30:2-5; Jer 29:11-14 yet will I: Ch1 16:35; Psa 106:47, Psa 147:2; Isa 11:12, Isa 56:8; Jer 12:15, Jer 31:10; Jer 32:37, Jer 50:19, Jer 50:20; Mat 24:31 will bring: Jer 3:14; Eze 36:24 the place: Deu 12:5, Deu 12:21; Kg1 9:3; Ezr 6:12 Nehemiah 1:10”
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Related study paths

Read Nehemiah 1 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification