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Nehemiah 9:21

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Nehemiah 9:21 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
Nehemiah 9:21 — American Standard Version

Context — Nehemiah 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
18Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
19yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.
20Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
24So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
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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
“Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing, etc.] As not for food, so neither for raiment, as follows: their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not; of which (see Deuteronomy 8:4). <050804>”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“forty: Exo 16:35; Num 14:33, Num 14:34; Deu 2:7, Deu 8:2; Amo 5:25; Act 13:18 their: Deu 8:4, Deu 29:5; Psa 34:10 Nehemiah 9:22”
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Related study paths

Read Nehemiah 9 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification