29 joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in the law of God, which had been given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
And they said, We will restore [them], and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his earnings, that performeth not this promise: even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the congregation said, Amen! And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.
And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book.
And the king stood on the dais, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [his] heart, and with all [his] soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them.
For the grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared, teaching us that, having denied impiety and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and justly, and piously in the present course of things, awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works.
Let love be unfeigned; abhorring evil; cleaving to good:
Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee.
And when it was day, the Jews, having banded together, put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul. And they were more than forty who had joined together in this oath; and they went to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have cursed ourselves with a curse to taste nothing until we kill Paul. Now therefore do ye with the council make a representation to the chiliarch so that he may bring him down to you, as about to determine more precisely what concerns him, and we, before he draws near, are ready to kill him.
But some men joining themselves to him believed; among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman by name Damaris, and others with them.
who, having arrived and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced, and exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord;
Has not Moses given you the law, and no one of you practises the law? Why do ye seek to kill me?
For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ.
And Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances that I speak in your ears this day, and learn them, and keep them to do them.
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not hearken unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
That they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Hallelujah!
Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair, and adjured them by God [saying], Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
and that whoever would not seek Jehovah the God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.
Moses commanded us a law, The inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day; that he may establish thee this day for a people unto himself, and [that] he may be to thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,
Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination to Jehovah, a work of the craftsman's hand, and putteth it up secretly! And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed be he that slighteth his father or his mother! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; for he uncovereth his father's skirt! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to smite mortally [shedding] innocent blood! And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them! And all the people shall say, Amen.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 10
Commentary on Nehemiah 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
We have in this chapter a particular account of the covenant which in the close of the foregoing chapter was resolved upon; they struck while the iron was not, and immediately put that good resolve in execution, when they were in a good frame, lest, if it should be delayed, it might be dropped. Here we have,
Neh 10:1-31
When Israel was first brought into covenant with God it was done by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood, Ex. 24. But here it was done by the more natural and common way of sealing and subscribing the written articles of the covenant, which bound them to no more than was already their duty. Now here we have,
Neh 10:32-39
Having covenanted against the sins they had been guilty of, they proceed in obliging themselves to revive and observe the duties they had neglected. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well.