Nehemiah 9:20
New International Version
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

New Living Translation
You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst.

English Standard Version
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

Berean Standard Bible
You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

King James Bible
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

New King James Version
You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst.

New American Standard Bible
“Instead, You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

NASB 1995
“You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

NASB 1977
“And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them, Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth, And Thou didst give them water for their thirst.

Legacy Standard Bible
You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

Amplified Bible
“You [also] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

Christian Standard Bible
You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You sent Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

American Standard Version
Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Contemporary English Version
Your gentle Spirit instructed them, and you gave them manna to eat and water to drink.

English Revised Version
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You gave them your good Spirit to teach them. You didn't keep your manna to yourself. You gave them water to quench their thirst.

Good News Translation
In your goodness you told them what they should do; you fed them manna and gave them water to drink.

International Standard Version
"You gave your good Spirit to instruct them, not withholding manna from them, and providing water to quench their thirst.

Majority Standard Bible
You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

NET Bible
You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst.

New Heart English Bible
You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

World English Bible
You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And Your good Spirit You have given, "" To cause them to act wisely; And Your manna You have not withheld from their mouth, "" And water You have given to them for their thirst,

Young's Literal Translation
'And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,

Smith's Literal Translation
And thy good spirit thou gavest to instruct them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and water gavest thou to them for their thirst.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water for their thirst.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And you gave them your good Spirit, so that he might teach them, and you did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and you gave them water in their thirst.

New American Bible
Your good spirit you bestowed on them, to give them understanding; Your manna you did not withhold from their mouths, and you gave them water in their thirst.

New Revised Standard Version
You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and didst not withhold manna from their mouths, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And your good Spirit you gave to teach them, and manna you did not restrain from their mouths, and water you gave them for their thirst.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou gavest also Thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them, and thou didst not withhold thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water in their thirst.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The People Confess Their Sins
19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go. 20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst. 21For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.…

Cross References
Exodus 16:13-15
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. / When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground. / When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

Exodus 16:35
The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

Numbers 11:7-9
Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin. / The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil. / When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.

Psalm 78:23-25
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens. / He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven. / Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

Psalm 105:39-40
He spread a cloud as a covering and a fire to light up the night. / They asked, and He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

Isaiah 63:11-14
Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them, / who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown, / who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble? ...

John 6:31-35
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” / Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. / For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ...

John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— / the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

John 16:13
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.

Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:17-18
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. / Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Romans 8:14
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1 Corinthians 10:3-4
They all ate the same spiritual food / and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Galatians 5:16
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.


Treasury of Scripture

You gave also your good spirit to instruct them, and withheld not your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

gavest

Nehemiah 9:30
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

Numbers 11:17,25-29
And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone…

Isaiah 63:11-14
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? …

good

Psalm 143:10
Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Romans 15:30
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

Galatians 5:22,23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, …

withheldest

Exodus 16:15,35
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat…

Joshua 5:12
And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

gavest

Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Psalm 105:41
He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

Isaiah 41:17,18
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them…

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Act Cause Gavest Good Instruct Manna Mouth Mouths Need Spirit Teacher Thirst Water Wisely Withheld Withhold
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Act Cause Gavest Good Instruct Manna Mouth Mouths Need Spirit Teacher Thirst Water Wisely Withheld Withhold
Nehemiah 9
1. A solemn fast, and repentance of the people
4. The Levites make a confession of God's goodness, and their wickedness














You gave
The phrase "You gave" underscores the generosity and providence of God. In Hebrew, the root word is "נָתַן" (natan), which means to give, bestow, or grant. This action is a divine initiative, emphasizing God's grace and willingness to provide for His people. Historically, this reflects God's continuous provision for Israel during their wilderness journey, a theme that resonates throughout the Old Testament.

Your good Spirit
The "good Spirit" refers to the Holy Spirit, depicted as benevolent and guiding. The Hebrew word for spirit is "רוּחַ" (ruach), which can mean breath, wind, or spirit. The adjective "good" (טוֹב, tov) highlights the Spirit's nature as beneficial and righteous. This phrase indicates the Spirit's role in teaching and guiding the Israelites, a precursor to the New Testament understanding of the Holy Spirit as a counselor and teacher.

to instruct them
The purpose of giving the Spirit was "to instruct them." The Hebrew root "יָרָה" (yarah) means to teach or direct. This instruction was not merely informational but transformational, guiding the Israelites in understanding God's laws and ways. It reflects the broader biblical theme of God desiring His people to know Him and walk in His ways, as seen in the giving of the Law at Sinai.

You did not withhold
This phrase emphasizes God's faithfulness and generosity. The Hebrew root "מָנַע" (mana) means to withhold or keep back. God's refusal to withhold His provision demonstrates His commitment to sustaining His people, even when they were rebellious or unfaithful. It is a testament to His covenantal love and mercy.

Your manna
"Manna" was the miraculous food provided by God to the Israelites in the wilderness. The Hebrew word "מָן" (man) is used here, which is derived from the question "מָה הוּא" (man hu), meaning "What is it?" This reflects the Israelites' initial reaction to this divine provision. Manna symbolizes God's direct intervention and care, sustaining His people physically and spiritually.

from their mouths
The phrase "from their mouths" indicates the direct provision of sustenance. It highlights the personal and immediate nature of God's care, ensuring that His people had what they needed to survive. This provision was not just for physical nourishment but also a sign of God's presence and faithfulness.

and You gave them water
Water, like manna, was a critical provision in the desert. The Hebrew word "מַיִם" (mayim) is used for water, a symbol of life and refreshment. God's provision of water from the rock, as recounted in Exodus, is a powerful reminder of His ability to meet needs in seemingly impossible situations. It also foreshadows the living water that Christ offers in the New Testament.

for their thirst
The phrase "for their thirst" underscores the human need and God's response to it. Thirst represents a deep, existential need that only God can truly satisfy. This provision points to God's understanding of human frailty and His desire to meet both physical and spiritual needs, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the living water.

(20) Thy good spirit.--Probably a reference to Numbers 11:17; Numbers 11:25. The epithet given to the Spirit is in Psalm 143:10. But His teaching function occurs here only, and is a remarkable anticipation of the New Testament.

Verse 20. - Thou gavest them also thy good Spirit to instruct them. The "good Spirit" of God is mentioned in Psalm 143:10; and the fact of God's "instructing and teaching" men in Psalm 32:8. But instruction by God's Spirit is nowhere else distinctly mentioned in the Old Testament.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You gave
נָתַ֖תָּ (nā·ṯa·tā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

Your good
הַטּוֹבָ֔ה (haṭ·ṭō·w·ḇāh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

Spirit
וְרוּחֲךָ֨ (wə·rū·ḥă·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

to instruct them.
לְהַשְׂכִּילָ֑ם (lə·haś·kî·lām)
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 7919: To be, circumspect, intelligent

You did not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

withhold
מָנַ֣עְתָּ (mā·na‘·tā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4513: To debar, from benefit, injury

Your manna
וּמַנְךָ֙ (ū·man·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 4478: Manna (a kind of bread)

from their mouths,
מִפִּיהֶ֔ם (mip·pî·hem)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

and You gave
נָתַ֥תָּה (nā·ṯat·tāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

them water
וּמַ֛יִם (ū·ma·yim)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

for their thirst.
לִצְמָאָֽם׃ (liṣ·mā·’ām)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 6772: Thirst


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OT History: Nehemiah 9:20 You gave also your good Spirit (Neh Ne)
Nehemiah 9:19
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