Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
But despite all this, they disobeyed and rebelled against you. They threw your law aside and ignored it, and they killed your prophets who warned them and tried to bring them back to you. They did many things that deeply angered you.
This verse describes how the Israelites repeatedly turned away from God, rejected His teachings, and even killed the prophets He sent to guide them back to Him.
📚 Historical Context
The book of Nehemiah is set in the 5th century BC, after the Jewish people returned from Babylonian exile and were rebuilding Jerusalem's walls and their spiritual community. In Nehemiah 9, the Israelites are gathered for a solemn assembly of confession and prayer, where they recount their ancestors' repeated failures to follow God's commands throughout history. This verse specifically highlights the pattern of rebellion during the times of the kings and prophets, where the people ignored God's law, killed His messengers, and provoked His judgment through their actions.
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