Nehemiah 1:7

7. We have dealt very corruptly] The words in the original occasion some difficulty. There is however no connexion, as commentators have supposed, between the Hebrew words used here and a similar root meaning ‘a pledge.’ The Vulgate, adopting a different derivation, has ‘vanitate seducti sumus.’ The LXX. rendering διαλύσει διελύσαμεν πρὸς σὲ and that of a few MSS. ματαιώσει ἐματαιώθημεν ἐν σοί (Field’s Orig. Hex.) show the uncertainty as to the meaning. Elsewhere in the O.T. the word occurs in Job_17:1; Isa_13:5; Isa_32:7; Isa_54:16; Pro_13:13; Mic_2:10; Son_2:15. The substantive derived from the root here used is rendered ‘hurt’ Dan_6:23. It is found with the same meaning as in this verse Job_34:31 ‘I will not offend any more.’

commandments … statutes … judgments] The three words occur together in Deu_5:31; Deu_6:1; Deu_7:11; Deu_8:11; Deu_11:1.

which thou commandedst] e.g. Deu_6:1.

thy servant Moses] and Neh_1:8, Neh_9:18.

‘The servant of the Lord’ was a favourite title applied to Moses. In Joshua it occurs with great frequency (e.g. Jos_1:1-2; Jos_1:7; Jos_1:13, &c.). Elsewhere it is found in 1Ki_8:53; 1Ki_8:56; 2Ki_18:12; 2Ki_21:8; 2Ch_1:3; Psa_105:26; Mal_4:4. He is called ‘the servant of God’ in Neh_10:29; 1Ch_6:49; Dan_9:11; ‘the man of God’ Ezr_3:2; 1Ch_23:14; Psalms 90. (title). Cf. in the New Testament the description of Moses as the ‘faithful servant’ in Heb_3:2-5, and Rev_15:3. The LXX. τῷ Μωυσῇ παιδί σου (Vulg. famulo tuo) will illustrate Act_4:27 ‘thy holy Servant Jesus’ (τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 1:7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

Ver. 7. We have dealt very corruptly] Heb. Corrupting, we have corrupted ourselves against thee. Or, We have bound ourselves unto thee to be punished for our sins. Of confessing with utmost aggravation, and laying load upon ourselves, see the notes on Ezr 9:1-15. {See Trapp on "Ezr 9:1"} &c.

And have not kept the commandments, nor statutes, nor judgments] i.e. Neither the laws moral, ceremonial, nor judicial. We have broken all thy bonds, and cast thy cords from us.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, corrupted.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. Have not kept thy commandments] The moral precepts by which our lives should be regulated.

Statutes] What refers to the rites and ceremonies of thy religion.

Judgments] The precepts of justice relative to our conduct to each other.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We have dealt very corruptly against thee,.... Corrupted his covenant, laws, and precepts, as well as themselves, ways, and works; all which were against the Lord, contrary to his nature, mind, and will:

and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses; the laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Vanity. Hebrew, "we have been corrupted." (Vatable) "we have dealt very corruptly." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- The author of the Vulgate has read e for e. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "we have been very dissolute, or weak."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

We have dealt very corruptly, or we have wholly corrupted, to wit, ourselves, and our ways, and thy worship.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Commandments… statutes… judgments — Embracing respectively the moral precepts, like the ten commandments, the established rites and ceremonies of worship, and the judicial decision in respect to sin and righteousness.

Thy servant Moses — Moses and the law were then associated as now, and here is evidence that the Pentateuch was familiar to Nehemiah. Compare the marginal references in the next two verses.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments. The ordinances of the Law are frequently summed up under these three heads; (Deu_5:31 Deu_6:1 Deu_11:1, etc.) but it would be a mistake to regard them as constituting a logical division of the various precepts contained in the Pentateuch, or to suppose that every precept is to be referred absolutely to one or other of the three.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have dealt corruptly Heb. חֲבֹל, a noun, an expression of corruption, since the “heth” is vowelized with a “hataf pattah,” and I cannot interpret it as a verb form, because in that case, it would have to be vowelized with a large “kamatz.”

we have dealt corruptly Heb. חָבַלְנוּ, an expression of corruption, as in Daniel (6:23): “I have done no harm.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.