Nehemiah 9:14

Neh 9:14 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

Ver. 14. And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath] Not then first known to the Church; but of old observed, even from the beginning, Gen 2:3, about 2514 years before it was made known in such a solemn sort at Sinai; as having been much neglected and forgotten during the Egyptian servitude. So it was by the German Churches, till God awakened them by the loss of Prague (that first blow given them), and that upon the Sabbath day, which they kept not otherwise than if it had been Dies daemoniacus, the devil’s day, and not Dominicus the Lord’s day, (as their countryman Alsted complaineth), and as if it had been called Sabbath, from Sabbos, a name of Bacchus, as Plutarch dreamed.

And commandedst them precepts] {See Trapp on "Neh 9:13"}

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.

Neh 9:14. And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath — That holy sabbath day which thou didst bless and sanctify to Adam, commanding him, and in him all his posterity, to observe it, which yet almost all nations have quite forgotten; that day thou didst graciously reveal unto thy people, reviving that ancient law by another particular law respecting it, given to us in the wilderness. The Holy Scriptures speak of the sabbath as a singular gift of God to the Jewish nation, Exo 16:29; it being a sign between God and them, who sanctified, that is, separated them from all other nations to be his peculiar people, or to be the worshippers of him who created the world in six days and rested in the seventh, while the heathen nations worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, and other creatures.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 14. Madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath] They appear to have forgotten this first of all the commandments of God, during their sojourning in Egypt.

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

(14) Madest known unto them thy holy sabbath.—Every word here, as well as the prominence given to this among the other “commandments,” must be noted as illustrating the importance of this ordinance in the covenant of chapter 10 and throughout the book.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. and madest known … sabbath] Cf. Eze_20:12. Apparently referring to the fourth Commandment (Exo_20:8-11. Cf. Exo_31:16). But it is to be noticed that the observance of the Sabbath is prescribed if not presupposed at the giving of the Manna (Exo_16:23-30) before the arrival at Sinai. The stricter observance of the Sabbath of Jehovah (thy sabbath) was a special feature of religious purity, required by the teaching of Ezra and the Scribes, cf. Neh_13:15 (Isa_56:2; Isa_58:13). An observance of the Sabbath was perhaps common among Semitic races. It was certainly kept in Assyria. The command to keep the Sabbath holy set the stamp of Divine approval upon the native custom.

precepts, statutes, and laws] R.V. commandments, and statutes, and a law. ‘A law,’ i.e. religious instruction as distinguished from positive rules.

Moses thy servant] Cf. Neh_1:7.

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.

And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath,.... Which was not made known to others, and was peculiar to the Jewish nation, and a privilege granted to them, to have rest corporeal and spiritual, typical of the rest in Christ:

and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant; moral, ceremonial, and judicial, such as other nations had not, Deu 4:8.

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

Sabbath. Which it seems had not been observed by them before, (Exodus xvi. 23.; Calmet) at least not with such exactitude. (Haydock)

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).

Thy holy sabbath; that holy and blessed sabbath day which thou didst bless and sanctify to Adam in Paradise, Gen 2:3, commanding him, and in him all his posterity, to observe it, which yet almost all people and nations have quite forgotten, yea, so far as to mock at them, Lam 1:7, thou didst graciously reveal unto thy people, reviving that ancient law by another particular law about it given to us in the wilderness.

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

Madest known unto them thy holy sabbath. The anterior existence of the sabbath to the law is here implied, which accords with Gen_2:2, Gen_2:3, and Exo_20:11. Precepts, statutes, and laws. Rather a periphrasis for "the law" generally, than a logical division of the Law into distinct parts.

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

madest known unto them

This important passage fixes beyond all cavil the time when the sabbath, God’s rest Gen 2:1-3 was given to man. Cf. Exo 20:9-11. In Exo 31:13-17 the sabbath is invested with the character of a sign between Jehovah and Israel. (See Scofield "Mat 12:1").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

In these verses, the Levites continue to praise Yahweh in the presence of the people of Israel.

commandments ... statutes ... law

Each of these three words refers to the law of Moses. (See: Doublet)

translationWords

holy

Sabbath

know

command

statute

law

servant

bread

heaven

water

possess

oath

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.