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Nehemiah 9:21

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Nehemiah 9:21 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Nehemiah 9:21 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/nehemiah/9/21.

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English Translation
Yes, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Yes, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And you sustained them forty years in the wilderness; they did not lack. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Yes, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    For 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.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    For 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.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, `and' they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Thou didest also feede them fourtie yeres in ye wildernes: they lacked nothing: their clothes waxed not old, and their feete swelled not.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    and forty years Thou hast nourished them in a wilderness; they have not lacked; their garments have not worn out, and their feet have not swelled.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    And forty years You have nourished them in a wilderness; They have not lacked; Their garments have not worn out, || And their feet have not swelled.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    For forty years you provided for them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And you sustained them forty years in the wilderness; they did not lack. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    “Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    You took care of them for forty years in the desert. Their clothes didn't wear out, they didn't want for anything. Their feet didn't even swell up!
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    Truly, for forty years you were their support in the waste land, and they were in need of nothing; their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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בָצֵֽקוּ
bâtsêq
H1216
“to swell”
Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural
Part of Speech
Verb
Stem
Qal
Form
Perfect
Person
3rd Person
Gender
Common
Number
Plural
Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 269

(Qal) to swell, become blistered
  1. וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים ʼarbâʻîym H705 “and · forty” Conjunction + Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute
  2. שָׁנָ֛ה shâneh H8141 “year” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  3. כִּלְכַּלְתָּ֥ם kûwl H3557 “to contain · them” Verb, Pilpel, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  4. בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר midbâr H4057 “in/at the · wilderness” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  5. לֹ֣א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  6. חָסֵ֑רוּ châçêr H2637 “to lack” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural
  7. שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ salmâh H8008 “garments · their” Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  8. לֹ֣א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  9. בָל֔וּ bâlâh H1086 “to wear out” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural
  10. וְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם regel H7272 “and · feet · their” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Feminine, Dual, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  11. לֹ֥א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

12
words
10
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is בָצֵֽקוּ to swell H1216 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

בָצֵֽקוּ to swell H1216 occurs in 2 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 4 verbs
  • 4 nouns
  • 1 adjective
  • 3 particles

Verb forms

  • כִּלְכַּלְתָּ֥ם Pilpel · Perfect
  • חָסֵ֑רוּ Qal · Perfect
  • בָל֔וּ Qal · Perfect
  • בָצֵֽקוּ Qal · Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

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Cross-references

9

Topical passages linked to Nehemiah 9:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Deuteronomy 2:7 For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; he has known your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.
  • Deuteronomy 8:4 Your clothing didn't grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.
  • Deuteronomy 29:5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoe has not grown old on your foot.
  • Psalms 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, But those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
  • Exodus 16:35 The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.
  • Numbers 14:33–34 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
  • Deuteronomy 8:2 You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
  • Amos 5:25 "Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?
  • Acts 13:18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Nehemiah 9:21 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֛ה כִּלְכַּלְתָּ֥ם בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר לֹ֣א חָסֵ֑רוּ שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ לֹ֣א בָל֔וּ וְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א בָצֵֽקוּ

Yes, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Structure differs

The Septuagint has no separate book of Nehemiah. Its Greek text is the second half of Esdras B (2 Esdras), chapters 11–23; Ezra is the first half (1–10).

A verse-for-verse comparison isn’t shown here because the chapters and verses don’t line up. Switch to the LXX edition with the MT / LXX toggle above to read the Greek directly.

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from a public-domain English Septuagint. How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Nehemiah 9:21 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Neh 9:21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

Ver. 21. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them] Sustain them? this is a mere Meiosis, since never was prince so served in his greatest pomp as these rebellious Israelites were in the wilderness: they had their quails and their manna, and the rock to follow them, &c.

So that they lacked nothing] Nor more shall they that seek the Lord lack any good thing, Psa 34:10; Psa 84:11. God will not be a wilderness to them, or a land of darkness, Jer 2:31. A sufficiency they shall be sure of, if not a superfluity; yea, in the midst of straits they shall be in a sufficiency, 1Ti 6:6. The ungodly are not so, Job 20:22.

Their clothes waxed not old] They wore not in the wearing. This was wonderful; these men lived in an age of miracles; here was no need of, What shall we put on? For the clothes they had of their own, and that which they borrowed from the Egyptians decayed not; but, as some think, grew up with their persons. See Deu 8:4; Deu 29:5.

And their feet swelled not] Nor did any other disease annoy them, while they were in the wilderness. There was not one feeble person among them: this was a sweet mercy. Non est vivere, sed valere, vita; si vales, bene est. Vincentio Pestiom, an Italian gentleman, being asked how old he was? answered, that he was in health. And to another that asked how rich he was? answered, that he was not in debt. This was the happiness of these Israelites in the wilderness.

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.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Though the way was tedious and long.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 21. Their clothes waxed not old] See Clarke on De 8:4.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

21. The Forty Years in the Wilderness: Preservation

forty years … so that] R.V. forty years … and. The mention of the 40 years and of the fact that ‘they lacked nothing’ shows that the origin of the clause is to be sought in Deu_2:7 ‘these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.’

their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not] From Deu_8:4, ‘Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.’ Cf. Deu_29:5, ‘And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.’ The language of the Deuteronomist is doubtless hyperbolical. But his words were employed as a proverbial description of Jehovah’s protection of His people in the wanderings.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing,.... As not for food, so neither for raiment, as follows:

their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not; of which see Deu 8:4.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Worn. So as to be sore, (Haydock) or without shoes. (Menochius) See Deuteronomy viii. 4. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "their feet swelled not."

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).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Of which See Poole "Deu 8:4".

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Nehemiah, in the Historical, opens this verse with 12 words (10 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is bâtsêq (“to swell”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “to swell” (bâtsêq) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. How does Deuteronomy 8:4, which shares the word «to swell», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “not” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
  5. «כִּלְכַּלְתָּ֥ם» is a Pilpel Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.