Nehemiah 1:5

And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וָאֹמַ֗ר va.'o.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
beseech	אָֽנָּ֤א 'a.Na'	H577	oh now! · interjection
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהֵ֣י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
heaven	הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
great	הַגָּד֖וֹל ha.ga.Dol	H1419	great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
terrible	וְהַנּוֹרָ֑א ve.ha.no.Ra'	H3372	to fear · conjunction + definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
God	הָאֵ֥ל ha.'El	H410	strength · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
keepeth	שֹׁמֵ֤ר sho.Mer	H8104	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
covenant	הַבְּרִית֙ ha.be.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
mercy	וָחֶ֔סֶד va.Che.sed	H2617	kindness · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
love	לְאֹהֲבָ֖יו le.'o.ha.Vav	H157	to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
observe	וּלְשֹׁמְרֵ֥י u.le.sho.me.Rei	H8104	properly · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
commandments	מִצְוֹתָֽיו mitz.vo.Tav	H4687	a command · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Daniel 9:4-19 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to t…
Deuteronomy 7:21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his com…
Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember th…
1 Kings 8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy se…
Nehemiah 9:32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little bef…
Hebrews 6:13-18 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 1:5–end

We have here Nehemiah's prayer, a prayer that has reference to all the prayers which he had for some time before been putting up to God day and night, while he continued his sorrows for the desolations of Jerusalem, and withal to the petition he was now intending to present to the king his master for his favour to Jerusalem. We may observe in this prayer, I. His humble and reverent address to God, in which he prostrates himself before him, and gives unto him the glory due unto his name, Neh 1:5. It is much the same with that of Daniel, Dan 9:4. It teaches us to draw near to God, 1. With a holy awe of his majesty and glory, remembering that he is the God of heaven, infinitely above us, and so…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 1:4

HIS PRAYER. (Neh 1:4-11) when I heard these words, that I sat down . . . and mourned . . . and fasted, and prayed--The recital deeply affected the patriotic feelings of this good man, and no comfort could he find but in earnest and protracted prayer, that God would favor the purpose, which he seems to have secretly formed, of asking the royal permission to go to Jerusalem.

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 1:5

Lord God of heaven - What was, before the captivity, Jehovah, God of hosts or armies. Great - Able to do mighty things. Terrible - able to inflict the heaviest judgments.

John Gill on Nehemiah 1:5

And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven,.... He prayed not to the host of heaven, the sun in it, as the Persians, but to the God of it, in an humble supplicant manner: the great and terrible God; who is to be feared, and had in reverence of all his creatures, because of his greatness and glory, being God over all, blessed for ever, and his name holy and reverend: that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe his commandments; who keep them from a principle of love to him; to those he has made gracious promises in his covenant, which he truly and faithfully performs; and the consideration of these perfections in God animates and encourages good men in prayer to…

Dictionary and topics

Shushan — A lily, the Susa of Greek and Roman writers, once the capital of Elam. It lay in the uplands of Susiana, on the east of the Tigris, about 150 miles to the north of the head of the Persian Gulf. It is…
Country · LOVE OF — LOVE OF
Covenant, The · God is faithful to — God is faithful to
Nation · Lamente — Lamente
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Patriotism · .Nehemiah — .Nehemiah
Prayer, Intercessory · Exemplified: Nehemiah — Exemplified: Nehemiah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Nehemiah 1:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 1:5–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 1:4

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 1:5

John Gill on Nehemiah 1:5

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 1:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 1:5–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 1:4

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 1:5

John Gill on Nehemiah 1:5

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 1:5–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 1:5-11

Rashi on Nehemiah 1:5