Bible Strands
Nehemiah 9:25
They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Levites recite this historical summary to the assembled post-exilic community during a corporate confession of covenant failure. The verse functions as the narrative bridge between Israel’s initial conquest and their subsequent rebellion.
The words — וַֽיִּלְכְּדוּ (wa.yil.kə.dû) means “and they captured,” with עָרִים (‘ā.rîm, “cities”) as its direct object. The adjective בְּצֻרוֹת (bə.t̂̌u.rōṯ, “fortified”) grammatically describes those cities, emphasizing their defensive construction.
The thread — The pattern of receiving material abundance followed by covenant unfaithfulness runs through Deuteronomy 32:15 and is reiterated in Nehemiah 9:35. These references establish a recurring biblical motif where physical provision precedes spiritual testing.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that material security does not guarantee covenant faithfulness. It requires the reader to separate divine provision from human response, noting that blessing alone does not prevent rebellion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Deuteronomy 3:5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages.
- Nehemiah 9:35 For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.
- Deuteronomy 6:10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
- Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
- 1 Kings 8:66 On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.
- Psalms 65:11 You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty.
- Ezekiel 20:6 On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.
- Hosea 3:5 Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
- Deuteronomy 8:7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;