1. Nehemiah 1:8–9 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

From where do the words quoted in these verses come?

Nehemiah 1:8–9 (ESV)

8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,

Nehemiah says that God gave these words to Moses, yet we cannot find them verbatim anywhere in the books of Moses. Instead, they are Nehemiah’s summary of truths God gave Israel through Moses. We might best see these words as a conflation of Deuteronomy 30:1–5 (including some exact words and phrases recurring) and perhaps Deuteronomy 4:25–31.