Nehemiah 9:38
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal to it.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal to it.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And because of all this we are making an agreement in good faith, and putting it in writing; and our rulers, our Levites, and our priests are putting their names to it.
Webster's Revision
And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, set their seals to it.
World English Bible
Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, [and] our priests, seal to it."
English Revised Version (ERV)
And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.
Clarke's Nehemiah 9:38 Bible Commentary
Our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it - Persuaded that we have brought all the miseries upon ourselves by our transgressions, feeling much and fearing more, we make a covenant with thee to devote ourselves to thy service; to do with us as thou pleasest. From this sealing we learn that at this time the government of the Jews was a mixed aristocracy; composed of the nobles for the civil department, and the priests and Levites for the ecclesiastical.
This was not mixing the Church with the state, or the state with the Church: both were separate, yet both mutually supported each other. The state never attempted to model the Church according to its own mind; because the Church had been founded and regulated by God, and neither its creed nor its ordinances could be changed. The Church did not meddle with the state, to give it new laws, new ordinances, or new officers. Therefore the one could not be jealous of the other. Where this state of things prevails, every public blessing may be expected. In every state God says to the governors and the governed: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's."
Barnes's Nehemiah 9:38 Bible Commentary
Seal unto it - The exact force of the phrase used is doubtful; but its general sense must be that the classes named took part in the sealing. It was usual in the East to authenticate covenants by appending the seals of those who were parties to them (see Jeremiah 32:10).
Wesley's Nehemiah 9:38 Bible Commentary
9:38 Sure covenant, &c. - It was sealed and left upon record, that it might be a witness against them, if they dealt deceitfully.
